Wails of Midnight

Prologue

Run.

These were my only instructions.

Run! Run! Run!

Go as fast as you can. Follow the evening star and run in the direction of the wind.

I ran as fast as my legs would allow me to. My breath was heavy, my legs ached, my airways burnt, and my mouth parched. It felt as if I'd been running for hours and hours. But it was not something new. It was my new normal. Every night. Every. Night. For a month or two I'd been having this dream. It started slowly. At first, I would only be running at night. Then I was running through the woods until eventually, I started seeing the gates. But I never got past them.

Until tonight.

I passed the gates and came out the other side. There was nothing much but more woods, though I could faintly hear the flowing river nearby. I followed it. After a steep climb of what seemed like an hour, I came out into the clearing. The light of the moon illuminated the scene before me. I was near a wooden bridge. A beautiful waterfall was right ahead of me. The light of the full moon passing through drew out a beautiful rainbow. Somewhere in the woods, an owl hooted, and the sound of the tittering of the animals could be heard as if they'd detected my presence. I didn't care though, because I was mesmerized by the scene before me. Not just the scenery. No.

But her.

In front of that beautiful scenery, there was a girl. She was floating midair cross-legged. Her hair swept around her brilliantly, giving her an ethereal look. It seemed as if she was soaking in the light of the moon. As if she was not from this planet altogether but from some distant galaxy or star. Though I hadn't seen her before, I didn't know what she looked like. But there was something about her presence that filled me with peace.

If this was a dream, I didn't want it to end. I wanted to go to her. I wanted to talk to her before it ended. I wanted to get to know her before I lost the chance. I took a step in her direction, slowly to not startle her. Before I could move any closer, something hit my head and the world went dark.

So much for my dream.

But it was not a dream. And the girl before me was not any girl, but the love of my life. Without whom, every second spent on this earth felt like a day in purgatory. If I only knew what would happen. If I only knew what I know now. If I could only go back in time, I would come back to this place and start over. I would come back to this moment right here and make everything right. Then that night would've never happened, and the love of my life would still be alive.