fireworks and clockwork mice
imagine two people present for this whole story, and two people talking for the second part with dialogue… i realise medium has no other ways to emphasise words besides quotations…
also, this isn’t the hbl homework-
“place each bronze cog into place carefully, use your tweezers. these are really fine gears that bend at the slightest pressure — keep your hands feather-light.”
“ah, that’s it, now everything’s in place. you can slide your finger over the smooth steel casing, that’s fine — it’s your last touch after all — feel the coldness and the hardness. now slide the glass chest plate over. carefully now…”
“do you see all the wheels suspended in a world of their own behind the clarity? how the light bounces off their sheen? good. appreciate its beauty, and breathe some life into it. feel the warmth, and concentrate…”
tic, tic, tic-
ping!
the clockwork mouse’s eyes burst into swirling, shimmering orange, the yellow sparks sprinting through its copper wires. it twitched its steel whiskers and thumped its hollowly segmented iron tail. it whirred and clicked its way across the table, tiny gears turning back and forth on a dime.
it stopped, and examined itself — metal paws touching its finely hammered brass ears, down its forged snout, and tapping over its pristine glass belly.
it hesitated…
it seemed… dissatisfied?
the mouse continued looking around, eyes darting faster than a rat flees from a cat, until they land on the window.
the window, with its thick soundproof glass, betrayed nothing, but the mouse could feel the earthshaking roar of light and energy pulsing in the sky. it scurried up the windowsill — bending a delicate whisker against the glass — and gazed in wonder.
lights! lights! bright, bright lights — lights shining and sparking every which way, leaving trails of stardust and smoke clouds that billow a pale rainbow against the black sky. stars and sparks and sparks and stars and wonder, as they dot the sky, twinkling mischievously before disappearing into the night. they burned with brilliance and vigour and ferocity — rising hisses and bloodcurdling howls, dominating roars and glinting sparks darting lightning fast in the air. it was clearly fascinated — entranced, even — as each burst and bang reflected perfectly in its miniature eyes.
a rough hand scooped it from its enthrallment, and set it down gently in front of the dusty workspace. it scrabbled against the calluses, straining its neck past the thick fingers back to the windowsill. the moment it was free it scampered back to the window, caught up in the grandeur of it all. there was no prying this mouse from what it clearly wanted — to be up in the sky, flamboyantly displayed for all to see, and marvel over, and wonder.
“ugh, there’s something wrong with this clockwork mouse! all it wants to do is to explode in a burst of flames, nothing but a bang of sound! it wants to shatter into glass shards that shine iridescent, with light caught in its fireworks!”
“ah… well, the brightest stars burn the fastest. i wonder… what would this clockwork mouse give to burst and hurtle into the abyss beyond?”
as if on cue, the clockwork mouse shuts its eyes, focuses, and concentrates all its little sparks and ticks into a point.
all goes quiet, somehow.
all stare at the little mouse holding a flame to its’ chest.
tic,
tic,
tic-
ping!
a tiny burst of sparks, and nothing more.
