Daily Write - In the Rain

Icy sheets of heavy rain poured noisily outside; the large droplets pelting against the windows like tiny fists hammering against the glass, trying to get in. There was nothing else aside from the sound of the constant rain. Time melted into the rainy darkness of the night. Nyla had just laid there, on her couch, listening to the harsh rain falling from the sky above. That and the rhythmic heart beat coming from Valnon's chest, right under her ear. A steady metronomic beat amidst that clattering noise outside.

Rain in the Eastern Kingdom was something that everyone here was used to. It fell in buckets from the grey skies relentlessly, drenching the landscape. It fell like greyish white curtains, so heavy you could barely see in front of you. Most nights, Nyla would sit up in her bed and stare out of her dark window, wondering how rain could be so loud. It was much different than the snows she had grown up with in the North. As her thoughts continued about the rain, Nyla's sinewy head rest rose as she felt fingers tracing through her hair.

"You let me fall asleep."

"You looked tired," Nyla responded, turning her head to see the clear blue eyes that were looking back at her. Blue eyes that she was certain would never look into her's again.

There were few words that passed between them. There really wasn't a need for them. It would have been a list of wishes and wants which neither had the luxury of being able to grant the other. Instead, they settled for silence and these few fleeting moments with each other. Moments that neither had believed were possible until tonight.

"You have done well for yourself, Nyla. I never thought I could be more impressed by you."

"I think you are just a bit biased."

Small attempts at normal conversation, as if normal was something that they could have one day. It was a pointless endeavor. They both knew it. And yet they pretended anyway. They made themselves forget the guards, the sentencing, the punishment if Valnon were to ever show his face again in the Eastern Kingdom's capitol city. In the noise of the rain, they both drowned out the reality that was around them.

Nyla sat up and pulled a few of the silvery strands of hair away from Valnon's face. She lightly pressed her lips against the deep craggy scar that traversed the length of Valnon's cheek. There were no words. None needed to be said. This was goodbye. Goodbye until the one of them found a way to change reality.

Extrovert Again?

So I would have to say that I describe myself as pretty extroverted. At least I used to be anyway. I was that girl who could chat it up with everyone. I was a no holds barred, full tilt type of person. Of course I had to get to know the person first before they got the full dose of my personality. People who had just met me would describe me as quiet, calm and to myself. My friends knew a whole lot better.

However, the past few years have caused all of that to do a complete 180. I don't think anyone who knows me would describe me as outgoing at all. In fact, I don't know there is anyone around me now who knows me well enough to describe me at all. (Outside of you, Legacy, if you are reading this). I just made myself okay with the huge change. Just adapted and moved on with life. Until just recently.

I found out last summer that when a person becomes stressed, they start acting in ways that is opposite of their natural personality. So if you are naturally an extroverted person, high stress will cause you to withdraw and become introverted. And my life has pretty much been a pressure cooker for years now. I had no idea that I was simply reacting to stress when I decided to hide myself away from the world. (I usually don't know when I'm stressed out until I finally crack and burst into tears). I had just accepted this as a new way of life. I was just going to be that person drifting in and out of the background. I would have to be okay with that. But slowly, those things started changing, and I'm not sure why.

It's like one day I woke up and decided, "I think I will talk to someone and make a joke." I made that joke and the person laughed at it. Then I decided to chat it up with another student that was working in the same place as me. Then a nurse and the list continues. It was like I could see my old extroverted self finally coming back. My old personality finally stepping out into the public eye and waving at everyone. Honestly, it felt good. It felt really really good. Let's see how long I am going to ride this wave.

Day Write - Man in the Woods

"Well that is a song that I haven't heard in quite a while."

Ariana froze a second, not knowing that anyone had heard her whistling. She had hoped this was the one place that no one would hear her. She quickly turned around to find a man walking out from amidst the trees, into the same clearing as she. He had old beat up straw basket attached to his back and clothes that could have walked to the river and watched themselves. His smile was large and showed gaps were teeth had been broken or were completely missing.

"I didn't know that anyone was listening. I thought I was by myself," Ariana stammered

"Well you were until a few minutes ago," the man replied, tromping closer to Ariana, "I was out on my daily walk and heard you whistling. Thought I would come by and see who it was. Been quite some time since I have heard anyone hum, whistle, or sing that song."

"You have heard it before?" Ariana asked, her eyes getting bigger. Perhaps this man had answers. At least one answer. Ariana would have settled for that or maybe pointing her in the direction where she could find answers.

"Of course. My grandmother used to sing it to me and my brothers all the time before we went to bed. Every night right before she tucked us in. People don't really sing it any more though. Almost like it died with all the old folk, you know."

Ariana rubbed her sweaty palms on the front of her pants. No one knew the song where she was from. She had always been told never to sing it, no matter how many times it played in her head. She never understood what was so wrong with it in the first place. At first, Ariana believed it was song that she made up. Something from her dreams that had remained after she woke up. That was until she was scolded for humming it. And scolded again for asking what was so wrong with it.

"Do you happen to know what the song is about? I never learned the lyrics and no one else I know seems to know them either."

The man tapped his chin, "Let me think. I'm sure my grandmother explained it at least once. It was something about the priestesses from the mountains who could wield the True Voice. Honestly, I never really paid attention to the words myself. It was just a nice little song to whistle."

Ariana paused, repeating the words out loud to herself, "...could wield the True Voice."

Daily Write - Turning Back Time

How long had it been? Decades perhaps. It had been long enough that I did not want to count it. However, nothing here had changed. Everything was exactly the way it was on the night I left it, right down to the candlesticks in the windows. The halls had the same empty echo at each step I took down the corridors. This place even smelled the same. Incense and wood polish.

No, the only thing that had changed in this passage of time was me. My steps are slower now, not as joyous and light as they once had been. My eyes not as bright and shimmery. A lot has happened and it seems the only thing that has changed is myself. I don't even recognize the people walking past me in these long corridors, lit only by the flickering flame of the candles in the windows.

I'm not sure why I came back here. What was I expecting? Perhaps I had hoped that being here would somehow transform me. Take me back to all of those years ago when my footfalls weren't as heavy and my eyes weren't as dim.

Daily Write- His Name was James

His name was James. I say was like it isn't any more. Like somehow he suddenly doesn't exist or James is no longer his name. I am not sure if I found James or if he found me, but fate had it so we were both together. I was needed a place to run to. He just so happened to have something that worked for me. He brought me to this place of his. A place where the world stops right at the edges and all who walk into it are no longer remembered by those on the outside. It was out in the middle of nowhere, not a thing to see for miles.

For most, something like that would sound terrifying. But not for me. And not for those people who found James or who James found. People like them, people like me, we want the world to forget us. We want to runaway and hide forever. And somehow, James made that possible. We were untouched by the world and all that was in it. Finally allowed to live in peace. And James never asks what it is that we are trying to escape from. He only opens his arms and carries us across the border from reality and into nothingness. Sweet nothingness.

I was on my way somewhere else when James brought me here. I fully believed that I could make my life in this place, with all the others who understood the way I felt. James made me feel like I could rebuild myself. He made us all feel like that. And for a time, I knew what a normal life felt like. To wake in the morning, do an honest day's work, have friends, sleep in a bed, really sleep, not simply doze for worry that something would happen if I slept too deeply. I no longer had to forge my way alone.

But for all the amazing things that James could do, he could not keep the world from finding me. His arms were not that wide and his hands were not that strong. The bubble that encapsulated our happy world was soon to break because of me. The world seeped through the fringes of this place, heading straight for me doorstep. It would not let me be forgotten. I cried when I found out that I would have to leave. James said he would protect me. He would keep me hidden. But I knew that I had stayed for as long as I was able. It was now time for me to run again.

I thanked James. Thanked him for allowing me to feel safe, even if it was only for a short time. But now he must forget me. Deny that he had ever laid eyes on me. Destroy anything that would prove as a clue that I was ever here. 'What would I do now?, was the question that he posed to me. I told him that I wasn't quite sure. Maybe run off into the mountains. Or head into the forests. Or finish the journey I started before I met him.

The world had remembered me, despite James' best efforts. I cried when I left. Because I knew that James was not that far behind me and those who depended on him to keep them hidden, to keep them forgotten, would be remembered once again. And it would be my fault.