Of Forests, Fire and Frost

An immeasurable expanse of road stretches before me; continuing forever on a solemn path though this god forsaken forest. Sprawling as far as the eye can see, a sliver of endless gnarled stone. I consider the impossible journey that I must make in the search for familiarity. Along the border of this forlorn pathway rise century old trees, their eternal suffering carved into every branch. Their limbs form an archway of entwined tentacles, fingers of death reaching down to grab me. Their tightly packed trunks taunt my predicament, encasing me in a jail of my own fear. Every touch on my shoulder by this merciless jailor reminds me of my hopeless situation. I cannot get out. I start to run, hoping that fear will not follow. Darkness engulfs me as I penetrate deeper into the forest. ‘Help!’, I scream, my terrified voice shattering the eerie landscape. It echoes around me, laughing at my weakness. Mocking me for my hope of rescue. I slip and stumble off the path and fall onto the crimson ground, coloured so vividly as if blood had leached into the soil. I struggle to suppress the panic rising inside me. It would unquestionably spell my downfall. I would never get back home. Fear grips my heart. I begin to doubt my continued existence, as if the overwhelming force of fear would stop the beating of my feeble heart.

My dismal train of thought becomes abruptly derailed when the seemingly endless path stops and gives way to an expanse of unending nothingness. I cannot turn back to face my fear, so I go on. With eyes squeezed tight, and in desperate hope of self-preservation, I continue on my journey. I start falling through the immense mass of nothing. My plummet carries away all other thoughts with the raging wind, bar one; the unknown conclusion to this rapid descent. The ground races up at an incredible speed to meet me. I feel pain; unrelenting, indescribable pain. My body feels as though it is on fire. Bitter frozen air whips through my lungs without any respite. All conscious thought is lost to me as I lie on the cold and miserable arctic wasteland. Darkness acts as a buffer against the fear; if only it would last forever.

Dread fills my heart, replenishing my bloodstream with icy numbness. It penetrates to my very core, chilling my heart. Lack of feeling stimulates my imagination with horrid thoughts, exaggerating the fear, giving it power over me. I gaze into the eyes of what can only be a demon from the depths of hell. A hell wrought of ice instead of fire. I spin in retreat from a gaze that tears through my body and touches on every fear imaginable. I want to go back. I need to go back. Stumbling feet haphazardly propel me forward through this frozen panorama. This gargantuan tributary must once have been a source of life-giving water. The lifeblood of thousands of beings who once resided here, now only provides residence to an untold amount of terrifying beasts; frozen in time to torment me. I keep moving, searching for a way to end this. My eyes follow the angle of an unmoving wave down the jaws of a hellish monstrosity. Its sapphire claws raised in preparation for the killing blow. Frozen in such realness, I reflexively dive; skidding my way down inflexible slopes as I desperately run from my unshakable foe. Everywhere I look I see fiendish monsters captured by the cold and trapped in icy prisons. They are all trying to escape; trying to exchange their place for mine. I cannot allow them to succeed, allowing the cold to make me one of its countless victims. As I look down, my eyes stare at the crystal clear ice; its transparency giving sight to the free flowing water beneath. I envy its ability to remain unchanged by fear. If only that icy barrier would release me into the depths beneath; a certain end to my conundrum. Tears flow freely as I fight the insanity, making their own unique sculptures on my face as they to become victim to the cold. With eyes pressed tight I writhe on the ground, hoping it will give way. I withdraw into the safety of my own mind. Numbness spreads through me as I lose hope. I cannot win. I cannot run. I can only give in. I muster what I assume is my dying breath and scream. The world shatters. Engulfed in freezing water I can but only watch as an arctic explosion takes place around me. A thousand howls erupt as the icy fiends awaken. Like the souls of the monsters around me, my fear is washed away with the hastening current. A sense of understanding filling me as I am plunged into darkness; my body a hostage of the river – but free once more. If only freedom meant I could go home.

My eyes open not to the blinding light of morning but a soft red glow. My hammering heart threatens to smash open my torso as the entire world shakes. Waves of heat, like the breath of Satan himself, wash over me, threatening to burn my body and soul. Surely I am dead and now in Hell, awaiting judgement. I fumble on blackened ground, raising my head to gaze into the distance. Far into the broad expanse, a vast mountain juts out over a ring of black clouds, its peak a dragon’s mouth – spewing the world’s molten innards into the air. Have I caused the anger of this mighty beast? It sends forth enormous clouds of murk; covering the land in darkness. Overhead fall pinpricks of light. Charred hellfire touches ever so lightly upon me, burning like needles as it pierces my body. I call out in pain, but words mean little to the flames. I step forward into the desolate landscape around me, seeking shelter from the burning rain. Blocks of concrete lay upturned amongst the wreckage of lives past; dream houses and homes of many. All is dead, a product of the immense environmental carnage. A great sense of loneliness engulfs me, suppressing my own fear for the moment. The amount of collateral damage this environmental self-hurt has caused is astounding. How can the world be so cruel? Jogging through the fiery rain I revel in a new found level of understanding. My predicament is not one of pursuit but one of co-operation. My pursuer will always be there, stalking me at a distance. One cannot escape, only embrace. My world is transformed with this new comprehension. Falling ash turns to sprinkling rain. Red skies turn into blue. Desolate plains are replaced with lush green hills. Fear is replaced with joy. With my heart thumping, I crest the peak of one of many knolls and...

Once again, I gaze down upon a path of endless gnarled stone. With my new understanding, this path no longer represents fear, but the end of my journey, for this time the path has an end. I follow the path and reach my ultimate goal. The destination I have been seeking all along: my home, comforting and familiar. For what was at the beginning is at the now the end. I have finally reached the end of my journey, and realisation has finally reached me. Fear will never stop, but hope can prevail over it. And although fear will always be there, so to will hope.

Hope you found it enjoyable

=]