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I figure I should start my narrative with Snake and Horse.
The clouds were burning in gold and orange, and in orange and gold. Veins of cherry pink filigree twined across the pale sky in a mesmerizing web, and if you looked at it long enough you’d think the cirrus were the ones who were colored white and the sky was the one blushing behind its veil of vapor. The red lacquer pillars of the mountain pavilion relished the glow of the sunset. They seemed to stretch taller when no one was looking, striving to capture the fading warmth of the sun as it vanished below the green horizon.
“S’ been nice while it lassted.” Said a tired, hissy voice. “Ssso long.”
I glanced down at the small red coil of scales wrapped around my wrist. They had long lost their gleaming sheen, and were rough and weathered with scratches and chips. A small pointed head poked out and looked up at me, its forked tongue tasting the air.
“So long.” I murmured. “See you in twelve years. It’s been rough.”
A looseness around my wrist, like a wristwatch being removed, and now the snake dropped to the ground. It was off in an instant, slithering towards the tall grass as rapidly as its sore body could carry it. Something about its battered air spurred me to talk more. It would be a good long wait until we’d see each other again.
“I learned a lot, you know!” I called after it. “I really did- not the way I wanted to, but, I guess that’s how I’m supposed to learn some things in life, so thanks I guess…”
A rustle in the tall grass as Snake vanished. I deflated, slouching into a weary posture against a pillar. My body wanted very much to take a good nap. I doubted it had ever woken up since I got out of bed; I’d been sleeping at 11 P.M and waking up at six A.M for too many mornings than was humanly possible. That was the way of the world these days, entropy increasing, people rushing around, competition snowballing into avalanches, and the only thing you learn to know is get-up-get-up to scrimp and save for that tiny bit of extra time that might give you a lead in the massive rat race and stuff… Kafka had said it somewhere, hadn’t he? Something along the lines of Getting up so early in the morning makes people dumb and dull, but in the end it was just the system working, and you couldn’t fight the system…
I knew I had dark circles around my eyes. The green-sleeves-white-torso school uniform, standard issue was still on me, and I knew it made me look like an emperor penguin native to mars, and I hated it. Not that there was much I could do apart from think about hating it. Maybe a quick nap here wouldn’t hurt, then. At least help me stop thinking for a while, and save me from the thoughts of all that homework waiting to be done…
The sun, halfway into its setting routine, peeked out a ripe red rim of fire from behind the clouds, staining a patch of sky crimson. I wondered how long I would have to wait here. Snake had been very vague in his words as always, and tempting him to spit everything out with a bribe of sausages had been about as effective as trying to pry open a safe door with tweezers.
Clop-clop-clop-clop-clop. The sound came from some ways behind me. CRACK! I flinched, jerking my head away. That had been beside my cheek. It sounded as if a leather riding crop had been struck very professionally (and intimidatingly) upon the side of a boot, which happened to be more or less the case.
“Afternoon, youngster!” A weathered voice said. “You haven’t been kept waiting, I hope. Ah, modern transportation is so hard to make sense of these days, and I did the best I could to not be delayed. I know the way to everywhere, after all, I know the way around once I’ve been there once, and I’ve been everywhere in my old days- but when you have new roads and signposts and street names changing every six months, how is one supposed to keep up with it?” He slung the crop over his shoulder and wringed two tanned, calloused hands, letting out a sigh that sounded like a whinny. “I do detest delays.”
“Well, Snake just left-” I said. “I figure you’re just in time.”
“Ah-hah!” The newcomer’s face lit up. He had a lean build and wild silver-mixed-with-gray hair, and his eyes were a comforting dark brown. He wore a faded green shirt and blue-dyed pants. A threadbare towel was draped around his neck, looking convincingly older than I was. He found my hand and shook it vigorously, and I barely kept my expression in check as I felt his palms- I had seen they were rough, but I hadn’t imagined gritty sandpaper, out of all textures. All this time he kept talking. “Snake, eh? So you must have spent a lot of time with Snake, I see. Good fellow, as I say, but feisty when you don’t know him. Too silent on the outside and thinks too much on the inside. Plotting, thinking all day long. Never get a straight answer out of him. I like simplicity and straightforwardness. Ah-bah!” He slapped his forehead loudly. “Speaking of straightforwardness. Where are my manners? My name is Horse. Pleasure to meet you. Snake has told me things about you.”
“As has Snake told me stuff about you.” I said, awkwardly holding his hand still gripping mine. I wondered when he’d remember to let go. He seemed so nice that I couldn’t bring myself to cut the conversation brusquely. “You’re the new Year. 2026.”
Horse beamed. “Not just the new Year!” He laughed. His laugh, high and short on breath, sounded even more like an enthusiastic whinny than his sigh. “A special Year as well, for many, many people. But especially for you!”
“Me?” I didn’t have time to follow up. Horse clapped me on the back with his other hand, and I felt like I’d been gently kicked by a stallion in the spine.
“Let us go!” He said, spreading an expansive hand as he pulled me onwards, out of the pavilion. “Many things to see, many deeds to do.You are growing up, youngster, and yet you are not of age just yet. I was told that you are utterly and hopelessly lost, as many people of this age are. We shall converse about your life tonight, as we approach this changing of Years, and see what direction you may advance towards, in the future to come. BUT FIRSTLY!” He pointed, proudly, at the lights of a village below. A small cluster of houses, tucked deep within the mountain valley. “Perhaps you should reconnect with some friends!”
I realized I recognized the place he was pointing towards. I had been dreaming about it many times in the past. Last time I left it, it was more of a disappearance. “W-wait, do you think its a good-”
“OF COURSE IT IS!” Horse cried, tugging me along. “Hurry now, or we’ll be late! You have much explaining to do! People were worried about you when you left.”
Yeah, I knew that. Last time I had tried to stay by doing a challenge, I’d driven myself to the edge of a mental breakdown and poured negativity out into the whole place- the one place in the world where I shouldn’t have done so. The result had been stuff that went into videos with titles like Challenge: Surviving 100 Days in Isolation (Gone Wrong!). Not fun to think about, and it was one of the only events with Snake that I remembered. I quit doing the darned thing, of course. It had taken many self-reflection sessions and bad days to dig myself out of the toxic mindset I had wedged myself into. Rethinking priorities, quitting the rat race, learning to appreciate my own writing again, all that. Real painful times.
“New Years bring new hopes, new faces.” Horse told me, as we stumbled down the mountain and into the village. “You, youngster, would do good to start with a new emotion- happiness. Been missing that for too long, you. HELLO EVERYONE!”
There were people around us now. People emerging from houses. People who I knew and people who I didn’t, but I realized I hoped to know, or at least see around more, as I looked at them. There was a familliar chirrup as a small shape landed on my shoulder.
“Hi. I missed you.” I murmured, allowing it to hop onto my palm. It looked up at me, antennae twitching. “How have things been going?”
Chirp. The cricket said.
“No, I’m afraid not. Just visiting for a short while. I won’t be around for long.”
Chirp.
“Nope, won’t be leaving either. Just more ghosting, less posting.”
Chirp Chirp.
“I was stupid, honest. I’ll try to not meltdown in depression again.”
The cricket hopped away, landing by a nearby signpost. WELCOME TO CHATTERBOX in comic sans stood prominently in the center of the largest sign.
Horse nudged me. “Introduce yourself, boy. I can draw their attention, but you have to make the effort to be welcomed. Say you are here again.”
“You are here again!” I proclaimed enthusiastically.
“Don’t be foolish, youngster.”
“Sorry, old habits.” I couldn’t help but smile a bit as memories of good old times returned. Fooling around. That had been so long ago.
“Hello! I’m back! It’s me, Zealatom…Sorry for leaving without a trace…
Life sucks sometimes, but I’m back here to say that I’m slowly getting over it. Cheers.
To all a (early) happy new year, and to all a good day. If you want to interact, use this as a random Q&A. I’ll try to answer on time, but sometimes I’ll be delayed… -
That was BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for coming back to say hi! I just joined the CB, so I don’t remember seeing you around. It’s nice to meet you! You’re a great writer! 😊
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*tumbles out of the nearest building* ZEAL hello!!!! I’m so glad the Horse brought you
:)How’ve you been, and how’s the dreaded ~school~ going? No hard feelings about your disappearance, either – it sounded like things were really rough, and your needs were definitely more important than the CB. Hope things are better now, though <3On another note, I know (I think?) I’ve said this before, but your writing is… mindblowing. Reading your work always makes me so happy, and it conveys a lovely sense of comfort and rightness which I’ve never quite gotten from anything else. And mountain pavilions I love mountain pavilions (or pavilions of any sort, to be quite, quite honest) whee :DD And the idea of the cricket is perfect and it’s all absolutely beautiful *enthuses for pages*
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wow I loved reading this!! I love the character of Horse, and of Snake too – they’re really well-characterized! and it’s comforting to think of the Year of the Horse as a time of positive changes – we really need that. And I love how you included the cricket. Anyway, your writing talents aside, it’s so wonderful to read you again!! I’m glad to hear that you’ve been doing better. We missed you, but it’s fine to take some time to deal with things when you need to, and not everyone is able to post all the time <3
If you ever need to talk about anything in particular, let me know:) and please don’t worry about seeming “negative” – everyone needs to be able to process things by talking with friends, and all of us CBers are ready to support you in whatever ways you need.
I hope that your life only continues to get brighter from here on! An early happy new year to you too!
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Hi Pea Vine, Amethyst and Poinsettia and everyone else who might have read this thread but not posted! Thank you so much for the warm welcome. Yes, I’m doing much better compared to the state I was in a few months ago. It took me a while to come around with the realization that maybe writing and art in general is a key part of my head that simply cannot be restricted forcefully. I talked things out with family, and we managed to agree that maybe parents are not always right about what I am supposed to do with my life. (Well, duh, of course it sounds obvious when put into words, but I have found through personal experience that obvious wisdom is usually overlooked until one learns it the hard way. Then you begin appreciating it.)
In a nutshell, I pointed out that I’d tried their suggestions at keeping writing to a bare minimum, and it didn’t work out, so perhaps they should try listening to my suggestion and let me do my own thing. And time proved that my own thing worked better, in the end. It took a long while for me to recover and find my own pace again, both study-wise and writing-wise, but once I did I found that my grades stabilized and my mental health bounced back to normal. Plus, I gained extra insight as to how I should manage my own life and be independent in my decisions. So maybe that discontinued challenge did teach me something. Although I do add that although I recognize the importance of the lessons I learned, I am not thankful for the way they were administered to me…
I’m getting sidetracked now. Anyway, thanks so much for the support. I cannot even begin to express the wonderful sensation of reading your posts again. And I really am blushing at all the writing compliments- I don’t think I qualify for them yet!-
Thank goodness things are better! I’m so glad you managed to figure everything out in the end. And you really do qualify for the compliments :))
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Hey Zeal! I’m glad that you’re doing a lot better now! And your writing is amazing…I love how you used the Snake and Horse (happy lunar new year!) to represent good changes. And let’s all hope that this new year is better than the last! Ma nian da ji! (means wishing you great fortune/luck in the Year of the Horse)
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Thanks so much for the blessings Moon Wolf! Ma Nian Ji Xiang to you as well! Hope you have smooth sailing all through the new year as well 😀
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Hey Zealatom. I’ve seen you before, but I don’t believe you have met me! Im Thalorwin, she/her, I joined last July I believe. Are you back for good?
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Hi Thalorwin, nice to meet you, and thank you for dropping around to say hi! Unfortunately, I’m more of a seasonal presence on the CB, so I’ll only be visibly active during summer and winter holidays when my school lets off. In fact, my current seasonal pass for existing will be expiring in… two days. Twelve-day long winter breaks are terrible. But yes, you could say that I’m trying to be back ‘for good’, as long as I have the time to post. Looking forwards to seeing you around!