The Ice Queen
Mother Holle, if I take the loaves out of the oven, shake the apple trees and pick the apples and shake the duvets until they scream and you are satisfied can you let me disappear from here and send me to the other side, maybe without the ferryman just through the gate with gold coins via the gate of hell you spoke of? I read the letter that was in this bottle...
Mother Holle nods and says: I knew you would find that bottle, it will go as you wish but are you sure you want to bring all that misery on yourself after what you have been through?
She nods and silently the ruler of the realm of the dead hands her 4 more bottles and sticks a knife in one.
Read it carefully, leave them here and take the knife with you as proof that you are the one who found the letters and be careful. Nothing is what you think it is. There is a thin line between truth, lies, fantasy, madness and the imagination runs away with many. First have breakfast and then go to work. You can leave tonight. Don't worry, the pelicans will show you the way. When you arrive they will be on the asphalt road that leads from the shore to the place where all this happened.
An icy wind blows, stirred by the shaking of the duvets. The Ice Queen sends her frosty breath upon anyone foolish enough to spend the night outdoors. It is April, and though spring ought to have begun, the Queen has returned. There’s a score to settle with Dylan, who has made a habit of arousing his inspiration by brute force – molesting, killing, and setting everything around him on fire, as a modern version of Jack the Ripper.
Mother Holle refuses to grant Dylan passage now he lost his mind.
The Ice Queen howls through the streets and vaults, and even in the potato basement, the freezing cold is palpable—making the house considerably less foul-smelling. The kitchen is still used as a tiny house by a woman and a cat named Devil.
Monday - 15:35
I hear the back door at the neighbours open, school is out, it reminds me of tea time. How long ago was it that I drank tea in the kitchen of my parents' house where I sat huddled like a scared rat until the maid said: You can have a biscuit and I carefully picked up the cup of tea, terrified that I would stain the tablecloth or the dress with the white lace collar that itched and that I was forced to wear because I am a girl and therefore have to look attractive. I still wonder for whom? Was it for that group of old men who regularly showed up on the doorstep and asked to speak to my parents and grandparents.
As a young man, you learn as a young man, you do as a young man, the maid whispered and her face turned red when she saw me looking at her even though I didn't understand what she meant. If I had had to wash the dishes or mop the floor like she did, would my life have been different from one of years spent chained to the wall in the cellar?
17:56
Diary, I was in the hallway and could have sworn there was a sound coming from the basement. Am I going crazy? I wonder if the clock is telling the right time. It seems to be standing still, although I can hear tick tock when I put my ear to it, or is it always the same time when I share my life with you?
I found a new pen in the kitchen drawer. It seemed empty, but when I scratched the wall with it, it worked again. I don't think it has been used for a long time, there is a text on it: 123 get out, what does that mean?
Tuesday - 4:19
I woke to voices coming through the walls. Devil left and I was huddled under the table, waiting for it to become quiet. A flashlight beam shone through the kitchen window —shouting, police, an rattle at the door. There was loud meowing and screeching, and then it went out again. Could it be the detectives smelled the corpse in the basement? It’s freezing cold inside. Have I gotten used to the smell, or has it gone? I crept upstairs; there’s still water coming out of the tap.I turned the shower on a crack and washed myself in the dark, then let the water run for a long time until the sun came up and lit the bathroom. At the top of the stairs, I waited for the detectives - maybe they were sending a profiler - but I fell asleep. When I woke, I was staring into the Devil's eyes.
15:32
I drank tea and cut my hair
19:19
What a strange time. I'm going to post the bottle. I hope that idiot isn't on the rock – but first, to the bottle vending machine. Would there be free coffee and a snack machine? Something with meat I had it with bread and potatoes.
8.4.25
Prompts: tick tock - profiler - provided by @freewritehouse
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