The Canopy Tree

A Dusty Path

I walk.
I walk for what seems like decades, but it has only been a few hours. My hands are painted with a thick glaze of dried blood. My eyes that were once full of light, are cut from the happenings before. My heart and once so happy and free now is chained to something I've left behind.

The feeling of regret is something everyone gets. Regret is when you feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over past events. Today I was feeling regret. And regrets partner in crime is guilt. So I was feeling that too.

I could of stopped Rhun from getting the lions attention.
I could of made Wecan sleep somewhere else.
I could...
I could...
I would...
I can't change the past.
But the past can change me.

As I walk the dusty path other animals in the past have walked, I spin something in my hand. The one thing I did not leave at the camp site. The one thing I grabbed before running. The one thing that kept me sane.
A
Gold
Ring.

Now covered with the same red liquid as my hand, it looks nothing like the ring from years ago. I put the ring to my lips, ignoring the metallic stench and the blood going onto my parched lip. I held it there for a moment, as if I was kissing the gold. I then move it to my cheek and hold it there, cupping my hand around it. I still can feel the cold touch of the ring, as if there was no thick blood on it. I stop walking that dusty path, and fall into the grass beside it. And for the first time, I cried. Not tears of joy. Not tears of sadness. But tears of pain. As I use my hand to wipe away the water sliding down my cheek, I find no water. But blood. The tears were replaced with the liquid from the wounds stabbed into my heart, ever since they died. Rhun and Wecan.

I could feel the droplets of blood racing down my cheek, and I smiled. You might believe smiling at a time such as this was crazy, but it wasn't. I smiled because of my suffering. I closed my eyes and stood to my feet. A feeling of serenity washed over me and I opened my eyes once again. No longer was I trying to survive and no longer I wanted to thrive. I was ready to become part of nature.

As I took some wobbly steps on the dusty path, I look up. Above me, a large structure is shadowing and protecting me. I've reached it.
The canopy tree.