Herz aus Stein
Excerpt
Dear Diary:
Eyes, I thought I saw eyes . . .
Last night I woke up in the wee hours when it was pitch black out. I was wide awake peering out into the darkness of my room. I couldn’t see anything. Yet it felt as if someone was in the room with me.
“Who’s there?” I asked aloud.
No reply.
I looked toward the mirror over my dresser. I gasped. Reflected in the dark glass seemed to be two very bright circles. They looked like eyes, but they couldn’t be. No one, nothing, had eyes with such unearthly brilliance. They were red — blood red!
I rose and tried to keep my trembling legs from collapsing underneath me. Slowly I walked toward the mirror, reaching out my arm toward it.
The eyes became redder, more and more intense. They seemed to be spitting fire. The eyes drew me in like a whirlpool. My head was going around. I was being sucked deeper and deeper.
Suddenly it all stopped.
Covered in scintillating jewels, a young woman sat on a golden throne. A long white linen dress clung to the curves of her body. On either arm perched a hideous black vulture with beady red eyes. She was fondling their feathers and stroking them. They made squawking noises .
Behind her was a painting on the wall of pyramids with pharaohs in headdresses.
The young woman looked up. Her face was completely hidden by a mask of gold. I could see only her eyes. They were red, blood red! They matched the pendant that hung around her neck, solid gold in the shape of vulture’s wings with two red jeweled “eyes“ in the center.
On either side of her throne stood two servants in white robes fanning her with peacock feather fans. Even as they fanned her, they averted their eyes.
One humble servant after another knocked their foreheads against the floor and presented the lady with trays of purple grapes and sweet figs, trays of the sweetest wines, trays full of whatever struck her fancy.
“Come!” she pointed at me, noticing me for the first time.
I was carrying a tray as well. But I was so nervous my legs wouldn’t support me. I tripped. The tray of honey sweets fell to the tiled floor. I cowered in terror, apologizing.
“Look at me!” she thundered.
I shook my head and pleaded. But the lady was insistent. I turned my eyes upward and froze with an expression of horror on my face. She had removed her mask. The most hideous face I’d ever seen in my life confronted me. It was so ugly I couldn’t stand to look at it. Worse, horrible, hissing cobras with red eyes writhed and coiled around her head. One lunged and bit my arm. I could feel the poison freezing my veins, turning me numb and cold all over. Slowly my arms and legs turned to stone. The rest of me followed suit.
“I condemn you to the living death,” said the woman, hissing with evil just like her snakes.
Dear Diary:
Eyes, I thought I saw eyes . . .
Last night I woke up in the wee hours when it was pitch black out. I was wide awake peering out into the darkness of my room. I couldn’t see anything. Yet it felt as if someone was in the room with me.
“Who’s there?” I asked aloud.
No reply.
I looked toward the mirror over my dresser. I gasped. Reflected in the dark glass seemed to be two very bright circles. They looked like eyes, but they couldn’t be. No one, nothing, had eyes with such unearthly brilliance. They were red — blood red!
I rose and tried to keep my trembling legs from collapsing underneath me. Slowly I walked toward the mirror, reaching out my arm toward it.
The eyes became redder, more and more intense. They seemed to be spitting fire. The eyes drew me in like a whirlpool. My head was going around. I was being sucked deeper and deeper.
Suddenly it all stopped.
Covered in scintillating jewels, a young woman sat on a golden throne. A long white linen dress clung to the curves of her body. On either arm perched a hideous black vulture with beady red eyes. She was fondling their feathers and stroking them. They made squawking noises .
Behind her was a painting on the wall of pyramids with pharaohs in headdresses.
The young woman looked up. Her face was completely hidden by a mask of gold. I could see only her eyes. They were red, blood red! They matched the pendant that hung around her neck, solid gold in the shape of vulture’s wings with two red jeweled “eyes“ in the center.
On either side of her throne stood two servants in white robes fanning her with peacock feather fans. Even as they fanned her, they averted their eyes.
One humble servant after another knocked their foreheads against the floor and presented the lady with trays of purple grapes and sweet figs, trays of the sweetest wines, trays full of whatever struck her fancy.
“Come!” she pointed at me, noticing me for the first time.
I was carrying a tray as well. But I was so nervous my legs wouldn’t support me. I tripped. The tray of honey sweets fell to the tiled floor. I cowered in terror, apologizing.
“Look at me!” she thundered.
I shook my head and pleaded. But the lady was insistent. I turned my eyes upward and froze with an expression of horror on my face. She had removed her mask. The most hideous face I’d ever seen in my life confronted me. It was so ugly I couldn’t stand to look at it. Worse, horrible, hissing cobras with red eyes writhed and coiled around her head. One lunged and bit my arm. I could feel the poison freezing my veins, turning me numb and cold all over. Slowly my arms and legs turned to stone. The rest of me followed suit.
“I condemn you to the living death,” said the woman, hissing with evil just like her snakes.
