Lost in the Ohsuk

Still lost in dream, Gonyaul the rabbit, landed with a bounce onto what felt like sand. The impact caused no pain. In fact, it was comforting because there was visible ground and even a horizon line over the dunes. Suddenly reeds of dry grass sprouted up all around him, hiding himself from the sky above and towering over him like the trees in a thick forest.

The sand beneath him began to tremble and he witnessed ants the size of elephants crashing down towards his location. Their enormous size made every detail more threatening. One ant in particular caught his attention, for it had a mane of fire and stood at a place of power over the rest.

Gonyaul curled into a fetal position hoping he would survive this stampede. Suddenly the familiar talons of the avian vapor had him again. This time by the legs and holding him upside down. Gonyaul could see the sand colored ants clashing with an entire colony of black ants coming from the other direction; he hadn’t noticed them until he had the eagle eye view. These ants were led by a pure white one.

As he was carried away he saw carnage and brutal fighting take place. It was soon covered by the tall grasses, which looked so much smaller from way up high. He once again tried to free himself from the beast. Gonyaul crunched upwards and beat at the talons holding him with his little rabbit paws. Once again, it worked, and he was falling towards the grass covered sands once more.

The wind picked up as he fell, making the tall grasses sway and move like ocean waves. And just like that, he found himself diving into a liquid. It was salty and fluid, he was struggling to get his head above water. When he did, he saw strong man made out of tar fishing on a nearby raft.

Gonyaul fought to swim over to the raft and was able to climb into a barrel attached to its side. The man didn’t look at him once; however, scolded him immediately. “Toughen up ya weakling, or the sea will claim you.” Gonyaul knew the man spoke true.

Before he could reply, the man shouted in excitement. A huge metallic looking whale with tusks surfaced right next to them and crashed back down. It sent the raft tumbling over and Gonyaul was once again in the water trying to get back to the overturned raft. The man of tar was gone. That was until Gonyaul noticed the whale speeding off with a large harpoon pierced in its side and the man made of tar riding it into the ocean.

Gonyaul climbed back aboard the upside down raft and took stock of his predicament. In every direction there was endless ocean. He then cautiously looked over the edge, down into the waters, and saw his rabbit face reflecting back at him. And behind him the avian vapor approached, but he was looking the wrong way. Once again he was lifted into the air.

Gonyaul tired of trying to free himself and resolved to just go limp. The ocean below eventually ended, crashing hard against the foot of a mountain so wide and tall that it felt like it was the origin of all the earth. The creature flew them around and up further still.

The air grew colder on his skin as they reached ever increasing altitudes. On the other side of the mountain, Gonyaul noticed it wasn’t just a mountain of stone, but a titan sized throne. And sitting on that throne was a woman made of mountain herself. She was heavily armored in tectonic plates made of a variety of rocks. She felt timeless.

Her attention was fixed off into the distance. It made Gonyaul follow her gaze and notice a gigantic and ominous storm approaching the mountain. It blew and howled, yet the mountain would not bow to it no matter its fury. The mountain woman spoke, her booming voice vibrated every bit of his little furry body.

“Sometimes to uphold honor you must move mountains.” And with that statement came a grinding and groaning sound. An earthquake ripples through the mountain the titanic woman stood up into a combative stance facing the coming storm. She growled in defiance and the top of the mountain erupted into fire and ash. Lava poured down her form like hair falling out of a tight braid.

To avoid the flying rock, lava and ash, the avian vapor turned and flew straight towards the storm. It was a tumultuous ice storm. A blizzard mixed with lightning, thunder, hail and sleet. The winds were so cold that ice was forming in his fur, causing him to shiver.

Yet they continued flying into the depths of the storm. It grew so dark it almost was like the void from earlier I all directions. And then, like the gleaming teeth of a huge shark’s mouth, out of the darkness a ferocious maw opened and consumed them both.

Gonyaul remembers being tossed around inside the throat of the storm. The avian vapor ever present and it’s colors fluctuation with a growing brightness. And suddenly like a super nova the avian vapor exploded. It sent radiant light in all directions, instantly dissolving the entire illusion.

Gonyaul was standing, himself again, in the void. He was surrounded by twinkling starlight on all sides. It was moving outwards, the beautiful firework remnants of the avian vapor. It was so intense Gonyaul had to cover his eyes.

~~~