It was golem’s truth that sent her there – balancing parallel between smoky sky and snowy earth – like tightrope walking white caps upon the rough edges of a stormy sea.

Her people thought her flighty, an empty-headed girl navigating without beacon nor map. Awestruck by pupae turned butterfly in jar. Amused for hours by prism light splaying ‘gainst background of plain white walls.

A mercy, they thought, that she should find a suitor in her mal de coucou world. With proper training by aunts, grandmothers, sisters, mothers, 1st and 3rd cousins, she could learn cost of women’s forever-after by wedding date; day set by his desire and parents’ whims.

But she was given gift, as she tossed last night in single bed on wedding eve, of a dream, a sign.  She watched herself open lid, set butterfly free. It’s wings bent light, fracturing, refactoring images like magic lantern show. Of saying please, to tending needs, of thorny vines that bind.

She awoke, nerve strong, to spare her finger, her soul, of leaden weights in guise of golden ring. Nothing would make her feet walk aisle; feet meant to balance life for herself alone.

 

I have combined four prompts in this piece: Sunday Whirl, mlmm wordle, photo challenge and tale weaver. Rather a large gulp of wedding toast champagne.

sunday whirl words 302: empty, cost, mercy, sign, flighty, free, bind, spare, jar, gift, forever; not used: groove

mlmm wordle words 158: background, please, awestruck, tend, parallel, mal de coucou (a phenomenon in which you have an active social life but very few close friends—people who you can trust, who you can be yourself with, who can help flush out the weird psychological toxins that tend to accumulate over time—which is a form of acute social malnutrition in which even if you devour an entire buffet of chitchat, you’ll still feel pangs of hunger, smoke, nerve, strong, desire, golem’s truth (A secret that must be kept on pain of death. ); not used: spill

mlmm photo challenge image 168: Cetrobo

mlmm tale weaver # 123: The June Bride