He was in a castle, at a party. He was in an ancient room with walls of golden stone when dawn began squelching out shadows. As castles go it was one of the creepy types which crawl up the top tier of a Balkan mountain and vanish in the clouds. He remembers nothing except the noise, and he was knocked out.
Later he stood on a shimmering cobbled street. He had no money in his pockets and no key to his apartment. The city was quiet from a million years of fog, and very small people ran fast along sidewalks.
He was hungry, all he wanted to eat was cake but he didn’t know where he was. He asked people and they laughed at him.
Back in the castle he searched through crowds of partygoers, across dance floors, in mosaic arched basement spaces. Then he saw his ex, Mary, Miss Kentucky. He didn’t question why she was there. He went to her but he never reached her. People delayed him, everyone he passed grabbed at him, smacked him hard on the back, macho, they said, “Hey Champ!” No one saw him wince.
He was wearying of this, he was tired and wanted sleep. He opened doors, he saw things, he closed doors. By some miracle he found Mary. She was in bed, “Come here,” she instructed. As he rolled into the warmth of her she was already asleep.
Morning and he awoke, alone. His eyes adjusted to the forensics of daylight. He registered a balcony. Twisted in a sheet he crawled to this stone lip catching sunshine like raindrops. He lay naked, exposed, a lizard on the rock, and in the middle distance he saw Mary playing in turquoise water. His muscles relaxed, his head slumped. He still did not know where he was and then he heard it. That noise. This time it was accompanied by the balcony jolting an inch. And then it jolted some more.
I agree with you JJ – Exceptionally beautiful prose – Outstanding!!
U:
“He was in a castle, at a party. He was in an ancient room with walls of golden stone when dawn began squelching out shadows. As castles go it was one of the creepy types which crawl up the top tier of a Balkan mountain and vanish in the clouds. He remembers nothing except the noise, and he was knocked out.”
ME:
What a superb way to enter story! Great writing. Well thought out!