110 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
110 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
s$
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$$ .d""b. .d""b. HOE E'ZINE #1079
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[-- $$""b. $$ $$ $$ $$ -- ------------------------------------------- --]
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$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ss$$ "The Story of The Alice and The Needle"
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$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ by Caitlin
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$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ 05/15/00
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[-- $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ -- ------------------------------------------- --]
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$$ $$ "TssT" "TssT"
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Once upon a time there was a strange pubescent girl. When she was
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much younger she used to play in the dandelion fields, talk to pigeons,
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and sing folk songs about sunshine and angel wings. But now her song had
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taken on a much darker, more haunting tone. She was 13-years-old this
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summer, when the people finally stopped questioning her about her sadness.
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"It's just teenage angst!" they'd say.
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"She'll grow out of it, I suppose."
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"She's going to be a beautiful woman someday."
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Her name was Lillybelle. She smelled of pink grape fruits and
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looked like a daisy, white-blonde hair cascading down her back and light
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apricot-colored skin covered modestly, yet loose and freely, in white
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worn cotton dresses, and electric-blue eyes. Summer was here, she was 13,
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and she officially began her journey.
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"Why does the grass grow so tall?" thought Lillybelle, "They never
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told me why this field is so verdant and impressive."
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She wandered along.
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"What is impressive anyway?" she questioned aloud. "Why can't I
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be as impressive as this field--this grass--this whole valley."
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She coughed and sat down on a rock. She looked at her hands and
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then looked up at the sky. She lit a cigarette and she wondered about
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everything that she ever was taught. She felt the droplets gathering in
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her eyes. An hour had passed and she was still crying. She decided she
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didn't want to be Lillybelle anymore. She changed her name to Digit and
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got up and walked into the forest.
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Walking and walking and walking some more, she finally came across
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a talking needle.
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"Hello there, Digit," said the needle.
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"Well, hel--wait.. How did you know my name? I just changed it
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less than three hours ago!"
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"Digit--It's because of fate. Everything you've ever been taught
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has led you to believe that things happen for a reason, right? Well I am
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the reason you were even born."
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"REALLY??" she said. She was very determined to find out why she
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was here, and she had never seen a talking needle before. She curiously
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approached it and touched the tip. She flicked it and glitter flew
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everywhere. Her mouth dropped.
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"See? How could you not be meant for anything that is as
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beautiful as me?" the needle said, "You know that you're as good as me."
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Digit and the needle sat in the middle of the forest for hours.
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They watched colors and sheep and cherries fly by their eyes. The needle
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began to kiss and touch Digit all over her white cotton dress. He left
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stains all over her cotton, and she started to become ashamed.
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"Needle--you know--if people see these stains all over me--well,
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they might think bad things," Digit cried.
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The needle comforted her. He told her that she was beautiful and
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that things would turn out for the best. He told her that nothing bad
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could ever happen to them because they were meant to be.
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Three years had passed. Digit was 16 now, and she was still
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living with the needle in the forest. They had three children, and her
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cotton dress was still stained and it was even torn now.
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"You know, Needle, if anyone ever comes into the forest.. I will
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be very embarrassed. I don't want anyone to see me like this," Digit said.
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"It's okay, my love, things will be better soon, I promise."
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Digit believed the needle because she remembered the magic and the
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glitter from when she first came upon the needle. She believed he never
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meant any harm. She realized at that moment that she still hadn't found
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out why she was really here.
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"Needle--you told me that I am here for you and you're here for
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me. Well, then why am I so damn unhappy? Why do we have three children
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and why are we living in this deep, dark forest?"
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"Shut up, you stupid wench!" the needle snapped, "Just wait until
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five years passes! Then you'll see! I promise!"
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Digit cried next to her favorite tree and than nursed her three
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children one by one. They cried and she ignored them the best that she
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could. She then napped beside them. Her sleep was restless and filled
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with horrible nightmares. She dreamed of her family back near the green
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field. She dreamed of her dandelions and the smell of grapefruit. She
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realized that was what was missing.
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Something crashed and she woke up instantly. She remembered every
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detail of her dream and she began to get up. She wanted to run away back
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to the field and to her family. When she stood up and caught her
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balance, she saw the needle in front of her.
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"Where do you think you're going, Digit?"
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"I have to leave, Needle. I can't take this anymore. I'm not in
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love with you. You lied to me when I was younger and I didn't know any
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better. I want to go back and continue my education with my people," she
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announced.
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"But Digit! You don't love me anymore?!?!"
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"I never did," she stated and with that the needle fell to the
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ground, motionless. It lost whatever magic it had at that moment, and
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became just another object manufactured by human beings. Digit began to
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walk past the needle but tripped and fell. She landed right on the
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needle and it stabbed her eye.
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She stood up with the needle sticking out of her eye, and realized
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she felt no pain--no new pain from the protrusion and no more pain from
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the co-dependence she experienced with the needle. The blood ran down her
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face and she began to rise above the ground, flying through the treetops,
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knocking branches to the ground of the forest.
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It took Digit twenty years to realize she would never get out of
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that forest. She smoked 14,600 packs of cigarettes, drank 9,860 bottles of
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vodka, and clawed at her skin constantly. She flew around in circles, but
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the needle no longer told her what to do. It stayed in her eye and never
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talked to her again. On the twenty-first year she stopped tearing her skin
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apart, found her children, and built a trailer in the outskirts of the
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forest, near the green valley. She could never leave, but would devote
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her life to teaching her children how not to be. They lived happily ever
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after.
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[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
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[ (c) HOE E'ZINE -- http://www.hoe.nu HOE #1079, BY CAITLIN - 5/15/00 ]
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