A FUTILE PREJUDICE

OUROBOROS

   "GASP!"
She was forced to wake up because of the unbearable suffocation that she felt. As if sinking under a sea of darkness wanting to swallow her whole. The first thing that met her sight was a bright blue sky with white and fluffy clouds drifting so slow it heals those adoring it from the earth.
'Where am I?' she thought while standing up.
Glancing left and right she saw trees with different colors, big trees with tangerine leaves, small trees with emerald leaves and tiny ones with azure leaves. There were also bushes that were cherry blossom, lavander and scarlet colored. Her eyes as if a telescope she could see something from afar so clearly.
She wandered the forest for half a day when she saw something sparkling up ahead!
Thinking that it was something wonderful she ran in her fastest. She jumped over the last cherry blossom bush in sight and was blinded by a sudden bright light.
After a few seconds of squinting she was so surprised by the view that her mouth and eyes formed a big O.
'Haaaaahhhh!.. A lake!'
The water was crystal clear sparkling because of the bright but soft sun rays descending on it. There was a gigantic tree in the middle with cherry blossom leaves and flowers. The petals swaying so soft, dancing with the teasing wind in the tune of the bird concerts.
Surrounding the lake were a few small trees providing shades for the bird nests on their slender branches. This scene gave an itching feeling to her heart making her want to take a dip in the water but at the same time is too afraid of ruining the warm and peaceful atmosphere.
After pondering for minutes she finally decided to take a step ahead. Her bare foot barely being tickled by the dewy grass, she froze. A girl in a white one peice dress with a long black silky hair and jade like skin was sitting at the lakeside. She was tilting her head, soft eyes staring at her own reflection then poked it destroying the image as if she felt that there was another her underwater. This scene gave her a strong sense of nostalgia she didn't realize that she was holding her breath, too worried to disturb the little girl walking to and fro the lakeside.
     The girl skipped on the big rocks aligned in the lake towards the dark brown trunked gigantic tree and played around it until the sun sunk under the horizon. She then took a rest in the middle of its big roots watching the starry night sky. The gentle breeze of the wind and soothing lullabies of crickets pulled her eyelids close in a deep slumber. All of these she watched, every move of the girl from the soft smiles on her lips to the hard giggles while playing around the tree. Now she watched her sleep, she herself not a thought of getting some rest.
       The next morning she watched again as the girl got tired of playing around the tree she followed her to the forest, her bare jade like feet not getting scratched by any thorns moving away from her path. She followed and watched her, attempting to climb the trees only to fall again and again until the branches picked her up and lifted her next to a bright scarlet fruit then put her down gently after she picked and took a bite of it. She ran here and there, chased rabbits to play, slept with the light of fireflies warding her from the darkness of the night, danced and giggled with a group of fluttering butterflies then discovered a field of colorful blooming flowers. She spent her days in there rolled around and smelled every kind and every color of the vast bed of petals.
      On the afternoon of the sixth day, she was laying on the bed of flowers tracing the shapes of the clouds when suddenly she heard a myterious sound.
"Ssssssssss"
As the girl got suspicious of the sound, she too glanced around to see where the sound came from without noticing that the girl had left her line of sight. She walked for a few minutes and tried to find out where the mysterious sound came from.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"
A scream woke her out of her focus. Unconsciously, her feet started to run to the source of the voice. Like a ball of fire shooting through the bushes, she avoided the tree trunks on the way.
She found the girl sat trembling on the ground her eyes wide and terrified. She glanced at what the girl was looking at and was overcome with the chill she felt on her spine.
'A monstrous snake!'
She wanted to shout at the girl to run but she couldn't move her mouth. Then without her doing anything the girl found the courage to stand up and run. Coincidentally, her feet also found the strength to run after her. She could hear the girl's heavy breathing and muffled cries making it hard for her to breath as if there was a stone stuck in her throat.
"Ssssssss!"
The monstrous snake chased them until they got out of the forest then she came to realize the fate playing with them, because they were chased out on a cliff.
The girl faced the snake slowly creeping up on her, trembling she said "P-please go away. S-stop chasing me!"
She was slowly backing up till she reached  the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, the snake shot up on her as if wanting to reach her. She was so shocked that she slipped then the next thing she felt was a feeling of weightlessness.
        'Ah..... I'm falling. The terrifying chill I felt a moment ago was replaced by a frightening calmness. As if everything was in a slow motion, my sight was stuck on the blue unchanging sky. What was that?'
She saw a black cat looking down on her from the edge of the cliff.
'Wait why am I falling? I just saw the girl fell down! Why am I the one falling? Huh? I... I... Who am I? Oh....right. I am the girl. I remember waking up in a magical forest, living my life playing around the beauty of nature........... and dying after falling from a cliff.'
'This......did I repeat my life? So...... I..... will I die now?'
     The girl fell off the cliff and crashed on a big peice of rock. Her fragile bones crushed, a pool of blood flowed out from the   back of her head and became a red blanket under her dull corpse.
     'I think, I crashed on something hard, but...... I feel no pain. I only feel numb, I-I can't see anything.....'
In the midst of the darkness while she felt like she was drifting in a wide space, memories started to pour in her brain.
She remembered seeing a black cat frozen, staring at her from afar while she was playing on the lake, it followed her from the lake to the forest until she found the field of flowers. She remembered seeing it roll around like her a distance away on the bed of petals.
Then a scene so bittersweet, so regretful came as the last memory. It was from a moment ago after she fell down,  before the half of her soul came back to her own body.
The wild crimson eyes of the snake was staring at her as if aggrieved about something. Suddenly, the snake's mouth opened and a gloomy voice filled her ears and reverbrated in her brain slicing her heart to peices for her own ignorance.
"I never intended to scare you. I never wished to do any harm. I just... I just wanted to be your friend. I-I'm so sorry.."
Then big drops of tears fell from the snake's eyes as it scurried off.
       A strong force pulled her from her consciousness then she felt a dark and cold liquid creeping on her body pulling her down as if wanting to sink her down the abyss.
"Gasp!"
She was forced awake by the unbearable suffocation that she felt. A bright blue sky filled her sight and fresh breeze of air rafreshing her whole body from an unknown exhaustion.

'Where am I?'

                      END

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