3/11/96
I was free. As I walked through the park on a cloudy day, my freedom left me. I saw her again. I couldn't even see her face, but I knew her presence. Slowly, I followed her. She could sense that someone was watching, and she looked around. For the first time since the fall, I saw her face. She had lived through it. But her beauty was marred. She no longer had the bright intensity, the fire. It had been taken from her. There was no chance we could be together. The secret was gone. It wasn't that the tale no longer existed, it just wasn't a secret anymore. She had grown cold. Then she saw me.
Tears filled my eyes as I looked straight into hers. We were alone. They had gone on to destroy others. There we stood, twenty paces apart, with a light fog hovering between us. The fog became heavier. Light clouds descended from the sky to cover our shame, but it did not Rain. Now, there were no buildings visible, no sign of our tormentors. Our entire universe was Ours again.
Slowly, nervously, calmly, we came toward one another. We stepped silently on a narrow, straight stone path. Lush, dark grass extended into infinity on either side. The air was moist, as winter was coming to an end and spring approached. Our eyes were locked on one another as we came closer.
She was wearing black. All black. The gothic darkness of her apparel contrasted with the plain beauty of her face. I wanted to embrace her again, to tell her all, to lie under the stars as we had done so long ago. But there was no sun, no stars. No light, no dark. Everything was blue. The deepest shade of ocean blue.
We now stood face to face. Suddenly, I blurted out the words. "I betrayed you." Tears filled my eyes, and I fell to her feet and wept. I clenched her ankles and held on. There was no way we were going to be separated again. I wouldn't let it happen.
She knelt down beside me and took my head in her lap.
She began to stroke my hair, and I could feel her
breathing in my ear. It was all I needed. Then I
fell asleep, with her as my pillow.
When I awoke, I could feel the cold rock pressing against my ear. I opened my eyes and looked around. The sun was out. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Lush meadows stretched out before me. I could see fruit trees in the distance. I turned to my right to see where the road went. The path I was standing on went winding off into the far away hills. I could see a rainbow arching over the road at the point where it disappeared, but there were no clouds anywhere. At the foot of the hills, to the right of the trail, there was a bright lake. The sun's rays reflected off of its surface, shimmering in the small ripples.
I looked up at the sky. It was a perfect shade of blue, and the sun was directly above me. Lunch time. I was hungry. Where was the food? I sized up my situation, and decided to head off the trail for the fruit trees. I stepped into the knee-length grass and began walking. A cool breeze began to blow. The grass tickled my legs. Everything was new!
"Hey!" I heard a voice behind me. "Hungry? I found some really good tasting stuff down by the river." I turned around and saw her. She wore a bright, cheery smile on her face. It seemed as if we had met before, but I couldn't remember where. I smiled, and shook my head up and down. "Come on!" And she was off.
I had to run to keep up with her. After running for a while, she waited for me to catch up. Then we began to skip, side by side. I could see the river ahead. Then she stopped and knelt down. I stopped with her, curious as to what she was doing. She picked a blade of grass. "Give me your hand." I obeyed, and she proceded to wrap part of it around my wrist, and the rest around her own. She tied the ends in a knot, and said "there" in a rather self-assured tone. "Now we'll always be together. Never apart again."
I wasn't sure what her reasoning was, but she seemed to know what she was talking about, so I obliged her. Besides, she seemed so happy to be with me. We walked, bound together at the wrists, the rest of the way to the river. Then, she showed me the prize she had found.
She removed the already crinkled wrapper and threw it on the ground. A brown hunk. It was obviously partially eaten. She broke off a piece and put it in my mouth. Mmmmm. It was sweet! "Good?" she questioned. I nodded as I savored the sweet stuff. After swallowing this delight, I bent over to look at the piece of wrapping.
"Victory Hershey's!" Those were the words inscribed on it. I picked it up and looked at it curiously.
"What's wrong?" She questioned.
"I'm not sure. Where did you find this?"
"Right here, next to the river. Please tell me what's wrong."
I rolled the paper into a litle ball, hesitated, and threw it into the river to be washed away. "I just felt like I had to do that. I'm not sure why."
She shrugged, uncertain of my logic, and contemplated for a moment. "Okay" she said. I was glad she didn't mind. "Want to go explore those hills this afternoon?"
"Ya. I think I'd like that." At this, she took off running again. It was only then that I noticed that the blade of grass she had used to tie our wrists had disappeared. Neither one of us had removed it. It was gone. "Oh well", I thought, as I stood there. Another mystery to ponder.
She was already almost out of my sight, and I had to start running with all my strength just to be able to keep her in my vision. Out of nowhere, a pack of dear came scampering across the meadow. For a minute, I lost her in the confusion. Then, as the dear went on their way, she appeared again. "Ready?" she said.
"Give me a second to catch my breath. I don't have all that energy like you do."
"No problem." she said. Then she proceeded to lie down in the grass. She stretched her arms out and yawned. I laid down next to her and stared up at the sky. The sun was lowering, and the afternoon was well underway. "Just let me know when you're ready." she said.
"I don't know if I ever will be." I replied. "It's so beautiful, I think I could lie here forever."
She turned my way. "Then I'll lie here, with you, for a while."