• The flower stood alone in the field, red as blood, swaying crisp breeze. Its petals were soft like velvet but thin like paper and alive like the human heart. It was a simple flower, with a stem greener than grass and three leaves with reaching veins. It sat there, its roots in deep, soaking up the golden sun, comfortable in the cool, wet, dark brown soil. I gazed upon it, astounded, the only one like it, the only one left. Its beauty was grand. My paws kneaded the ground, my eyes wide with awe. But as all good things must come to an end, this was no exception. Feet thudded on the soft grass of the field, and within seconds the flower, red as blood, was no longer swaying in the crisp breeze, but was trampled into the soil. It was only a flower, but its beauty was now forever lost. It was a small loss, but one to mourn nonetheless. The simple flower no longer stands.

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    The pendulum swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, my eyes held open and staring, unable to close. The light became steadily brighter to a point that it was almost blinding and i could no longer see the pendant. Then blackness. Then nothing. And suddenly I was blinking away rain, staring into sorrowful, dull green eyes. Her blond hair brushed my face, and as quickly as my sight returned, it disappeared, only to reappear again. This time I was standing on a balcony overlooking a broad beach. Then nothing. An open meadow with sheep. Nothing. An empty alley, my shirt torn and dirty, surrounded by men with daggers and bruises. Nothing. An empty room with only one bed and white walls and a white ceiling. Nothing. And once again I was staring into those dull green eyes, full of pity and mourning. Blood poured out of a deep gash from my thigh, my left ankle was broken, there was a hole in my chest, and blood was slowly creeping into my dry eyes. The girls eyes were now filled with tears while she whispered a soft phrase in my ear: "Goodbye Marista. I'll miss you."
    My eyes snapped open, greeted by the sight of the swinging pendulum. "You are free," the man said. So I got up and walked out of the building. Warm arms where thrown around my in a tight embrace. For a reason unknown to me, I hugged back. And for the third time I could remember I was looking into the dull green eyes, now filled with joy and hope. "Oh I missed you," she whispered. "Oh, Marista, my sister..." And memories came flooding back, calling to the tears brimming at the corners of my eyelids. "I missed you too."