crown (a short story)

I woke up to a slight headache in the middle of the night. I looked out of the window. It was a full moon night. The stars were shining brilliantly as if beckoning me.

The pain was getting worse and worse each second I sat on the bed. I touched the top of my head and felt a slight swelling. There was something on my head.

I looked at the clock that hung in my room. It read 2:00 am. I gently got out of bed and tip-toed to the mirror in my room, careful of not waking the monster under my bed. 

I couldn't believe the image that looked back at me. I had horns on my head. Antlers to be precise. I screamed silently. 

"This isn't me," I said to myself as I held back my tears. "Who am I? I don't know who I am..."

This couldn't be. I couldn't have grown horns. What would people say? I would become an outcast. My friends would desert me. My family would be embarrassed by me. 

I bit my lip as a tear trickled down my cheek. I touched my antlers and smiled dismally as I felt their roughness. I tried to pull them off my head in wain. But they were sturdy. Not fake. I was going hysterical.

I had to think. I couldn't stop the horns from growing. I couldn't do anything. 

I couldn't let my family and friends be humiliated on account of me. I had to take action.

I had decided. It was a full moon night and there was enough light to guide me to the nearby forest. I would run away to save my family from their disgrace.

I wanted to run away. I wanted to disappear.

I took my jacket and packed a few clothes to stay protected from the cold. Sweeping my eyes around the room for one last time felt nostalgic. But I was determined. 

I jumped out of the window and ran towards the forest. As I ran, I couldn't stop my spiralling thoughts. The memories of childhood were playing in the starlight. As they gradually faded away, I slowly lost my identity.

I was the only bad thing in the world. I had become the monster I had been scared of. Nobody could save me. Nobody could understand my pain. Everybody was happy but me. I was mayhem.

Just then a few raindrops fell on my head. I stopped in my track and I looked up at the sky. Clouds blinded my vision and the moon, which had guided me on my path till then, had vanished.

I was alone...

My tears started streaming freely from my eyes. It was too much pressure. I didn't want to run anymore. I wanted someone to hold my hand and say everything was going to be fine. But it wasn't. Nothing was ever was never going to be fine again.

I didn't want to be afraid. But I had to finish what I had started. I gradually walked towards the woods. It rained ceaselessly and I couldn't see even a foot ahead of me. 

I forced myself forward. On and on I walked and the rain was getting louder and louder. Finally, I reached the woods. As I walked onward, lightning struck a tree in front of me. The ground shook a little and a branch broke off the tree.

The branch glowed with fire. I picked it up and used it to guide me on my path. I had stopped crying. I didn't want to be a crybaby. But my thoughts wouldn't stop.

I cursed at my horns. How could a pair of horns ruin my life like this? I kept having horrible thoughts. I touched my horns and realized that they had grown even more in the few hours.

Suddenly, I lost track of my footing and slipped. I had scraped my knee on a rock. And then, I went hysterical. I didn't want to live anymore. I had had enough. 

I bawled my eyes out and pulled at my hair. I screamed hard. I pulled at my horns. It was horrible pain but I still pulled. The rain fell hard. My ears stung from the noise. 

My hands filled with blood as I succeded in uprooting one of the horns. It was excruciating, blinding, searing agony. I had become a monster. 

And then suddenly, there was peace. In my heart, in my head, I felt a soothing calmness. But then, a blinding light shocked me and I fell backwards on the ground.

"Rise, my hero," said a voice as sharp as a call of a bird, from the midst of the light. And as if nothing was wrong, a hand helped me sit up.

"Don't let anyone change you," the voice said. I was dumbstruck by their power. It was God. I couldn't decipher their body or face. It was lost in the light but, I could hear what they were saying.

"Leave your fears behind. Never doubt yourself. Never compare. Always be yourself. Respect yourself. Love yourself. Spread your wings. There is nobody in the world, that can be you. You are beyond measure. Don't care about what the others say. Trust yourself."

"Don't try to fit into the standard of the world. Make your own standards. You are original. You know your pain. You know your sacrifices. You cannot live your life for someone else. You might be afraid but keep going onward. Your soul is precious. Cherish your uniqueness. Cherish your crown."

The same hand touched my head and I felt the horns disappear. "I hope you understand the message I have tried to convey," 

And then the light fell away and the lustrous night sky was back. I looked up and saw that the rain had ceased and the moon was visible again. 

I felt my head again and smiled in relief and said to myself. 

"I may lack some things. I may not have the same shy glow as the voice that guided me. But, I'm the one I should love."