The Darkening
The forest darkens and my steps, once so eager and quick, begin to slow. My feet drag. The blueness of the sky, the glimpses of which I can see through the overshadowing trees, deepens. Silence beckons. I stand still, not wanting to disturb this moment, not knowing how to continue. Cold air wraps around my skin like gentle ribbons. Peace descends. The journey to the end of the road is forgotten and the start becomes but a distant memory - a whisper from days gone by, faded by imagination. I remain still and revel in the emptiness of emotion.
Then it begins; the night awakens. Creatures call out into the shadows, the cold air becomes bitter and the sky grows heavy-laden with darkness. My muscles tighten around my fragile bones. Even if I wanted to move on, I could not. I become one with the midnight around me, stagnant and overcome by stillness.
The noise becomes overwhelming as the now threatening voices echo incessantly. Spurred on by fear I begin to run. Branches tear at my skin but I feel no pain. I keep moving; nothing else matters but the escape.
Soon I leave the forest behind me and I erupt onto a cliff top. I stop abruptly. The sudden openness is as frightening as the dense wood I came from. The vastness, the clarity of the open sky, forces me to close my eyes. My fingernails dig into my palms. I retreat within myself. The need to make this open space small again fills me. A brief remembrance of the journey I was on flits by, but means nothing. I’m lost now; the journey is insignificant. It can continue without me.
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