The
train rattles through the tunnels beneath the midnight city. I sit in
the center of the carriage, body rocking gently with the motion. I
close my eyes as the rumbling, metallic thunder slowly begins to fade
into the very periphery of my awareness.
And
with each soothing breath which permits me deeper and deeper, in it's
place, I tune in and I hear it.
Crystal
clear and as delicate as lace, thrumming through the core of my
being.
a-click-tick-tick-tick
a-click-tick-tick-tick a-click-tick-tick-tick
The
outside world is now as good as silent, and all that fills the
expanse of my mind is that light mechanical ticking, punctuated with
the rhythm of my beating heart.
one-two-three,
four-five
one-two-three,
four-five
I
open my eyes again and glance down the silent carriage. Faces speak
and mouths laugh noiselessly and all the while the ticking grows, my
breathing and bloodbeat keeping perfect tempo.
I
glance down at my arms and watch as the skin ripples beneath my gaze.
I flex my fingers and watch as thin streams of light radiate from my
fingertips and chase down the tendons and veins of my hand like a
fuse, the very atoms that make up my skin humming and vibrating with
hushed anticipation, glittering like fireflies.
a-click-tick-tick-tick
a-click-tick-tick-tick
one-two-three,
four-five
I
focus on one particular fuse, watching it fizzle beneath the surface
of my body, dancing up through my bloodstream and into the furnace
beneath my ribcage.
There,
deep in the heart of my solar plexus, this spark catalyses into a
divine kind of energy.
Feverish
in the grand anticipation reserved for something solely divine, lies
those infinite golden little cogs, gears and spindles which
collaborate in seamless harmony to form this intricate celestial
timepiece, that whirrs and clicks with increasing tempo as it
recognises the approach of something monumental.
The
coming of the first full revolution.
With
a fever pitch reaching a near uncontrollable ferocity which sends
plumes of adrenaline coursing through my bloodstream, I
know the moment is imminent.
Through
countless years, these internal mechanics have remained dusty and
corroded, mismatched with pieces perpetually dislodged, with only
fleeting hopeful moments of apparent functionality.
All
of which now only pales in comparison to the fluid flawlessness of
this impending evoloution.
My
meek, physical form, barely able to operate with the amount of power
being drawn inward, stumbles up from underground, a sudden burst of
sub-tropical city air pulling me back to the present.
A
sound from this outer world penetrates my mind, the rolling,
undulating melody from the street saxophonist on the corner. The
sound weaves its way into the symphony of clicks and ticks and beats,
and the rhythm only serves to increase the tempo, mirroring the
rising sensation in the core of my being.
bada-ba-ba-bada-dada
a-click-tick-tick-tick
a-click-tick-tick-tick
one-two-three,
four-five
And
suddenly, I know it's time.
These
burning fuses of light seem to electrify my hands and my entire form
begins to quiver and shake under the power of the coming
metamorphosis. My chest and shoulders rise and fall with rhythmic
urgency and the ground beneath my feet begins to crack and shatter
with a deep, satisfactory rumble.
The
city whispers on around me and I see it all with a clarity synonymous
only with transcendence.
Finally,
I throw back my head and my arms in rhapsody as the pinnacle of the
revolution grips my entire form.
And
from there I watch, ablaze, as one by one the towering lights which
surround me flicker and falter under the surge of this power. I
instinctively reach a hand toward them and draw every little light
from these buildings, winding my hand around them like rope and
pulling them into me. With my other hand I reach out and draw the
light from the traffic and the city streets, sirens, headlights and
traffic signals magnetised to me, drawn through space and time unto
the tips of my fingers and travelling through my veins with marine-like bioluminescence.
With
the brute force of this fathomless energy streaming into my hungry,
insatiable soul, I draw my limbs inward, concentrating every last
iota of this power into the furnace of my heart, determined to
channel it until it can take no more.
Then
finally, my physical form falls away like dust as I cast myself
skyward and explode into the night.