Klive and Scarlett

They were lost souls. Wandering this existence in tangible bodies, while their minds were off in other dimensions. Klive saw her in the distance.

Another one.

He had seen many kindred souls before. They all ended the same. A brief connection followed by intense spirit burial. Nothing could last, such is the way of mortality. Did he have the capacity to connect again? Maybe this time his spirit would be buried for good and he could finally stop feeling. Her soul was surrounded in dark red, closer to black than red. There were streaks of green that flashed in and out of view. There was some happiness there, that was a good sign. Klive noticed the golden light in the center of her heart. She turned as if to hide it on purpose, but it was too bright to hide.

Klive’s dark red was similar. He cloaked himself in brighter green on purpose, always keeping a thin layer over everything else. He had no golden light in his center, there was just a hollow space surrounded by infinite black. Encounters with kindred souls or other deep connections would briefly fill it with such golden light, but it had been drained so many times that to fill it required a drill through many layers of dark red and the thick black that surrounded it.

Here we go again.

She was looking at a painting of a woman holding a lantern with a cat on her shoulder. It was black and purple with neon colors accenting specific places like the lantern and the reflection in the water beneath. The woman had a hood obscuring her head and face, no other clothing. It wasn’t a detailed anatomy, but a a curvaceous shape of an ominous looking woman.

She did not look up as Klive walked over.

“This is my favorite one.”

“I know.” the kindred soul stared at the painting.

“I saw it envelope you last week.”

“Ah, yeah… I was miles away…” Klive looked into the waters of the painting again. His memories bubbled up. He watched each one come up and pop at the surface of his mind. He wanted to dive in and lose himself. Now was not the time.

The woman stepped away without a word. Her heels clacking against the tile floor. Klive was still lost in himself. Her heel hit the floor more loudly.

“Coming Klive?”

“Hm? Who are you?” Klive turned towards the woman. She was in a dark red dress, red heels and had crimson highlights against pitch black hair.

“Scarlett.” She turned to continue walking away. She placed her hands behind her back beckoning him with her fingers as she walked.

Klive walked up to reach for her hand, then hesitated and pulled his hand back. His hands were callused and scarred. His memories replayed in the etched cracks of his palms. His legs followed, his mind spiraled.

They reached a bench that overlooked another installation. There was a pool of water on the level below and a giant canvas was suspended in the air hanging above it. The pool of water was still and you could see the reflection of the painting in the water.

“Do you know what this is?”

Klive finally put his hands down and looked up at where they were. He read the description plaque near them. “The Reflection. This is new since last time I was here. It’s huge.”

There were people milling about around the pool on the lower level and Klive could see other observation benches set up at other angles on the second floor.

“Yes. I created this one. It was just a compulsion, not for some deep meaning or message. Maybe someone else will figure out that part. I created it, but I cannot see its meaning. It’s frustrating.” Scarlett’s eyes were looking through the suspended canvas to searching for something beyond.

Klive felt his stomach drop as he looked at the pool below. As if the floor had suddenly dropped out from underneath him and he was falling through the Earth. He couldn’t look away from the water, it was as if he was looking through the reflection of the painting down into the earth below and at the same time his vision was bouncing off the reflection up into the sky disorienting him.

“I see it.” He murmured under his breath to himself.

Scarlett heard and looked over at him, but said nothing seeing his expression, lost again in the art.

She waited watching his dark brown eyes. She could see the reflection of her work in his eyes. The image wavered as his eyes shined with golden light. She tried to look where he was looking. She saw the same art piece that she had installed days earlier. But, she could tell from the change in Klive’s presence that he was seeing something completely different.

In this work, she was the conduit transcribing a message that is deciphered by others but hidden to her. Such is the calling of an artist. The impact is not for her in this moment, but the impact she brings on the world is felt through others.

Klive could feel his heart filling as he took in Scarlett’s piece. The golden light manifested in his eyes and slowly seeped down through his layers finding the hidden pores in each barrier. As the first drop of golden light pierced the blackest layer of his heart, he turned to Scarlett.

“Let’s go. Just the two of us. We’ll take a car and just drive.”

“Oh Klive, we cannot…” Scarlett watched the golden light bounce in Klive’s eyes. She had a life here, a job, an apartment, she couldn’t just leave. Could she?

Klive looked in Scarlett’s eyes. He saw her hesitation, the layers of dark red stiffening in place. Behind them the golden light shined brighter peeking through the porous layers.

Klive took her hand. “You feel this moment don’t you?” another speck of golden light pierced through Klive’s heart. It hurt. The blackest layer was there to protect himself. Even after going through this scenario many times before he knew it was better than dulling himself to the world.

Scarlett’s golden light intensified reaching out toward Klive… She pulled her hand away. Dark red expanded and surrounded both of them.

“Ah, sorry. That was a lot.” Klive put his hands in his pockets. He stared back out at the water. He could feel the black shell around his heart hardening again.

The dark red pulsed around them both as they breathed in silence. Scarlett looked over at Klive.

“I do feel it. But, this moment is not meant for me. My fairy tale is over. My art is what can channel these feelings for others. You know that, I can tell you’ve sensed this moment many times before.”

“Through these moments is the only way to continue living. Thank you for inspiring such feelings.”

They smiled at each other as the dark red swelled, cracks of gold formed thin lines around them, then disappeared. They walked their separate ways. Never to cross paths again.