All the Stories Matter: Illumination

Illumination

 Inspiration:

"Proud to Be" By Marias Ideas

Mummy: 

Click, click, click. “Over here sir” The photographers just couldn’t get enough of him. Since the surprise success of his first movie, he had been reveling in the attention that sudden fame had brought with it. They slowly walked the plush red carpet, stopping to pose every few paces. With every step his shoulders pulled back a little further, his head a little higher. He was positively strutting.  The grey streaks in his hair gleamed silver in the flashes and his normally green eyes were oily deep black pools, matching his black tails. The cobalt blue velvet of his vest seemed like downy feathers and she could barely restrain herself from reaching out and touching it in amazement. So unlike anything he would have worn previously. He looked radiant in his finery, his proud headdress fittingly exotic for a masquerade ball. He raised his feathered mask to his face, and she no longer recognized him. 

A few short years ago they never would have dreamed of attending such a lavish event, let alone be the A-list draw card, the guests of honor. As the star attraction, he was the reason so many had waited for hours and now lined the barriers, for just a glimpse of his face. The thought was so foreign as to be outlandish.  His success was well deserved though. While it seemed to outsiders to be a sudden stroke of good fortune, a lucky dip on behalf of the producers, she knew better. She had waited out the hours of practice he put in, poured over the research he had done, knew intimately what he had sacrificed in pursuit of his, no their, dream. When they had first met, she had seen this moment in him. She knew he was something special, she could see it shining under his second-hand coat, his drab, scuffed shoes, and his defeated demeanor. With her love, he had given up giving up. His big ideas had become big dreams, big plans, big projects and finally big successes (with a few minor setbacks along the way)  And here now, this was his moment to shine. The jewels on his mask refracted far from sight their struggles, their despair of ever making it. The peacock feathers camouflaged those grey streaks that had previously represented his every worry. A dollar that wasn’t made in time, a phone call that wasn’t taken because the caller wouldn’t like the answer or a meal that was skipped because he “wasn’t hungry”. And now his finery cost more than they would have spent in a month.

The mask was straight from Venice, where they had just spent a second honeymoon. They visited an exclusive Venetian mascherari, to handpick their masks; he was a much decorated previous winner of la maschera più bella at the Carnival of Venice, and was both charming and devious in his attention. The choices were endless and portrayed every character and emotion that could be conceived of. It was a sweet shop of identities.  Pick a little bit of lust, a sprinkle of desire, or a handful of fear and build your own persona. They spent hours delighting in the almost grotesque experience before settling on the Columbina masks they wore tonight. His was a treasure, black and heavily encrusted with jewels, and cobalt blue and emerald feathers. Hers was a much simpler version in traditional white, insignificant in comparison.

An evening gondola ride on the Grand Canal had seemed so surreal, like a scene from the movies they had watched together, snuggling in bed to avoid putting on the heater. And yet, it was their life now.  She couldn’t quite believe it was here, finally theirs. The glint of success in his eyes so long ago had come to fruition and was spread all over his face for all to see. She had to share him now. With his fame, everyone had the right to know him, to love him. She had lost a little bit of him, that secret that only she could see. But had she? Or had the secret just changed?  As he played to the camera, waving his mask playfully, she could see the lines of his face, the effort required to be their idol, the cost of the masterpiece created to fit others ideals. When once he had masked his dreams and desires of success, now success was his new mask. Only she knew the insecurities and base fears which resided deep within and that would never really leave. She knew how fragile his extravagant plumage really was.

As they reached the entrance to the grand ballroom, the chandeliers inside glinted and sparkled, dancing to the tune of the flashes and calls of the public outside. They turned and lifted their masks to their faces once more for a final pose. He beamed at his adoring fans, flashing them brilliance from every angle, smiles and smouldering looks that left the ladies shuddering and faint.  She rejoiced in being at his side. He was a good man who loved her very much. She knew his worth and he knew hers. She briefly caressed his velvet waistcoat as she leaned up to brush her lips to his cheek, showing a little of her true self to the public. He gave her a beaming look, worth far more than those he had just scattered so frivolously. Hers was deeper than ocean, hotter than sun, richer than sapphires for it was his true smile. “Let’s do this, Love, ” He said, indicating the performance they were about to begin, the masquerade they were entering.  They removed their beautiful masks, revealing yet another underneath.

Erin:

This is a bird. The bird has a cool tail. 


Read more about what inspired our "all the stories matter" collaborations in creative writing here  and here.

What do you think of our stories? Why not write one yourself inspired by this picture and share your results with us here….

 

As it was my daughter's writing that inspired me to put “pen to paper” (never so figuratively as it has now become), I want to keep collaborating and sharing our love of writing fiction.

So we have decided to regularly write a creative short story based on the same inspiration. Here is our next collaboration:  Always the Same

 

- See more at: http://www.thisisawand.com/#sthash.Y4t93XUE.dpuf