Villain of a Hero

Rise Up

The first time I truly opened my eyes, was at this very moment today. I'd been in deep slumber, sight blocked by darkness for so long, I'd forgotten what light looked like.

My eyes slid open so slowly, as if to allow me to process everything that came into view. It was like seeing the world for the first time, at first not realizing where you are, nor where you came from. I had no memory of anything before this moment. I have no memory of anything before I was awoken. No dreams from my slumber, it was a dreamless sleep; yet, you always dream when you are asleep, and I know that. It's always the dreams you forget, that you want to remember; but, in this case, I don't want to try to remember what I dreamed, and wither or not it was a reality. Because I was now awake, any anything I saw I would accept as my reality.. Once I woke from my once endless peace, I wanted to see earth for the first time. To see what the world I live in, and rise up.

It seemed as if the sun shone down brightly, right on top of me; however, there was some sort of moving shadow, shading the sun from my eyes. I stared blankly into the skies above, bright and blue, and my hands felt the ground at my sides; soft, luscious grass. My eyes could finally focus in on what created the moving shadow above me, as if remembering what everything in the world was. Tree branches. The leaves were bright green, rustling together to make a melody unheard by most.

I sat up slowly, turning my head to the sky. I had a dead look in my eyes, one that was expressionless, and would not show how much my surroundings brought peace to me. I turned my attention to the massive tree that stood before me. The bark around the tree seemed to practically glow with health, the branches thick and strong, the leaves green and fertile. It was there upon the many leaves, where a bright red apple briefly showed itself through the curtain of leaves. It hung out overhead; above where I once lay.

I began rising to my feet, wishing to reach out for the glistening apple - but then in a quick flash of light, the illusion vanished.

The once red apple was replaced with a dark, shriveled up piece of fruit, and the few leaves that still hung on the branch lay limp in the dead air.

The once glowing tree, now struggled to stand, dead and decaying. The bark looked jagged and sharp, as if warning anything that approaches of its disease. The roots below seem to writher in pain, it was in gnarled knots and a twisted mess. I felt sorrow for the once beautiful tree; yet, I asked no questions as to what happened. They just seemed to slide right past my mind, and I took no notice.

I turned my attention downwards, to the hard ground beneath my feet. The ground was pasty and cracked, no greens where I laid. I looked ahead of me, away from the pained tree, refusing to look back to see its suffering.

Overhead, a crow cawed as it flew past me. Its call seemed to be more like a cough, and I understood once I realized what world lay in front of me.

A massive city was settled before me in the far distance, rising smoke streams lifting from several areas within the city. Everything was dark, and it sent shivers down my spine. The sky seemed flat, the clots of dust that were the clouds, swiftly moving overhead.

It was with my first step through this world, that I would soon realize this is my reality. This is the world I had to awaken to. This is the world I will live in until my final repose came. And thus, I walked across the scarred land, still unknowing of what world I was in, and what world had I first seen when I rose up.