Ophelia

When you are born, you are already the wrong shape.

On your left: Missing. Erased. Faceless. Blank. (Was it always this way? He was always something he was not.)

On your right: Unknown. Mystery. Static. Shifting. (Was it always this way? She has always been the way she will be.)

The lines have intersected with a union before them.

The sign of a circle, the sign of summation, stacked.

You are the wrong shape.

You are not what he wanted (for he wanted pointed direction).

You are not what she wanted (for she wanted nothing at all).

Oh, well. Away you go.

[1, 2]

He has gotten what he wanted in double time (but they will not stay that way).

The sister will forget the name she was told (but she would have forgotten it any way).

You don’t get to see this. You are drowning.

From the moment you have known life, you have known it to be water. You sink. Did no one ever teach you how to swim?

And who taught you that you should know how to swim?

[4, 5]

Another pair. He will not care for the girl (though he thinks he does, because he was as wrong about them as he was the first two).

Another year. She tends to her well (though she doesn’t need to, because it is as self-sufficient as it was at the beginning).

Who cares? You’re not there. What does this have to do with you?

You weren’t even given a piece of the world you were born into. It fills up your lungs, but none of it is yours.

Pieces of infinity worm into your brain and make it theirs.

[7]

He regrets this one as soon as it’s done (which is why the other is left to take care of her).

She regrets not doing this sooner (which is why the well is as eager as her).

You are halfway to hell and feel no relief for it.

There’s already five (six, with)out( you). How miserable is it that you just learned how to speak?

You don’t get to test your abilities. You only sink.

[6]

He acts as the ebb (he takes away, he weakens her spirits).

She acts as the flow (she gives life, she is acted through).

Waves. You can see them above (or below).

The light dances, visible even in this abyss. It feels familiar, like a sibling, but she’s certainly not yours.

Darkness. What you knew fades out of view.

[8]

He will be his favorite (which is why he must kill himself).

She will be her favorite (which is why she must become lifeless).

Hell rejects habitation.

You are rejected by the world. No part of this existence wants you, only desiring you for what you could be.

You reject every piece of the world (in/and) turn.

[3]

He abandons.

She cherishes.

The world cannot only ever be two.

There must be somewhere else for you. Somewhere for the lost. Somewhere deep below (or above).

You feel such anger at the world for letting itself be like this.

[9]

█████ ████

--..-.. -.--

Observe.

Both of them melt away. It is a blissful moment.

And then you return—

[0]

Except you are nowhere at all.

You have returned to a place you have never been before. The earth tears herself open, but the earth isn’t █████ at all.

No one truly exists who remembers you. This has always (or never) been true.

[1, 2]

[4, 5]

[7]

[6]

[8]

[3]

[9]

[0]

[X]