Lucia and the Sparks

Lucia settled into her bed, its thin sheets and worn pillow tiredly embracing her as it did every night. She sighed, listening intently to the constant, shaking footfalls outside. Like rain comforts one while in the comfort of their bed, whether the gentle patter or the raging downpour, the footfalls and their somewhat erratic rhythm altogether calmed her.  On a worn piece of upright wood she had kept a small metal cup, so that she could hear its faint clatter every time it rose so slightly in response to the footfalls.

Suddenly, her entire room shook violently more than ever, accompanied by a clumsy sliding noise that came to an abrupt halt. Her little cup had fallen over and off the wood, and lay on the bare floor. Lucia, cautious at first, slipped out of her bed and crept towards her exit point, a crack which was just big enough for her frame to squeeze through. While she certainly did not look graceful in the slightest when entering and exiting, it was efficient and safe. Safety was of primary concern to Lucia, she had to survive. At this point, she severely regretted that peering out the crack from the safety of her abode did not afford her much of a view at what lay outside. So, she stumbled over to her coatrack, bearing one lonesome green coat, and began to make her way through the crack. Suspiciously, she found part of its exit blocked. This proved to be troublesome as it proved to be an even more difficult task to weave her self out of the crack. Anxiously, she allowed only her head to peer out of her safety, her eyes met by a surprising sight.

Slumped against the wall, large emerald glass bottle in hand, was a human. A human! Lucia’s thoughts ran wild, first consumed by fear! Humans are big, humans are mean, humans don’t even know that you exist! Scenarios raced and slipped through her mind like startled gazelle. Then, it turned to a bizarre bewilderment.  What on earth was a human being doing slumped against HER building? This behavior was uncharacteristic, and nothing of the sort had ever happened at her old home nestled away even deeper. Despite being surrounded by them, Lucia had never actually properly seen a human being. Sure, she had scurried about in absolute fear and caution, but had she ever glimpsed upon a human being entirely at her own discretion? No, and that was what she intended to. Hey, as that strange saying that she had heard went, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. And she would concoct the sweetest of lemonades, a true lemon elixir, when she conquered a human being. Yes, conquered, as one would conquer a mountain. She was going to climb this thing, right up to its towering, albeit slumped over, head.  If her old community could only see her now, they’d be plunged into a state of chaos and abject terror. Despite being terrified herself, their imagined panic brought a faint smile to her otherwise set in determination face.

Standing right next to it, she realized that it was more enormous than she ever could have imagined. Its sprawled hand sported fingers that sprouted from the palm like towering redwoods, as she had read about, emphasizing her relative insignificance. Right next to the hand, she debated in her mind about where to begin her monumental pursuit. Quickly, she glanced at its head, attempting to gauge just how deeply it was in whatever state it was, and any chances of a sudden awakening. Unfortunately for Lucia, she could not see its face whatsoever. Whatever. She decided to climb the closer hand, the one holding the immense bottle. Using the fingers as climbing supports, she hoisted herself slowly up. Finally. She stood upon the final, highest finger and placed her hands on the rim of the bottle and peered in. Right, her next course of action was to leap from its rim to the arm.

Alas, if only things worked out as we willed them to do. In attempting to boost herself off the rim, her foot had slipped and brought her crashing down into the bottle. Ugh, and it wasn’t even empty.  Liquid all at once surrounded her, although thankfully it was not high enough to force her to tread water, or more accurately tread whatever alcoholic substance it contained. She could picture her older brother smirking at her current predicament, with that smug nature that he always held over her. The liquid soaked her, while the humid night suffocated her within the bottle. What had she done? In her haste, she had left behind all her climbing equipment. She was stuck in an emerald glass prison, with great imposing curved walls rising around her. Through the opening at the top she could see the stars, but also booming colourful sparks. Huh, so it was that night. She should have figured, slumped over figures tended to be common around this time. What was she going to do? Trapped, completely trapped. At the mercy of an it, a beast, a thing. A currently unconscious thing that would wake, holding the ultimate sway over her as she had wished to accomplish by scaling it. Oh, how quickly these cruel tables had turned. But had she ever held the power? She was tiny, nothing in this great world.  Sitting in that bottle, this great fact of insignificance bore down upon her, soaking her through like the liquid had. The coloured sparks continued, different shapes. Mocking her in their glee. Despite all her efforts, her lot in life would remain constant.

Resolved, she leaned against the side of the bottle while gazing up. Might as well make the most of the sparks. Time seemed to pass strangely in the bottle, and soon her observant state was jolted by a sudden shifting of the fingers holding her prison in place. It, the thing was awaking.

“Ugh, where even am I?”

The booming voice burst her calm state entirely, preceded by groans. More shifting, moving. Yet the hand still kept ahold of the bottle, much to Lucia’s anxiety. She longed for the bottle to tip so that she could race back to her safety, that crack.

Her hopes exploded into a million smaller sparks, just as those in the sky had previously done, when the bottle started to rise.