Rose Blumen ~ Exogignesthai

(Rose)

The swimming beast of wild forests carrying the dark egg of nightmares slowly made its way to the end of the sea.

I don’t know if dragons lie beyond this end of the map, but the horizon slowly began disappearing as if so.

The horizontal line slowly became sharper and closer, as a sound hard to describe rose into the air from beyond.

Blume slowed down her sailing, as we reached what happened to be Amazonian falls. Maybe a few kilometres ahead, the sea falls somewhere we can’t see. But the sea ends there abruptly. Pure white clouds rise beyond and scatter, all along the horizon.

Blume’s roots grabbed hold onto a peak or tip of skyscraper below the water. She anchored herself there.

Nightmare awakens her pair of wings. They spread open for the first time in a while. They spread completely first, drying for a little while, as the muscles awaken and recompose themselves.

Nightmare’s clothes like mine are now made from wood pulp that Blume grew to replace our decomposing rags. The energetic sea water had fun dissolving them over time.

What lies beyond the horizon? I’ve always wanted to know.

Nightmare wants to work on her child, although she doesn’t call it as such yet. So she’s fine with me having the first flight beyond, using her wings.

It’s quite handy being able to wear and exchange them like jackets.

I remove my shirt and dress with the wings. The core of their body opens like a toothless mouth, till it looks like an animal skin freshly removed.

I’m used to the moist feelings and smells of raw flesh now. It sticks on my skin. The fleshes fuse just slightly. The fur sticks and holds onto my back, down to my hips and up to my shoulders.

They’re shifting my balance, but I’m not scared.

I step ahead, to the clear stern of Blume.

Nightmare sees me off quickly. She dives to work on her new creation. Blume is a little more emotional.

B – Take good care Rose.

R – I’ll be right back.

I open the wings, raise them, feeling them as new arms attached to me. Then I jump to help my initial lift off flaps.

~

The abrupt lift off makes me dizzy for a second, I had to give it my all. But before I know it, the stupidly strong wings have carried me metres high above the water.

Rising in altitude is exhausting, but I pass that without losing my breath.

I rise about fifty metres above Blume, circling around. I keep my arms crossed as much as possible, and my legs straight, but at times I move them to keep balance.

Flying like a bird... It’s been a while, but it still feels ever so nice.

Although I should have attached my hair better to avoid getting it into my eyes so often.

I flap one last good time to rise and head toward the broken horizon.

Blume looks like a piece of forest covering a shipwreck, lost in the sea.

From the heights, I can see a little what’s below the surface of the sea.

Some kind of darker mountainous chain makes the end of this sea, just before its horizon falls into the sky.

A dam? It spreads so far I can’t see the end in either direction. The water flows beyond and over like natural falls.

I slowly fly closer to the border. I can’t quite see where the ground on the other side, but I think I can see the Atlantic ocean in the distance, very far below.

Clouds and the sky make everything hazy. The sunlight scatters in glowing clouds rather colourful, from heavens to far away ocean.

All there is to see, is these falls that would make you think Earth is flat, and you’ve just passed the end.

The sun being high, I can’t see where the real horizon is beyond the clouds and beyond.

It would be disturbing to see a sunrise appear below ourselves.

But I’m sceptical the world would have changed that much it might happen.

I fly above what really looks like the end of a flat world. The falls are drawing a sharp edge, for as far as I can see on either sides. The flat sea ends there, where clouds are born from their fall.

I fly a little further, avoiding and following carefully the abrupt changes in the winds.

I finally see the surface below the falls. I see small peninsulas stretching onto the ocean here and there. The falls are possibly a kilometre high. They’re immense.

I see the ocean very far below, hazy for it’s very distant, but I see it.

The world didn’t end as much as it looked. I turn back toward the falls.

I see rainbow appear below me, in the white nothingness of the falls, now that the sun is behind me. I also see my faint shadow too as I fly that way. It’s still morning.

I see the rainbows appear in full circles, the fainter one around the bright one. I’ll have to ask Blume to remind me about how that works. I know the basic principles of light scattering, but she may know more.

I fly above the ridge and I’m soon back over the sea. It feels odd to change that easily only gliding, from high in the sky, to just barely above water.

I flap a little more as I can see my shadow and my reflections getting closer over the waves.

I’m already out of strength, but I manage to return to Blume. She’s so far...

I sweat, I give it all, out of breath already, and I end up diving next to her.

I resurface and swim toward her while the wings begin to detach themselves from me on their own. I think they didn’t like the dive.

~

I’m drying and resting by a small fire where my lunch is warming up.

B – How was it?

R – Wonderful!

~