No. 2 The Chromatic Compendium of the Rainbow Ringmaster - Iris

Sep 5

3 min read

Upon his surprise he took a few quick steps backwards fulfilling his need to create space between them. She turned back to her usual stance but this time with downcast eyes. She felt exposed and vulnerable at his realization of her awareness. With her guard up, there was a stoic reflection of her inner state, a hidden somberness, a quiet longing for a world she could only dream of, a world she was seeing through him in an instant, that may be gone just as quickly. She was afraid to meet his eyes again for she knew not what she would find. The man removed his top hat and, with it outstretched, bowed before her. She had never seen anything like him or his gestures so she couldn't help but look down towards him as he bowed.

As she did, he looked up at her from his formal stance and met her gaze. Suddenly, and quite startling for her, a voice echoed into her ears. She heard him, but his lips did not move. He only stared at her, his hat now against his chest, he said, "I am the Ringmaster. I travel the cosmos with my ever-present oddities. Just now, I was searching for a place where my imprint would be welcome. I was searching for a place to hang my hat and call home. I did not know this place was inhabited, and if you will kindly understand, then I will go now and seek elsewhere—"

Almost involuntarily upon hearing this, she reached out, her arm outstretched to him in the same manner his had been to her. Her stone bodice cracked like thunder as she reached, almost as if she were never meant to move, yet she found the will to.

"Wait—" she spoke softly. To her it felt that her voice shook the silence; before this moment she had never spoken, she had never moved, she didn't know she could.

He stood up slowly before her entranced by the being before him. In all his days he had never seen anything quite like her, upon rising he glanced at her outstretched arm startled, in it sat a crack along the length of her arm that broke the perfect stone being that was before him. A long silence echoed between them as he watched her, waiting. After a moment, she put her hand down slowly, then continued quietly in a whisper to him, but what felt like a shout to her, "Please don't leave."

His hand went lax, and his hat fell to the floor while he stared at her intently, mirroring her stillness. For a moment during that silence, something was different. The air, so still in her presence, now hummed with a quiet energy. She took one step down toward him, and as she did bits of her fell to the ground revealing a soft being underneath. She spoke saying, "I inhabit this world alone. Every day I wake into the nothingness, only to see nothing, to feel nothing, to be nothing. For the something you have shown me, I could never repay you, but I could offer the most valuable thing I have, which is this vast world. If you dare to hang your hat here, then for you I will make sure this place becomes your home."

Now she had reached him, but all the while, as she stepped closer large pieces of her began to fracture and chip with her movements. Though these pieces of her fell, his eyes never averted her gaze. He slowly leaned forward reaching his hand out to her, for a moment, he didn't speak. He didn't need to, his message was a silent one, a gentle question posed by a touch that was just barely there, delicate on her chin. It wasn't a command, but an offering. He was inviting her to step out of her quiet world and into his, a world of beautiful chaos, of magic, and of endless possibility.

He nodded slowly, assuring her, "I will stay."