once upon a time a girl played drums
and she left her drums because she felt like she was missing something
so she walked
down the street, across an abyss, and through the desert
to speak to the lizard rabbi.
this rabbi sighed deeply and said
"i cannot help you. you must reach the bird priest."
and so the girl who left her drums carved a beautiful ladder with the help of some lizard boys.
she found a large purple tree with a wide trunk, leaned the ladder against it and began to climb up to the clouds.
the sky turned from blue to purple to pink to red to orange to yellow.
and she realized she went too high when her face was a beautifully contrasting purple.

she went back down a bit and jumped cautiously from the carved ladder to a grey cloud.
flying slightly above the cloud were golden doves, but with longer beaks and six wings, and silver halos
one had a massive halo, one so big it kept everyone at a large distance and he had to shout (or squawk) to be heard
so she shouted to the bird priest, "please help me!" and told her story.
the bird priest, with a tear, quietly said "i'm sorry." but no one heard him.
eventually she went back down the ladder.
but on her way back, she fell into the abyss.
and fell for years.

she softly landed on the bottom.
it seemed she was in a mansion, but she couldn't be sure.
she was also years older.
she got up and began to hear someone playing a wonderful harp.
the harp became her full attention, and she followed the sound throughout the mansion, up three flights of winding stairs and through huge bedrooms and dining rooms
until she reached a large hall.
a hall so large and so white, and with a fog so thick she couldn't see the ceiling.
when she squinted her eyes, she could see the harp player.

he was beautiful, as if sculpted. and he played with his eyes shut.
she walked up to him and he played louder and louder until all she could see or feel was his playing.
then he stopped, and went over and kissed her forehead.
then he said, "here is what you lost."
it was a small silver orb.
but the orb was cold
as cold as death and all beyond
and she held it in her hand, unsure.
but when she held it to her chest she felt intense warmth and happiness.
when she took it away from her chest to thank the stranger, he was gone, and her chest became like ice.
she walked backwards out of the mansion and found an old elevator.
she entered and found it only had one button, and the button had "up" written on it.
as she went up in the elevator, it slowed more and more down until she realized it was straining, and struggling, and didn't want to go back up.
but it did.
the girl, holding the silver orb constantly at her chest, for fear of that terrible cold, sat down at her drums.
but she realized she couldn't play.

the orb had grown until it was so massive she had to support it with both arms, and could do nothing else.
so she sat there.
and sat there.
and sat there.
and eventually she died.
as she died, the orb dropped.
it had become black coal.

her soul floated up, past the lizard rabbi, past the priest bird, and past the yellow sky.
and then she was gone.