Sid's Silent Whisperings

Recently it has occurred to me, that I am finally free from the shackles of fear and its hold on me, that this might be the end of the trail. Nonetheless, the sense that suffering is chasing me weighs down any notions of comfort or relief, frankly because my valley was once no different than the peak, just as safe and appealing. And so I moved in life, the trail never ended. The same pebbles remained unmoved, the same voices and sounds, everything was the same. Remarkably, the further I climbed, the more my perspective changed drastically, shifting my perception of moments and bonds that I developed with others into everlasting memories. Wounds seem to have healed. Gradually the valley below began resembling a gem with undeniable beauty contradicted

She took a quick look around the last turn before the main street that led to the school. She noticed several boys and girls in the alleyways on both sides of the narrow street. It looked as if every class at her school, several young ladies and even her teacher waited for her in ambush. She ducked back before they could see her, hiked up her dress, and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her in the opposite direction of the angry mob. She didn’t stop until she had found the forest path that she needed and breathed a sigh of relief when she heard no one in pursuit. The forest surroundings felt different for some reason and it frightened her. It had a forbidding feel to it this dawn like she had never felt in the past.

It was like two hands intertwining together when the moon’s light peeked through the gargantuan sycamore trees. We are on the treacherous run to freedom, and I am eager to get there. Because of my bistered skin, I was shackled and cuffed, and forced to work in a field my whole life without my family. If all goes well tonight, I will be a free man who makes his own decisions instead of having everything forced upon me by an austere master. It seems like we had been running for days and my feet had never felt pain this agonizing until now. We slid through the woods like a snake slithering towards its prey until we began to hear voices. They echoed through the trees and would not stop. Ducking behind opaque bushes, we waited for the signal

Running into the woods Sarah’s eyes fell on familiar sights. Trees she had climbed as a little girl, old trails her father had made, the old stream she loved to sit by and read poetry. Sweet, delicate memories flowed into her mind like warm, caressing fingers attached from loving angels, as Todd pulled her deeper into the woods. The world outside the community is exciting…but this is my home,” Sarah thought as Todd hurried slowed down to help her step over a fallen log

He had been walking somewhere on a road, in between buildings, he doesn’t know how long it’s been how long he has been walking. Night hauntingly shrouds his surroundings with darkness; the artificial lights seem so damn weak. They seem to only produce enough light to brighten a large moving box. The darkness stares him down, the cold presses against the bare skin of his arms. A hand squeezes his right shoulder he can feel the warmth through his shirt.

The door shut behind him and Georgaina walked down the steep, grassy hill. She was near the bottom when a pain, familiar to her, ripped through her abdomen like a dull, serrated knife. She collapsed, gasping for breath and clutching her stomach. Slowly, after what felt to her like hours, the pain went from a sharp knife to a dull ache. Tears had filled her eyes and she blinked them back as she stood cautiously, not trusting her own legs. She took a deep breath, and focused on putting one foot in front of the other, determined to get to the forest that lay around the hill. Her head pounded, but she figured she would worry about it

Her touch was like a touch of an angel. I replied with a shaky voice

Her heart was pounding, her head was racing. She looked around; where was she? Then she remembered the super bright light and the darkness, and she tried to remember if she knew where she was.

The night coats the air with darkness as we arrive. The only light is the warm glow of the headlights piercing through the thick blanket of the night, and the moon gazing down upon us. Click, our headlamps go on. We hop out the car, as a rush of whipping wind engulfs my face. The cold night air flows through the stitching of my clothes stealing the warmth from my body and sending chills down my spine. My friend and I search to find a campsite, like dogs searching for a buried bone. Walking, I can feel the crisp grit of sand shifting beneath my feet and hear the wind flowing like a river through the trees. Down the worn path, we hang our hammocks and start to gather firewood. Sounds of machetes striking branches fill the woods echoing

I fell into the depths of Maya’s beautiful green eyes and not even the currently setting sun could compare to their beauty. She pressed once more against the rusted iron gate that separated us, pushed it closed and once again took away my opportunity of joining my family, and let a pained cry of sadness escape her lips before turning into the shadows and dissolving into the darkness. Then the scene carried on as it had before as if Maya had been only an apparition. The crickets resumed their songs and when the frogs in the nearby creek began the harmony, I knew I was alone. The loneliness crept upon me like the cold of a moonless night. I stood and retraced the steps I had already taken earlier, that then had seemed to be nothing but magical when they led me to my wife, but now as they led me passed the unknown dilapidated shack that served as a safe haven for my wife and I and along the overgrown dirt roads of Eucalyptus, my steps seemed to lead me to my death.

It was after that, that the terror came back. That she remembered everything that hurt. That more than once, faces that haunted her came back. Lingering touches that made her skin burn and bile rise to her throat. Where she felt like she had to scrub at her skin. To remove scars that she covered with magic.

“How? You can talk?!” I was totally surprised. This kind of surprize when you’re hit by a lighting.

The eerie wood, where we entered, was a bit scary to me. It was an umber-brown, aged forest covered by a damp, cheerless atmosphere. In fact, it was a foggy night. The air was cold and with every breath I drew a misty, chilly exhale followed. The source of light could be seen for miles of trail were several small led lights, which were lying along trailside. Those were helping people didn’t get off the trail and went too deep into the forest. Even though I could feel the unevenness of the old mining trail beneath me, it was smooth in contrast to the crunching of the odd dead leaf that I stepped on. As I looked around I noticed, although it was windless day, trees in the forest still seemed to be waving and enticing us into the darkness. The

Twilight segued into a blanket of soft obsidian darkness as Allie lay there feeling alone and helpless. Outside her door, the city began to come to life as lamplighters lit the gas lamps along the Battery. It was so quiet in the house that she could hear someone several blocks away in the midst of a fracas. They argued back and forth for a few minutes and then became quiet. A little while later, ribald laughter wafted through the streets from the bars and eateries near the wharf, hearing others laughter and happiness only saddened her more. For hours, she lay there wondering, worrying, what if- what if the Yankees caught Thomas, or what if something else happened to him. What if she never saw or heard from him again- could she go on with her life? At that moment in time, she did not know that she could…

My day begins again with a drone of the same ringtone of the alarm. Getting up to open the window forgetting about the same old raven bird that stares at me with its whole black eyes sending you into a black spiral. The sense of nostalgia hits, rain leaves its own scent like the scent of an ex-lover’s. After all eternity doesn’t wait for the past to catch up, you just keep on going with your life as I have. Making my way to the kitchen I avoid all the papers on the floor scattered like a tornado threw up and shredded its life. My hands twitches to grab the phone eager to check for the ghost messages and calls. Putting down my arm as soons as it raises “don’t do it”. I turn in circles to find someone but in its leave was nothing. “ I know” I whispered to no one. The hallway was filled with darkness except for one room whose light was slowly dimming. Darting past the shadowed hands reaching for me I went into the room. Searching for that dark grey raincoat that was hung up on a hanger in the half empty closet.