Chicana Ways - Aletta

AnyBody's Concerns 6(2003)
really....."
"Real. He is a real king." said Florence. There was no other way to describe
this majestic man, a man beyond and above all others she had ever seen, dead
or alive. She let out a whimper like a terrier locked out of its master's
house, scratching at the corner of the closed door, unable to reach, let
alone capable of turning the handle.
The crows did not move. They had landed on the walls, bushes and stones
around the graveyard to form a perfect circle of statuettes. From the moment
the king appeared in the archway, they fixed their beady eyes upon him. The
rats and other rodents in the riverbanks and the hedges did the same. Even
the sleeping owls broke their daytime slumber to watch. All life was at his
behest.
"Here to me, daughter." he said as he stepped into the place princess Amanda
had vacated. Amanda did not look up through her veil.
"Yes father." she replied and stepped close.
"Read the scroll, Chancellor." ordered the king who knew the form well. If
it wearied or pained him to perform this ritual then he gave no indication
that this was so. The Chancellor held out his left hand to the Keeper of the
Scrolls who had a velvet bag of parchments strapped across his chest. The
appropriate scroll was passed swiftly as a baton. The Chancellor untied the
blue ribbon and unravelled.
"Your royal majesty." incanted the Chancellor.
"So I be in flesh and spirit." responded the King.
"The Princess Amanda." incanted the Chancellor.
"Present." responded princess Amanda.
Now the High Priest spoke.
"This is the death day of the Queen as was, Cinderella her name, gone an
entire year since."
"So it is." responded the King and princess Amanda in unison. Their words
were immediately echoed by the attendant gathering.
"So it pleaseth the Lord." intoned the High Priest.
"So it is." repeated the King and princess Amanda again. And again came the
murmuring echo of the crowd.
"Let her being live on in eternal memory." continued the Priest.
"Never to be forgotten." responded the King and princess Amanda. And how
they meant it with all their hearts.
"At one with the earth, returned now wholly to its bosom."
Something happened now which was unexpected. The king did not do what he was
meant to do. He simply did not respond. Instead, he fell to his knees on the
headstone and stared at the engraved name and dates as if he could not
believe what they read.
http://www.genderforum.uni-koeln.de/anybody/fiction1.html (12 van 25)31-3-2005 18:23:37