a sad tale's best for winter

they have been following me.

a mother and child, in form though not in spirit.

they are vile beasts, worse, perhaps, than the unclean creatures they have nestled within.

i suppose it was only a matter of time.  the mother and the child.  caliban and sycorax.

i remember seeing  them for the first time.  i remember cordelia, dearest cordelia, running in fear from them.  i remember regan and goneril laughing at her.  but there was something in me, a twist of sympathy.

i could not laugh.  i could only see her pain and

a bird just hit the window.

i am in a diner, making use of free wifi and unlimited coffee, my true dark mistress.

i do not know if it was one of the murder.

however....

another here, a slim, dark haired maiden, showed more than normal concern upon seeing the truth behind the sudden noise.  indeed, she appears to regard the twitching frame of the broken animal with a touch more fear than revulsion...and also appears to be looking for more where that one came from.

this may be a trap.

however, if i can help her...perhaps that will go a measure towards what i am indebted to dearest cordelia.

i remember the day she came to school, looking over her shoulder, nearly tripping over herself.  i remember that we laughed at her because we hated her, because she and her friends oppressed us so.

i didn't realize what it was she was fearing.  who would notice it?  when is the last time you noticed birdsong?  perhaps, while trying to sleep?  perhaps actively enjoying it?

unless looking  for it, one never really notices it unless one needs to.  it is a noise ambient to humanity.

to this day, i do not know what she did to get the murder's attention.  to this day, i do not know why sycorax and caliban came after her, and brought my ruin in their wake.  to this day, i do not know why i decided to help her.  why i, unlike my friends, chose her over the birds.

i would lie if i said i have never regretted it.  there were other options for me.  i could have put my head down.  pretended it had not happened.  gone about my life pretending there were no monsters, that humanity is alone, in the dark.

sometimes i wish i had.  but then, what would her sacrifice have been?  i know of them.  i can spread the word.  tell her story.  i can kill them as they come.  perhaps i can even destroy sycorax and caliban--that wretched witch and her accursed spawn.  it would, perhaps, be the only revenge i could get for her.  the only closure i could achieve for my dearest cordelia.

and then, one day, perhaps i will be fortunate enough to die as she did, and perhaps, someone will take my place, tell my story, and warn the world of the shadows in our ambiance.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

CROCODILE TEARS, a hapless rogue

CORDELIA, a young, popular student

REGAN, an unpopular student, friend of CROCODILE TEARS

GONERIL, CROCODILE TEARS' best friend

MACBETH, CROCODILE TEARS' beloved

POLONIUS, a professor of literature

GLOUCESTOR, a school principal

TAMORA, a witch

IAGO, a warlock

ANTONY and CLEOPATRA, parents of CROCODILE TEARS

ASSORTED TEACHERS

ASSORTED PARENTS

CALIBAN and SYCORAX 

CHORUS

SETTING, a high school in the midwestern united states, a time not so long ago