Hopeless Love (Confronting the Villain)

by Shauna Houser
Email: Stormlight@aol.com


A Villain and a Heroine.
A story old as time.
A hopeless love that cannot be,
cast by Fate's cruel design.
And shattered crystals, brightly gleaming,
hold to fae enchantment's seeming;
and a maiden lays there, Dreaming
deep within her mind...

There's someone that she searches for,
yet whom, she does not know.
Surrounding her, she sees instead,
in hazy candle glow,
the Dancers dressed in fine array.
Seductively they twirl and sway
like glittering rubies on display
with naught but glass below.

Then through the hoard of colored silks
she finds the one she seeks.
His changeling eyes burn into her
and leave her feeling weak,
and through the hazy, dim-lit room,
his eyes filled with despairing gloom,
he drifts to her, as though to Doom;
she finds she cannot speak...

Such sadness in his haunted gaze!
It tears her soul in two,
and deep inside, her heart cries out,
"Please, tell me what to do.
What dark vision do you see
when e're you turn your gaze to me?
Reveal this awful tragedy!
How can I comfort you?"

Into his arms he takes her then,
and into dance they're spun,
and something magic fills his eyes,
for Something has begun...
In velvet voice he sings his song.
They're dancing, dancing all night long.
Her heart cries, "Here's where I belong!
From him, I'll never run."

But something lingers in her mind;
A hidden doubt is there.
Yet when he bends to kiss her mouth,
she cannot seem to care.
But still, she feel's something's amiss,
and turns away from tempting kiss.
Then, from her throat there comes a hiss
of worry and despair.
For Dancers start to press her in
and masked eyes glitter coldly.
On lips are twisted sneers of hate
as rough hands clutch her boldly.
And with a startled, panicked gasp,
she tears herself from hateful grasps
and stumbles through the sea of masks
amid their howling glee.

And yet, no matter where she runs
those eyes she can't escape.
They follow her where e're she goes;
their sorrow she can't shake.
And in their depths lies a command,
a plea for her to understand
the Gift he holds in outstretched hand,
as through glass walls she breaks.

Then screams of horror fill the air
and end the mocking laughter,
and everything begins to fall
as all ends in disaster.
And still, Dancers mechanically
sway to discordant melody,
for even now they are not free;
they'll Dance forever after.

And in this broken spell she stands;
her enemy she faces.
Her Dream is coming to an end
as to an end Time paces.
From 'midst the shadows he appears;
his face has aged a hundred years,
and ancient eyes hold all the fears
of a hundred ancient races.

Now pale mist gathers like a wraith
about his weary form,
and garbs him in a cloak of gray;
A piece of darkness, shorn.
His haunted eyes are begging, pleading,
and his soul is bleeding, bleeding...
Why must this love be so fleeting?
Why is his heart so torn?

An echo of a tolling bell;
the hour is at hand.
Before him stands this Heroine
to make her final stand.
Determination conquers Fear,
and Mercy has no holding here...
Yet in her eye there shines a tear
as she states her demand.

And even as she speaks
the world's foundations start to quake,
and she feels the very air
surrounding them begin to shake
as, with the tolling of the bell,
there comes an end to faerie spell;
her Dream, a fragile, shining shell,
will soon begin to break.

And though she knows the choice is clear
and that he cannot stay,
her heart begins to break
as now he slowly fades away.
The Story comes into its end,
and even True Love cannot bend
the Rules of iron. In the end
the Story has its way.

Upon Awakening she knows
she's lost her greatest chance.
Her dreams had been within her reach;
within his longing glance.
But in her mind she'll stand before
the threshold of Enchantment's door.
With him she's bound forever more.
Forever they shall Dance.