she bled like a rose

Gracie's body hurts, her legs hurt, her arms, her head. It hurts. It's an excruciating pain, unknown to some.


Her hair sprawls across the bed, a chaotic mess like an exploded paintball. She strokes it with her hand.


"Ow!"- She lifts herself to a sitting position.


There's blood.

Gracie is bleeding—silently, inexplicably. The blood has pooled beneath her like a spreading omen, soaking into the fabric of her bed with quiet finality. The body betrays, the world blurs...

She is now a part of something that stretched beyond time. Her whole room exhaled with her, sharing in the quiet shock of the moment.


She lays back down.


Her hand instinctively went to her waist, the ache deepened, and everything around her felt cold.


A flower was opened. She bled like the earth, a rose. This was the beginning.


Her white dress turns red,


The colour of pomegranates~

Gracie opens her eyes...

A young lady appeared beside her, unnoticed by Gracie. Lost somewhere deep within herself, in her own head.

The young lady is crying. "What's wrong?" Asked Gracie

She responds. "I feel safe with you, like nothing matters anymore." And Gracie smiles.

They mirror each other's movements, putting both of their arms on each other's shoulders, third eye pressed against each other's.

Their lips meet. The kiss deepens, languid and velvet-rich, unfolding like a secret whispered in a dream. Gracie suddenly realises something, she feels herself slipping. Gracie pulls away.

"What's wrong?" Said the young lady.

"I don't know... It's certainly not you, it's me." Gracie removes herself from her current position. "Who even are you..?"

"Don't worry about that."- She smiles.

"I can't be doing this with a woman."

"Who said you can't? - Said the young lady.

"God did..."

She loosens her bra. "That's very archaic. You know, god works in mysterious ways."

"This feels strange, I've never done this with a girl." Gracie runs out of her room.

The young lady's facial expressions didn't move, she didn't blink, she analyzed Gracie's departure.

...

Unexpectedly, the bell's melody drifts through the town, it isn't just a sound, it is a calling urging every citizen towards the town hall~

Town hall

The young lady who was just with Gracie is preaching in front of all the town's citizens. - "There is a witch that stands upon all of you. She tried to rub up against me. And then she realised I couldn't resist. I thank god for protecting myself. But now that devil is now hiding from us-"


"LIAR! Don't listen to her, that is not what happened!"- Gracie interrupts.


"It's her! The witch!"-


"She's lying! I swear! It's all her fault!"


"GET HER! To the fire with her!"


A group of men seize Gracie and drags her to the stake, binding her tightly as they encircle her with piles of hay.


All the nuns surrounding Gracie kneel once she's tied up. A nun in particular was delayed in kneeling; she was staring and smiling at Gracie, and Gracie smiled back.


"Confess your guilt, you witch!"- said the young lady.


Gracie sticks her tongue out. "Liar, liar! You started this!"


The young lady begins to light the hay on fire. "Repent your sins!"


Gracie pouts, feigning concern. "Nothing to repent, betrayer!" - She laughs and sticks her tongue out.

The fire reaches Gracie and sculpts her body. She isn't scared, worried, or confused. She has awakened now and is beginning to comprehend the complicated circumstances life throws at you when you're becoming a woman. She is burning and rebirthing with the fire...

Gracie wakes up, it was just a dream... a dream of many secrets.

"Is this what it feels like to be a woman?"- Gracie whispered to herself.

Womanhood is not a destination, but something quiet unfolding—a journey of becoming, layer by layer, until she is whole~

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi! It's has been a while, I hope everyone is well! Love you all! <3

I'm sorry this piece isn't that good I know I can do better. I just wanted to try coming back to Vocal with something!

Thank you for reading!! :D

This story is about transitioning into womanhood and the experience with same sex; Gracie gets her period as a symbol of rebirthing into a woman, which in her head/dream, she dreams of intimacy with another woman. A confusing moment of queer self-discovery, following by an almost immediate interanlised rejection. Depicting Gracie's expression of a newfound curiosity. This yearning is not merely about desire, but about the complexities of identity and the shifting boundaries of self-discovery. Gracie begins to understand her body and her desires in such ways shaped by both personal awakening and societal expectations, hence why she was happy rather than sad being burned at the stake.