The Skeleton and The Crystal Sea
“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths, it has its pearls too.” – Vincent van Gogh
Thump! Another body has fallen into the vast array of snow. The skeleton doesn’t know how the body got there or where the body came from. The skeleton only knows that his job is to dump the body into the frozen sea about one hundred feet from the skeleton’s cabin.
There are a few rocks and caves here and there, but for the most part, it is just one large sheet of snow. The skeleton doesn’t know how he ended up in this place or what he was doing before he got here. He just knows that he has been here a long time. He may have been here since childhood.
The skeleton approached the first body lying in the snow. The skeleton took his boney hand and wiped some snow from the body’s face. It was a young woman. She looked like she was in her mid-thirties with a painful expression on her face. Now her face would forever be frozen in time with a painful expression.
The skeleton wondered what she must have been thinking. Was she in pain before she died? Had living life become so unbearable that she would rather be dead? Why did she die so young? Was her life a living death?
These were the types of thoughts that continuously flowed through the skeleton’s mind before putting the bodies into the frozen sea. A place where the bodies would be frozen forever. Not all the bodies ended up in the frozen sea. Some of the bodies were hidden in the walls of the skeleton’s cabin. Other bodies were hidden in the caves, and some were placed under rocks. The bodies ended up wherever the skeleton saw fit to place them.
Every once in a while, something would trigger the skeleton. He would have a slight feeling of warmth on the inside. The feeling confused the skeleton because he usually felt nothing at all but cold air and snow. But sometimes, he would feel a tiny seed of warmth on his insides. The warmth would travel through him like he was wearing a warm blanket inside of him. The feeling would soon leave, and the skeleton would feel cold again. The skeleton liked this feeling. It was like getting a massage on the inside.
The skeleton would go into the caves and look at the faces of the many bodies. He enjoyed studying their faces and wondering what their lives were like. Most faces were faces of agony and fear. All the faces were frozen.
The skeleton looked at the faces and wondered about the story behind each face and what brought the body to its final moment. What was this person like when they were alive? What were their hopes and dreams? Did they have any hopes or dreams? There were no hopes and dreams in this place. Just coldness and death abided here.
The skeleton entered his cabin and sat in his Archie Bunker-style easy chair. It was a hard day at work. There were many bodies that the skeleton had to roll into the frozen sea. It wasn’t just a matter of rolling the bodies into the frozen sea. The skeleton would have to grab a pickaxe with his skinny, grey arms and burst a hole into the top layer of ice.
He would then scoot the body into the hole, sinking it into the frozen sea, where it would be frozen forever. The skeleton was the only one he knew who could use the axe. The skeleton felt special like his job was important.
The skeleton may have felt his job was important, but it was lonely. Being surrounded by the snow, bodies, and bitter cold was lonely. The skeleton had one outlet. He had a small black and white television that he would watch while resting in his cabin. The small black and white television with rabbit ears was the skeleton’s only window to the outside world. About the only thing he could watch were religious programs, old sitcoms, and Westerns. It was enough to keep him happy and content. It gave him company, even though it reminded him of how alone he was.
Thump! Another body hit the ground. It sounded like a big body. The skeleton walked out of his cabin. It was a big one! A four hundred pounder! The skeleton hated dragging the fat ones to the frozen sea. It was a lot of work and was rough on his bones. The skeleton was quick to get busy before he heard another thump. The skeleton didn’t want to get behind on his work.
This fat body died smiling. The skeleton wondered if he died eating. The skeleton grabbed him by the feet and dragged his fat ass down to the frozen sea. The skeleton took his pickaxe and began to dig a hole. It took a while to make a big enough hole for this body. He dumped the body into the hole, and down he went, frozen with a forever smile on his face. “I’m lovin’ it!” thought the skeleton.
The skeleton grabbed his pickaxe and saw something he had never seen before. The skeleton saw a dark shadow in the form of a person across the frozen sea. The skeleton was being watched. The skeleton could barely see the shadow figure because there were so many large snowflakes. Who was watching him? This was no place for the living. Only the dead came to this place. Dead and frozen in time.
The skeleton could not get this person out of his mind. Who was this person, and what did they want? Why were they here? The skeleton returned to his cabin, sat in his easy chair, and turned on his 24-inch black and white television. Three’s Company was on, an oldie but a goodie.
The skeleton walked out of his cabin and looked at the many frozen faces frozen in the sheet of ice known as the frozen sea. The skeleton began hearing whispers. The lips on the faces moved, and they began to whisper. The skeleton could hear all their pain. He could hear the secrets, their hopes, fears, and dreams. He could hear the thousands or maybe even millions of voices of the lives they once lived. It was too much for the skeleton; he was bombarded with voice after voice. He heard all the pain and agony of their final moments and their last breath. The skeleton didn’t know what to do, so he just ran. He ran with nowhere to go.
The skeleton heard a loud thump, another, and one after that. He heard so many loud thumps that it sounded like rain. Body after body hitting the snow. Every time a body hit the ground, the skeleton heard the many whispering voices. The skeleton continued to run, but there was nowhere to go because there were only miles and miles of snow.
The skeleton kneeled in the snow, a defeated man. He looked across the frozen sea that now looked like crystals instead of ice. He saw the shadowy figure again, but he saw a woman this time. She was wearing a pink dress and was motioning for him to come home.
The heart of man can be warm but sometimes people let things in life defeat them and the hearts turn cold . What do some of them do turn to violence when actually they need to take those defeats and do good things for people and have a beautiful abundant life because love conquers evil . Loved the article . Keep writing and keep the stories coming .