This story was
originally published in the Promptly Written publication on Medium by
yours truly,
in response to the prompt 'Either dream or reality' from
editor Ravyne Hawke.
Crystal Clarity
He stepped out onto the crystal deck. Unable — unwilling — to look through
the refracted layers of light beneath his feet.It seemed so fantastical. A miracle of modern craftsmanship and
engineering, they called it. He hated it.
Layers of quartz and glass
melded into one another to create this sturdy viewing platform, over the crater.
It didn’t seem real. And yet… it was strong beneath him. Physical.
He
wouldn’t look down, through the surface, the prism, the light. Instead he looked
across at the crater itself, ragged, raw, a bleeding wound on the landscape.
They
told him the platform was very beautiful — stark contrast, they said, with the
catastrophe it looked out upon. But he kept his eyes resolutely ahead, away from
the glimpses of sublime achievement beneath him.
Beauty had no place
here — not like this. No matter how much the tourists clicked and clacked across
the quartz and crystal, oohing and ahing, he would not look down.
He
wondered how many of them had even taken a videogram or a panoramiograph of the
real attraction — the reason the platform was even here: the ugly crater which
once held so many hopes, dreams, lives. None of them seemed to care.
They’ll
tell people they visited this place. Not quite the truth.
Whatcha think?
Talk to me! 😊💬
Previous Short Stories on Dora Reads:
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