The Scarlet Isles

[ScarletMallard]

Creation is a tiring and thankless task, impossible to perfect and yet simple to dabble in, much like cooking, or brewing designer coffee. This realm will be my playground, and sanctum. The walls that seperate it from the rest of the world are both porous and flimsy this flaw is of course intentional. I do hope rather desperately that some poor traveller may slip through one of the many doors to my Isle and become trapped within it's confines long enough to converse with me, and perhaps agree to visit more regularly.

My realm consists of a 10 acre island in the midst of a vast ocean. There is no other land in sight, and rarely if ever do ships pass by. The island is shaped like a tear drop, and has one little bay, in that bay a castle crumbles on a bed of stone, seemingly inaccessible from the shoreline, grown over with moss and creeping tropical vines. The beaches are soft white sand, scalding hot in the heat of the day, cool and welcoming as the evening wears on. A small house sits on the southern tip of the island, looking down over the sea from a short cliff.

The house is a simple two storied affair, defined by large windows and bright colors. It's ground floor consists of a large kitchen dominated by an breakfast bar and an open sitting room facing out toward the sea. The furniture is simple and low to ground, but affords a splendid view of the water and supremely comfortable lounging. The upper floor consists of two bedrooms and a large bathroom. First is the master bedroom, simple and elegant furnished with a king sized bed covered in soft dark red sheets in the corner sits a ancient writing desk, complete with an aged typewriter, quill and inkpot.

The second bedroom functions as an office, and is filled with notes, open books, and reference material. Every surface seems to be tiled with paper and littered with pens, pencils, highliters and rulers. Scissors jut from empty coffee mugs and drawings are pinned to the walls, some are buildings, boats, and architectural plans, others are nudes, erotic scenes and fantastic creatures.

The bathroom is testament to relaxation and therapeutic comfort, there is a small sauna, large jacuzzi tub, and standing glass shower with a shower head at either end and smooth stone bench along the far wall. In the center of the room a massage table stands proudly waiting for use.

North of the little house a densely vegetated grove of tropical plants and palm trees. Colorful birds squawk and caw to one another, rodents scurry too and fro in the undergrowth and a well worn hammock is strung along the Western edge for views of the Isle's spectacular sundowns.

Finally on the rounded Northern Edge of the island a beautiful stone archway crackles with energy. A portal to and from the outside world awaits any curious enough to step through it's arcing scarlet light.

 

[ScarletMallard]

In the little house on the Southern tip of the Isle a simple coilbound notebook filled with ideas has been left open to it's most recent page. And written there are a few headings:

Seelie and Unseelie

Heir to Midnight

 

[Indiscretion]

Dragging myself out of the surf through the seaweed and shells, I cough and try to expel the seawater from my lungs. All that is left of my uniform is a few soaking rags and I am bleeding but my strong shoulders and arms manage to propel me over the damp sand before I finally collapse into the beach. I manage to pull myself just far enough that out of the water that my mouth and nose are not submerged as I gasp my first few breaths of air untainted by sea spray.... Thank god I have found land... but where am I... and will I survive much longer?

 

[ScarletMallard]

The birds of my realm truly are a curious breed, they constantly twitter on about useless things like bugs and fruit and barely remember to announce more important things, like the isles first visitor! He is a worn and bedraggled looking fellow, apparently a little worse for the wear.

"Hello there, you look half-drowned" I say, trotting down the beach from my home, dressed in a sensible pair of blue jeans and jimi hendrix t-shirt "Are you okay?"

I inspect the stranger casually, his clothes are ruined but looked as though they had been some kind of uniform.

 

[ScarletMallard]

The stranger does not seem to be inclined to comment and bored I decided to move on. Perhaps the ruins of Graveshire castle can provide a distraction or maybe the birds have something to say on this beautiful day. Moving across the sandy shore isn't difficult for me, as lord of my realm I can cross the island in one step or a thousand, as I choose. And one small step carries me to the farside of my domain, staring out at the crumbling structure before me. One of these days I may take the time to repair the old place, but it holds a certain rustic charm as it is, and it's creation was purely accidental. Simply an image from a dream I'd long since forgotten that managed to worm it's way into the creative process.

Remembering that the image is incomplete I wave my hand and equally worn pillars burst from the sea, displacing the water and causing small waves to dance across the bay.

Better. A hop carries me 30 feet to the first one, and I decide that it needs to tilt a little more precariously, and so it does. Satisfied, I drop to the water, bouncing across the surface casually.