| Flowers That Bleed
An evening I was on my way home, a fog appeared on the road. I can barely see anything before me, and the snow doesn't help my vision. I veered off to the right, and carefully came to a stop.I got out of my car, and looked over the area. I know I'm on my way home, but I recognize not this land. The warm oak trees, and curve of the road were gone. The twisted corpses of willow trees, and a blank stretch of a dirty road were what replaced them.Having no intention of freezing, I decided to seek shelter, as the storm worsened. I grabbed my coat, and walked along the dirt path. I passed not a house, not a turn, nor did I see a pair of headlights. But the storm became so heavy, I doubt I'd notice them anyway. My dirt path came to an abrupt end. A forrest lay before me, with nothing on either side. So to escape the snow, I traunced forward, and entered the forrest. There is no warmth here...no thoughts or motions of man or beast, no splash or fall of water or leaf. Only the trees, dead and engulfing, surrounding me as if trying to keep me within. I found myself running...trying to escape...then thinking of my foolishness, and stopped to catch my breath. Running from trees, I thought to myself, what sort of fool are you? I knelt down onto the frozen ground, and lost my breath again. At the foot of a grave I was kneeling. The grave of a young girl...only ten. I found myself crying...wondering what would take a something so pure. When I found my tears joined by a presence not there before. A woman was beside me...shrouded in white. Not of this world it might seem, as she was floating, and glowing bright. Who are you fair maiden, I found myself asking. A fool to speak so familiarily. The shock making my manners lacking. Are you...real? Are you of this earth? Or have you left this world in death, living your life after your birth? I am Anastacia, and no...I'm not of this earth, she replied. I was once...perhaps...but I've lived...and I've died. I come here from time to time, when the weather turns cold. To cry for this young soul...who still walks a lonely road. She's not grown enough to know where to go...so her light is not granted...and she's damned here, to roam. She died at age ten...whilst playing with her brother. A wolf attacked her..and he ran to his mother. She lay very still...and hoped it would leave...but he sank his teeth into her neck, as in wanting to watch her bleed. She made not a sound, as she nelt to the ground. This angel before me so fair. She speaks of the death of this little girl with compassion...as if she was there. It's never fair...she says. When a child is taken from life. No chance to grow old...no chance to become a husband or a wife. But I wiped her tears away, as I leand in close to her. Cry not dear Anastacia...for true she will never grow old. But just think of the beauty that resides in a coffin...buried six feet beneath the cold. Think of the smiles that can never fade. Think of the purity of a life...untouched by the world. Unknowing of it's pains...of it's torment...I'd almost say she's lucky to die so young. We should all be lucky as to die in our prime...to not know the ravages of age and of time. But my angel stood up, and was indeed appauled. How can you say that, she asked. What of her soul? Never knowing of where to go...or where there's shelter from the cold. But I'd sooner watch a flower bleed, and savor every drop till it's dry...then have to go through the rest of my life...knowing that I'm going to die. Then die for all I care, she said...die for what you believe. Die because the soul of a young girl can never be retreived. She turned, and walked away...taking her trail of light. Leaving me helpless...and hopless...on this my last of nights. I sat by her headstone...Marianna was her name...and like a warm breeze in the dead of summer...her soul to me, it came. She took my hand, and asked my name. Names aren't inmportant my dear...we're all one in the same. We're born, and we live...we grow old and we die. But none of that matters here...only you and I. I held her in my arms, as we sat on the cold ground. Fading into euphoria...the both of us being found. Stay with me child...I'll show you the way. I'll protect you, and comfort you until the break of day. Falling asleep...falling asleep...the beauty of this purity all I need. The beauty of the life unhurt by the world, dying...like watching a beautiful flower bleed. |
