The Weepings of the Moss: The Briar and the Rose (Chapter 2, Part 3)
*FICTION*
With a gasp, he removed the pillow from his face and chucked it at the headboard. I’m still here. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the spinning ceiling fan. It’s not a nightmare I can wake up from.
Slowly, Gabriel began drifting to sleep. The fan blades spun above him like crows circling over a meal. He did his best to empty his mind, letting any thought come but never latching on, letting every one pass. Never feeling, never wondering. Life had made him too tired for that. Eyelids became heavy, breathing slowed down. His mind drifted on a sea of darkness.
The sheets on his bed were scratchy. Before he opened his eyes, he recognized the familiar smell. Home. His eyes cracked open, and as he had predicted, he was in his parent’s home in Ellijay, back in his old room. The smell of fall leaves and pine filled the room as a cool breeze drifted in through the window right next to his head. He could see the familiar woods outside, the southern pines bending with the breeze, the oaks’ and maples’ orange and red leaves shuddering in the night air. There was no light but for the moon peering in through his window and the slightly cracked door allowing in light from the hall. It was then he noticed a silhouette in a rocking chair, right next to his bed. He knew that soft outline anywhere. Ma. He thought, and he went to speak, but his mouth would not move.
Gabriel relaxed in his bed, remembering the warmth of his home. His childhood. His mother began humming a rather unfamiliar song, one he did not recall being a routine bedtime song. But it was beautiful, rising from high to low notes forlornly, lovingly, in a melancholy sort of way. Gabriel closed his eyes, enjoying the song, relishing the feeling of warmth, the feeling of love. His mother’s voice rang out as she began to sing the words, her voice as golden and soft as he remembered.
Sweet William arose one May morning, And dressed himself in blue, Come and tell to me all about that love Betwixt Lady Marg'ret and me.
...
The day passed away and the night coming on And most of the men asleep, Sweet William espied Lady Marg'ret's ghost A-standing at his bed feet.
TUN-BAHH! A deep, thunderous bass sound shook the room. Gabriel’s eyes shot open, but no sound escaped his lips. His blue eyes darted about the room, his mother’s silhouette rocking all the same. Looking out the window, Gabriel saw a shadow in the forest. It looked to be a woman. He saw her long shadowy hair cascading down her back, her dress hung from her body like moth-eaten drapes. His heart began to beat faster.
O how do you like your bed? said she, And how do you like your sheets And how do you like that fair young bride A-laying in your arms at sleep?
TUN-BAHH! The gun-like sound shook the house. Children’s books fell from his walls. Gabriel turned his head quickly at his mother, who seemed undisturbed as she rocked back and forth. The light in the hall flickered. Gabriel looked out the window at the woman of shadow. She was closer to the window. Still facing the forest. Still as death.
Full well do I like my bed, Full well do I like my sheet; But better do I like the fair young maid A-standing at my bed feet.
...
Last night I dreamed that my room was full of swine And my bride was floating in blood.
TUN-BAHH! His mother’s voice began to tremble and quake. Water began splashing on the floor beneath her, as if it were coming from her. Gabriel looked back outside. The woman was gone. Wildly his eyes flicked about the room, searching for her. Then he saw her. Facing the wall, not far from the foot of his bed. It was no longer a shadow in the woods. He could see her long decaying hair, the embroidered dress now stained black and brown from decay.
“Mmmmm….Mmmmaaaaaa! M-m-mmmaaa!” Gabriel strained, trying to scream for his mother, but his mouth barely moved. Any thrashing he attempted was only performed in his mind as his body was stock-still, as though he himself were dead.
TUN-BAHH! The sound came like thunder, rocking the house. In a blink, the dark woman was at his feet, still staring at the wall. She twitched unnaturally, her head, her shoulders. Gabriel heard weeping, but as if it were coming from all around. Whispers wafted to his ears like vapors. Outside, he could hear the wailing of children, the screaming of horses, the clanging of metal. His mother’s voice began to grate and scrape, no longer the quality of gold but that of rusted metal.
She is neither in her kitchen room, She is neither in her hall; But she is in her cold coffin, With her pale face toward the wall.
TUN-BAHH! Came the loudest rumble of all, shaking his bed. Flames burst from the hallway. The dark woman hung over his bed, her face toward the ceiling, her hair hanging like black moss reaching toward him. Children and animals screamed outside. Hands gripped Gabriel’s arms; his mother’s rotting face jutted into view.
“THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE!” She screamed, black water pouring from her mouth and empty eye sockets. “THE BRIAR AND THE ROSE!”
Gabriel’s eyes shot open. His breathing was as if he had not taken a breath in an hour. The darkness welcomed him back to reality as he lay on his bed, sweat pooling on his body.
A dream or something more? Follow the blog for the next installment to find out what happens when the sounds from the nightmare follow Gabriel into the waking world.
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