I had ventured far to the east, to a town I had never been to where I saw a sculpture. The city was initially built in the sky, locked in place by hundreds of iron chains wider than bicycle tires. After a war struck the floating city, it collapsed and fell to the ground. That was decades ago, and now where the city had been anchored was a small village with a strange sculpture.It was a woman, her body tucked as she looked to the sky with one of her hands outstretched.
The other hand clutched her necklace, fingers fully wrapped around the pendant. It was an intriguing sculpture even from a distance because it seemed as if nothing was holding it off of the ground. Closer up, I noticed the visceral look on the woman’s face . Fear, desperation, tears, all streaming from the lifelike art piece. The piece is truly powerful.
The position, expression, location, all perfect to match those who died when the city fell. A grim reminder. As I gazed and took in the details further, it became eerie. I didn’t want to look at it anymore, the freeze frame before her death.The colors and attention to detail of the artist must be unrivaled. Veering away from the woman’s expression, her clothes somehow captured the same intensity as her face.
Her green skirt seemed to be fabric held up by a wire. The fabric was thin and I could see through it while close. The clothing sailed in the supposed wind and each piece of fabric was under the same indescribable level of scrutiny from the artist.It was a good art piece by definition, it made me feel sadness for the fall of the city that once floated above the area. I looked back to the woman’s face, unable to shake the guttural feeling that came when I looked at her.
The tears on her face reflected the sunlight, possibly being made of glass or plastic. Her eyes were also intricate as well, the longer I looked the more blood vessels and veins I could see drawn onto them.Jake waved to me from a couple blocks away. He was joining me on my road trip and it was his turn to get food for the next leg. I was not looking forward to the oats he so vehemently praised as walking food.
I pulled myself away from the sculpture and saw a sign likely referring to it. I looked at it, ‘The Last Second’ the sculpture is titled. I wanted to at least know the name of the artist who made such a sculpture but it was not obvious on the sign, so I read the description hoping to find their name.“This is one of the residents of the floating city when it fell. She was a lead chrono-scientist who experimented within the labs in the floating city.
When it was under attack, Yellen was one of the many who fell off the edge, but she is the only one alive to this day. Around her neck was one of the chrono laboratory’s final inventions, a method for stopping time for the wearer. As she fell, she was able to activate it the moment before she hit the ground."Other scientists who survived recognized her and what must have happened.
They said that although her time was stopped she would keep the same momentum she had when initially falling. Calculating the reduction of speed needed with the distance she was from the ground, the scientists deemed that it was impossible to save her. Yellen Cloudwolf, the lead researcher of the project, activated the locket for an unknown amount of time. Once this allotted time expires, she will resume her fall and die. Until that day comes, she floats here forever locked in the moments before her death.Road Trip ruined.