#nothing without everything

[holybananapants]

The ferryman

He is not what you would expect. The ferryman waits on a shallow boat, his staff of bone adorned with blood-like ruby. His crimson and black pinstriped pants peak through a dark black cloak. His chest is adorned with a matching crimson shirt under a black vest. White detailing matches the scars on his skin, two thin lines on each side of his ribs.

The ferryman knows loss. He rocks your babies and hugs your elders. He mourns not just them, but the life they lost. he hands your children their toys, and cradles your teenagers.

The ferryman is warm. He will hug you until your body no longer shakes with tears, until the change overcomes you and you are happy again.

The ferryman will hand you a mug of tea and a blanket. the ferryman will guide you to your final space, where you will wait for people, where you will meet people. the world of above, under, everything, nothing.

The ferryman does not judge. the ferryman loves you all. the ferryman will take your knives, your words, your fists. he will take your hate and he will throw it into the river, pulling you into his arms.

as the ferryman pushes the boat down the river, he listens to your stories. he tells you his in turn. he tells you of his partner, the stork, who brought you to your earth. he tells you of his childhood. of his young life, of who he was as he was raised. of when time started turning. of his first job down the river. of how much he cried. he tells you that the pain will not last much longer. that your friends wait for you, and that you wait for them in turn. that the warm, sunny world will return you to your happiest states.

The ferryman loves you. the ferryman remembers all your stories. he tells the stork the stories of the babies that the stork brought to earth, of the lives that they both missed. the two write them down, filling libraries with books and books and books of human lives. they cry together. they both love you.

the stork and the ferryman read the stories together. they love each other. they love you. they miss you. they hope they never see you again, that your lives last forever. they know it is not possible. they hope they wont see you for years.

[holybananapants]

they watched the flames lick the sides of the kettle. "A watched pot never boils." but this isn't a pot. their tea cup waits with tea and sugar, ready for the water. they spoon sugar into their empty mug in waiting, taking a half spoon extra, chewing the sugar as they eye the blue flames.

as they chew their sugar, they are reminded of what could have been. At first, the memory of a little girl floats in front of their vision.

...

She chatters with a friend, long tangled brown hair floating behind her as the two play together. her friend doesn't have glasses yet. she doesn't have her diagnosis yet. they're happy. one alive by her medication, one alive by her love for the other.

...

months later, almost a year later.

she waited outside, probably. she can't remember. her friend never came. she went inside. she assumed the friend was busy. she was too young to know worry.

...

both of them were surviving by medication now. one by the pump attached to her hips, the other by a medication that a seven year old should not know how to spell.

only one had glasses, for now.

they loved each other. best friends. sure, they fought sometimes. some might call it a lovers quarrel. they never would.

...

three years later now.

locked in their homes, their mothers fought loudly. once best friends, the two young ones were separated by the fact that neither mother could tell their child why they couldn't see the other. only one mother would ever admit to fault.

they both had glasses now.

the world shut down around them. they would think that hate was the only thing they could feel for each other for years to come.

...

three years later, again.

they had both cut their hair. one was going by a different name. the other wanted to. they talked, sometimes. they would help each other if needed. there was a tolerance.

...

two weeks later.

the eldest, surviving by more medication than a thirteen year old should know, worried for the other. they didnt talk much, but they knew that the other was struggling. they almost didnt come home the day before. they were scared for the younger child.

the younger child was a mystery to them. surviving by their pump, their needles, their tablets. their short curly hair and punk outfits. their mother, who was far too similar to the eldest's.

...

two more years passed.

a new season of choir started. M, the oldest, had been there for three years. C had just joined. they looked at each other from across the room. they would not talk, they promised themselves.

that didnt last long.

...

a season.

M cried when their sister joined choir. they had to put their old name on their tag. their old self. C grabbed the tag, scribbling their chosen self on the back of the tag. "for you to remember," they said, "it still you. just a little less visible."

...

another season.

on a trip with their choir. C passed out onto M. They guided C back to the hotel. They refused to let C sleep on the sofa bed. "No, you stay here." They bought C gatorade and candy. they had not had enough water, and their blood sugar was too low. M didnt let it happen again. the two worked together to keep C safe and alive.

...

a year.

C watched M almost die to their mothers hands. C offered them a space for a weekend. they couldnt take it. but they thanked them.

...

a month

they're friends now. they used to be infatuated, now its almost like the two exes who are closer than anyone. platonic love, if that.

...

M was pulled back into themself as they swallowed their sugar. a ghostly figure stood above them, holding an orange bottle.

...

their kettle whistled until it had boiled away all the water. the sugar jar and mug and teabag grew dusty. their house filled with gas.

when someone would enter again, they would find a body. a young one. they were not meant to survive long enough to find how the story ended for them.

Nobody attended their funeral.

[holybananapants]

once upon a time, there were two siblings. they were all the colors of the sun, and shone just as brightly. One of these siblings shone brighter, louder, and was liked by many. one of these siblings was quieter, warm and bright, but not scathingly so. Nobody in their village could survive without the both of them.

there was no day and no night yet. all that surrounded these siblings was light, and that was the light of Life.

after timeless hours of being in their village, the brighter one chatting away all day, and the dimmer one listening, the two began to talk.

"i dont feel as bright as i shine," the brighter one said. "i feel dull and dim. you shine so bright. i wish i was like you."

"No!" the duller one cried,"i wish i was like you! you talk and talk to our village, you are so charismatic. all i do is listen"

"But," the brighter one said, "You listen to the villagers. they love you. i may talk, buy i can never offer sympathy as you can."

the dim one sighed. "we are different. we both wish to be the other. we both work so hard. i wish we could rest."

the bright one said nothing, and turned away. they thought of their times with this sibling. "all they do is listen," the bright one thought. "i wish i was as good as them at that. i wish i could listen like the sky. sure, i can talk to the villagers, but they don't love me like they love my sibling. they're only with me because i am so bright."

Time passed, and the brighter sibling grew quiet around their sibling. they talked and talked to the townspeople, but never to their softer sibling.

"i worry about you," their sibling said one day, "i think you do not believe you are worth their love."

"i am so tired," they sighed. "I talk and talk but it is never enough. i want to rest. i feel so dull."

once again, they turned, hiding their glow from their sibling.

time passed again, and the sibling grew even more tired. one day, they decided on a plan.

The ever so bright sibling wrote a note.

"i am so bright, but what about my light inside. i am only worth anything to the village because of my shine. i will shine no longer."

the dull sibling found it later. in a timeless world, nobody could know how long it had been.

somehow, the world had grown dull in this time.

nobody had noticed except the sibling.

then the dim sibling found the note, all they could do was cry. timeless eons passed without them, an ever bright sky to show everyone that time had not changed.

That day, the sibling made a change.

they would not loose another to the corrosive dimness that ate their sibling.

that day, time began to turn.

night began.

a time of rest and survival. it would show how different and how dark the world would be without them.

but when the sibling turned night into existence, they saw something.

scattered light in the sky.

They swore they could hear their sibling in the sky. "i am listening. always."

the spots of light in the sky kept time turning. they reminded the surviving sibling of who they lost. they would not loose again.

the siblings, forever separated, remember. they mourn the loss of each other.

light cannot exist without darkness, but the sun does rise again.

[holybananapants]

The children

They are alone in a world

Where their mother

Is stone, plastic, cloth

Where their home is burning

Melting and dying

They are alone in a world

Where their families

Watch in dissatisfaction and disappointment

Where their home is a threat

Unsafe and cold

The billionaire boys

Have destroyed every home

Animal and human alike

Humans are killed, scorned, shaped into something their not

For daring to live as themselves

For daring to need

Animals are killed, shorted of land and resources and love

For daring to exist

On profitable land

Humans and animals are moved and killed and stolen from

Are we really all that different?

We are all harmed by the people who don’t have to try

Or worry

Or think

About any choice or purchase they make

About the effects of their decisions

Humans and animals share a love for earth other and this earth

Our earth

Terra

It is irreplaceable, a finite resource

But they disagree. And so the choices are made for all of us

By men who have never experienced the word “no” or “wait” or the worry of prices and land and home and food

A one sided love will kill this world

[holybananapants]

I saw death today. In my mind, there are a few deaths. Death, who finds you when you’re old and evil, is who I saw today. He is a white man in a linen suit. From the back, he looks kind. He is confused, wandering around glancing at his paper list. He looks approachable. He wants you to think so. When you look at him from the side, he is no longer man. Death has a bird-like face, dark swooped hair and pointed nose. His eyes are the bluest you will ever see, and the last. If he’s here for you, his eyes will find you. If he’s not, you will know to avoid him. Death will take you in a burst of flame. One second you will exit, the next your soul flies above, surrounded by smoke. You are gone now. Death is a phoenix, and he wants you gone.

This death does not hate life, but he resents yours. this death is lonely and grueling and wants you to hurt. this death wants your suffering. he feeds off it. this death is loveless and sandy, he will stick to your hair and your skin and bother you forever.

This death will plague you for years as you wander the sandy expanse of asphodel, the poppies and sand coating you until you become a husk of the body you used to be.

[holybananapants]

a writing prompt:

the story takes place at a office, two women. both getting divorced. one has on completely white with a single black necklace (a) while the other has on all black with a single white necklace (b)

you see (a) was extremely happy about her divorce, she only married him becauseof her parents. but (b) is not as happy, she loves her husband, but they want different things in life

yet the necklaces.. they reveal the untold, while (a) was happy, she was sad too, she had grown to love her husband, but not as a lover, as a close friend that you can tell all your secrets

so what does that mean for (b) well her story is a little different, as difficult as this divorce is, she can't wait to be out of the marriage, they married young and had truly began to fall out of love for eachother

in the end, the papers get signed and they both begin to leave. (a) mindlessly holds the door for (b) before a quick... "b.. is that you"

eah its about Yin Yang

sorry its kinda bad, you dont have do anything with this, but im certainly so might as well pass it on

its beautiful. this is the story of how Nothing and Everything met.

ill post it soon anon. my writing tag is here, so you can check there if you dont see it later.

[holybananapants]

Once upon a time, there were two lovers. One with dark onyx skin, and the other with skin like opal. They existed on an island, large and arboreal. Overflowing with plants and animals. One year, as the lovers walked hand in hand on their island, their whole world, a figure came down from above them.

The sky cracked open and began to speak to them.

The earth mirrored the sky, splitting the two apart, tearing the island down the middle.

Gaia, their mother, began to fire words up at the two of them. Ouranos rained words down on them from his spot in the sky.

“Be on my side,” Gaia cried, lava bubbling up from the tear in the earth.

“I am the one to side with!” Ouranos roared, thunder covering the sky and the light.

Their world, their island, existed outside of the bounds of nature. It was sky and land. It was everything, and nothing, just like them.

Everything, with their pearlescent skin, was trapped on one side of the island. Nothing, with their void black skin, was trapped on the other.

They were torn apart by earth and sky, wind, fire, and rain pouring down around them.

The two reached for each other across the wound in their land. They were too far apart.

There is no poetic way to describe a fight between parents. The hated each other, and were pulling their creations in to their doomed hatred with them.

“I’m scared,” Nothing whispered over the howling wind. “I know,” Everything replied.

“What do we do?” They asked, tears shining in their dark eyes. “I don’t know.” Was all Everything had to offer.

“I’m scared.” Everything said. “I know,” Nothing could just barely utter.

“We have to stop them.” Everything mouthed, their noise lost to the screams.

“It is the only thing we can do.”

Their eyes shown with tears, twin deities, lovers, opposites, parallels.

Nothing and Everything locked eyes across the gaping hole in their island. Their island that was being destroyed by quarreling parents. There had been a war brewing since the siblings turned the gears of time, but it seemed that the front line was on their own home.

They knew, the two of them, that they only chance was to run. The human world was beneath them, welcoming them with open arms, a sanctuary for all.

Gaia and Ouranos were not welcome on earth. It was the only place they could go.

“We will have to leave our island.” Everything said. Nothing nodded. “We will have to leave our home.”

The two knew that escaping this world to be together again meant leaving their home. The knew it meant that. They would risk it.

“There is no time to save anything,” Nothing shouted, going braver and more certain of their plan. The wind almost hid their sound. “We will save ourselves,” Everything said, “that will be enough.”

The twin lovers walked as close as they could get to each other. A opalite figure and an onyx one, on each side of a broken world.

They looked up. They saw the twin tears shining in their eyes. They saw the hope.

They jumped. A new world together. They would start it, of course, and Gaia and Ouranos would be certain to cause some trouble. But they would be protected

As they fell, they found each other in the air. Arms entangled, hugging each other for their life.

They landed hard. They landed safe. All that mattered was that they landed.

The two lovers had each other now, and a world alone.

Terra, they named it. They named their world together.

A world with Nothing and Everything.

It was theirs.