Ylla's Dream

"The wind stirred her russet hair, crooning softly in her ears.  She stood silently looking out into the great sallow distances of sea bottom, as if recalling something, her yellow eyes soft and moist, "Drink to my only with thine eyes, and I will pledge with mine," she sang, softly, quietly, slowly.  "Or leave a kiss within the cup, and I'll not ask for wine."  She hummed now, moving her hands in the wind ever so lightly, her eyes shut.  She finished the song."

Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles - Ylla

Hours and days later Ylla watched her husband head out for a hunting trip, as he called it, wearing his Battle Mask and carrying his gun.  Time slowed for Ylla as she began to fret and fuss about the house, keeping herself busy with the menial duties of tending to their home, yet all the while, the song she couldn't place with strange words and a haunting melody kept playing in her head.  In the distance, two shots rang out, clear as a bell to Ylla's ears, making her quiver and shake.  She looked to the sky and wondered if her dream had been a reality, and that a man from somewhere else had indeed landed on their soil.  Would her husband?  Could he?  Was he really so frightened, by just a dream?  It was after all, a dream was it not?  She didn't know how much time had passed when she heard his footsteps on the porch.  Her hand flew to her throat as he opened the door, unsure of what she was to see.  His mask remained, "...hammered from silver metal, expressionless, the mask that he always wore when he wished to hide his feelings, the mask that curved and hollowed exquisitely to his thin cheeks and chin and brow."  Ylla stepped to her husband and slipped the mask from his face, holding it in her hand as if inspecting it.  Turning the cold metal over in her hands she wondered more about the shots that had rang out in the dark.  

Could donning this simple mask make her husband into a man she didn't know?  Eyes to the sky, the haunting melody playing itself out in her head as she thought of the black haired, blue eyed stranger from her dreams.  Was there another world beyond theirs?  More than one?  Was every star that dotted her horizon a place full of mystery and wonder with creatures similar to Martians but inherently different?  Had she somehow connected with these beings for a moment; and that they shared this melody?  But as she stood there she realized she could no longer remember and she began to cry.  

"Why are you crying? He asked.

I don't know, I don't know, but I can't help it!  I'm sad and I don't know why, I cry and I don't know why, but I'm crying. Her head was in her hands; her shoulders moved again and again.

You'll be alright tomorrow, he said.

She did not look up at him; she looked only at the empty (sea) and the very bright stars coming out now on the black sky, and far away there was a sound of wind rising and canal waters stirring cold in the long canals.  She shut her eyes trembling.

Yes, she said, I'll be all right tomorrow."

Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles - Ylla

Ensemble

Top and Pants - Avatar Bizarre - Ylla @ ATP Martian Chronicles Library and in the main store!

Jewelry - Glint! - Silver Beads and Swirls @ Go99 Jan 10 - Jan 25

Mask - Chaos, Panic and Disorder - Faces on Mars - Battle Mask @ ATP Martian Chronicles Library and in the main store!

Avatar

Shape - Mine

Skin - Poudre - Kerli Nude

Eyes - IKON - Promise - Parchment

Hands and Feet - Slink

Nails - Crow - Holiday Metallics (MP ONLY)

Hair - Damselfly - Gretchen

Night at Usher II

Night at Usher II

 The House blazed with life and color; harlequins rang by with belled caps and white mice danced miniature quadrilles to the music of dwarfs who tickled tiny fiddles with tiny bows, and flags rippled from scorched beams while bats flew in clouds about gargoyle mouths which spouted down wine, cool, wild and foaming.

A creek wandered through the seven rooms of the masked ball. Guests sipped and found it to be sherry. Guests poured from the booths, transformed from one age into another, their faces covered with dominoes, the very act of putting on a mask revoking all their licenses  to pick a quarrel with fantasy and horror. The women swept about in red gowns, laughing. The men danced them attendance.

And on the walls were shadows with no people to throw them, and here or there were mirrors in which no image showed.  "All of us vampires!" laughed Mr. Fletcher.  "Dead!

 Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles - Usher II

As she wandered along the glistening corridors, sipping the blood red Sherry from a crystalline glass, the golden room caught her attention.  The way the lights danced about the room, almost playing tricks on here eyes; as if the room were filled with a hundred souls, not just the scattered few who milled about the room.  She swore she heard someone whisper the word "death" but then again, she had heard all kinds of things whispered tonight.  Placing her mask to her face; the exquisite details becoming clearer as she stepped to the mirror.  The delicate skull, luxurious fabrics, and what quite possibly, could be bone.  Leaning in closer to get a better look her heart stopping suddenly as the mask falls from her hand; her delicate fingers fumbling towards the mirror; seemingly searching for herself,  she realizes she too has become one with the Court of the Dead.

Gown - Pale Empress - Usher II @ A Tattered Page*

Mask - Pale Empress - Usher II @ A Tattered Page*

Jewelry - Zuri Jewelry - Aurora Elite V2

Shape - Mine

Skin - Belleza - Eva

Eyes - IKON - Immortal - Industrial

Lashes - Gaeline - Felicia

Hair - Olive - The Mir - Tea Stained

Hands - Slink - Elegant

Nails - Supernatural - Glitter

All poses by PosESion 

Thank you to Cursed Events and A Tattered Page* for this fantastic opportunity to blog for such a wonderful event and book!  All of the items offered at the Library for A Tattered Page* are also available at the main stores through the end of the month.  As this is primarily an event to promote stores, the written word and those people who love them all, make sure to check out all the offerings of your favorite creators!  I have linked the store as well as the Library, just in case you want to wander and see all of the goodies in one place!  I hope you have enjoyed our little journey to Mars, and please do come again!

Have a wonderfully wicked rest of the week!  

~Jade~