Shattered In More Ways Than One

The fallout was severe. Henrico reached for and fell short of the manipulative triage of mind games lathered upon him. He'd no where to turn but back to reality. He called early one evening. I didn't want to go to him. I hated being a part of the upper middle class social climbing club he resigned himself to. Maybe it was I who needed an attitude adjustment on this issue. In any event, we ended our relationship on terms that weren't quite amicable. Would he finally wake to the realization he didn't belong. He'd never be accepted. Heck, he didn't even know how to handle himself as a submissive. And this was a required accomplishment for acceptance. However, I had to see the result of their distasteful, archaic, and backroom ministrations.

I arrived within thirty minutes after the call.

Upon entrance, I noticed the room was dimly light. I approached cautiously not knowing what to expect, but feared the worst. What stood before me was pathetic. Lacerations on body, parts of which too delicate to mention; sunken eye sockets; red eyeballs, drooping lip, broken bones seemed to indicate to the touch. And, marks around his wrists. In other words, an empty, shattered, thoroughly used, mess of the man I once knew.

I was horrified, but not surprised. I'd heard of this type of society. But to me, fantasies be damned if you have to take it to this type of extreme to feel pleasure. It you want to play the game, you stay and play. No whining.

However, you usually don't emerge from situations unscathed dealing with masochistic morons.

I offered and he refused a facility where help was readily available. Too ashamed, I guess. What he seemed to have not realized is that entanglements can be tricky. This is especially true when you're on the outside vying for recognition. Most often, you're out of your league in the competitive game. A game that has no meaning in life other than to satisfy the egos swirling and polluting the upper caste system.

Henrico did admit to making a decent showing. I chuckled, then quickly regrouped. Now was not the time to gloat. He didn't need coals heaped on top of his already bashed in head. But it was a but funny.

Piecing him back together was difficult. I took my time. It didn't work. In the end, what I made was a mess. He didn't resemble at all the person I once knew.

But at least he was alive.

Then, the light bulb switched on: he has a new facade. It's different from anyone else I know. I approached him slowly with the mirror.

At first, he resisted. It took some urging for him to open his mind to new possibilities. In the end, he reasoned that, in a world where everything and everyone is jagged, he'd blend in nicely. Uniqueness. Not too bad if being true to one's self is the goal.

Finally, I advised him to release his fears and worries posturing in the cesspool of desire to aimed to please the uppers. He seemed to shrug me off. I reminded him that he'd be truly lost trying navigate among the maze of familiar faces!

As far as pleasure's concerned, that mindset was above my pay grade. Only therapy could help guide him out of the abyss of emotional turmoil that leads one to believe that in order to gain pleasure, you must endure pain.

We can't ever go back. As a friend, I'll pray for Henrico, as I would any wounded animal.

My interpretation of the fractals I created for this project was to reflect on the chaos and uniqueness of each piece. In fact, fractals are built on the theory of chaos. For this particular fractal art project, I wanted to blend abstract art with three pure fractals. I chose for my background black color to indicate a shady or bleak outlook.

Since chaos was the intention, I believe my short story may have accomplished that.

Here are my fractal images I created in the fractal rendering program Apophysis 2.09. My one abstract image I created in the digital art program, Bomomo:

Thanks for taking the time to view my post. If you'd like to try the programs I mention here, just let me know below, and I'll help if you require any. I'd like to know your thoughts on my short story that accompanied my fractal art project.