Cara

April 24 ~ Oral Story

Once upon a time, there was a girl. Her face was beautiful, but her body was covered in scars. Blessed with the ability to see shadows in the lives of others, people would come to her, confide in her the darkest parts of their beings, and leave them with her as to not be burdened themselves. The lives around her moved quickly, passing by before she herself could comprehend their presence. As they circled around her, she sank farther and farther into her own world, one filled with darkness and despair. All the shadows that she had been collecting soon became one of her own, a monstrous figure, looming over her. The spinning colors of life eventually all merged into pitch black, and she wailed in hopes of someone hearing her.

But no one came.

Years passed, and her world of shadows pulled her deeper and deeper into its grasp. The lights of the souls around her began to move farther and farther away. She became detached from it all, from reality, and her once bright soul became engulfed with darkness. She could not tell you which direction was up, all she knew was that she was slowly sinking, and she was okay with that. If she was destined to be the one to fall on behalf of the others around her, she was content with doing so. Eventually it stopped being about caring for others- it was a game of how much farther she could drown herself.

As she stood on the borderline between reason and insanity, love and hatred, life and death, she suffered. Every new woe brought upon her was like another weight in her chest. She could no longer stand. The darkness was too vast, too heavy. Kneeling on the ground, she caressed the growing shadows that fell into her lap, demanding new attention. Her fingers ran across the wicked blackness, and she felt herself being sucked farther in. There was no escape. Her eyelids became heavy, and she closed them, surrendering to the darkness that consumed her. Eventually she would dissolve too.

Suddenly, the darkness dispersed, hissing. The girl opened her eyes, shocked. In front of her floated a light. It was weak, flickering against the creeping black. All the shadows that touched it dissolved, burning in its wake. The light approached the girl, and she instinctively scrambled backwards. She had never seen anything like it before, floating in her world. Slowly, it kept advancing, but the girl sat still. The light was warm, it was bright, and it seemed to speak to her. All her years in the darkness, the shadows had only ever hissed and whined, but the light... spoke to her. As she gazed at it in awe, listening to the words that she could not yet comprehend, the glow landed in her lap. The girl touched it, but quickly drew her hand back. It seemed so soft, so wonderful.

Days passed this way, the girl mesmerized by the light. Even though she still could not understand its language, it had a soft voice, a gentle one. It kept her warm as she walked, keeping her company. The shadows became jealous, having been neglected. They became vengeful, resentful, and decided they had to do something about the strange light.

And so, as per their own wishes, while the girl was not looking, the darkness leapt upon the light, consuming it. When the girl turned around, she watched in horror as the brightness quickly began to fade away. She cried out and grabbed the light. By now, it was mostly empty, leaving a hollow shell of colorless glass. However, a tiny fragment of the light remained. The darkness hissed and screeched, demanding she let them finish the job. She refused, curling up around the light, protecting it with her own being. In one last effort, the darkness pounced upon her, and consumed her along the remnants of light.

When the girl woke, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She opened her eyes to the sight of the sun. Sitting up in surprise, the girl surveyed the world around her. She was sitting in the middle of a field of flowers and a light wind blew in her hair. All the pain that she had known from the shadows was gone. Taking a deep breath, the girl stood up shakily. Her eyes drank in the colors that she had not seen in years. Grass brushed against her bare feet while the breeze danced around her shoulders. Tears welled up in her eyes, she was so relieved. Her nightmare was gone- there was no more shadow.

Footsteps could be heard behind her. She turned, and found herself face to face with a young man, about her own age. He had a handsome face and his arms were scared like hers. Although the girl had never seen him before, she knew that he was familiar, and felt as if she had spent a lifetime with him. He smiled at her, gently taking her hand, and together they walked off in the direction of the sun.

Around his neck hung a glowing glass ball of light.

August 6 ~ Handwritten Letter

I have to make a confession.