Chapter 1:
Can You Hear Them Cry?
Trees. So many trees. I must be in a forest. When did I walk into the woods? How long have I been here? Hours? Days? I'm so tired, I need water, but I can't stop. Why am I so tired? Oh, I'm running! That is why my feet are aching, why my head is pounding, why my muscles are throbbing. Okay, great, I'm running, problem solved, crisis averted. But wait, why am I running? I should look behind me. No, I mustn't! I should keep moving, trust my instincts, and keep surging forward. But can you hear them cry? Is that the shrieking of the trees? I've never had to listen to such pain. I can hear it back there and whatever is, it is catching up to me. If I can just reach that city, the golden city. The answer to my prayers, the solution to my mistakes, the absolution of my wrongdoings will belong to me.
The sun is going down. What once seemed like a bearable darkness is slowly becoming an impossible blackness. If only I could stop moving my feet for just a brief moment, sit down, and collect my thoughts. Perhaps this thing, whatever it is chasing me, is in need of a rest as well. Maybe we would both benefit from an unspoken courtesy. Just five minutes, vile beast, is that too much to ask for? My thoughts are slowing me down, I can feel the presence of evil inching closer with every blink, every stride, every swallow of air.
Each twig that cracks beneath my feet, every stone upon which I stumble is making it easier for the voice to catch me. I feel as though it could reach out, extend it's morbid grasp, and tackle me beneath the earth. The sun is setting and I'm losing hope. I can not be left here alone with this-this thing. Maybe I can hide amongst the trees as running is becoming less and less of a privilege, and more of a punishment. The footsteps are deafening. Keeping my eyes locked straight ahead no longer seems like an option, or even the right choice for that matter. The tenebrous unknown is gaining precious inches with every passing second and panic is starting to set in. How much more can my body handle the rhythm of this chase, the exigency of this forbidden dance? Only a few more strides and swear will no longer invade my eyes. A couple more deep breaths and my legs will no longer buckle from exhaustion. One final leap forward and the golden city is mine.
Chapter 2:
Infatuation Has Strangled Me Again
I should have been content with where I was going instead of being obsessed with where I had been. Everything in my mind told me to forget the sounds of laughter and evil behind me but, finally exiting the woods, I could no longer resist the urge to see what was chasing me. As I began to crane my neck to catch a glimpse of what was at my heels, my body was suddenly overcome by an unconscious paralysis. Off in the distance to my right was a woman, a magnificent creature, I could not quite make out her face but her presence alone was enough to make time stand perfectly still. My legs stopped moving for the first time in God only knows how long, but my mind was too preoccupied to experience the relief, or to any longer fear the chase.
The long, flowing gown looked as thought it had been radiant at one point but in the final rays of the setting sun, and on the canvas of a decaying wood, it seemed oddly macabre. The sides of her garb were town and revealed hips that would stop any man dead in his tracks. I was no exception. Her shoes at one point had been lovely stems that I am sure only accentuated her unending and tantalizing legs, but now they resembled a sort of moccasin, sitting flat to the ground, the sides withered from a weary travel. Her face was covered with a veil that somehow managed to still display her radiance. There was nothing that anyone could say or do at this point, no one thing that could happen that would stop me from moving towards her. A slender hand unsheathed itself from the sleeve of her dress and beckoned for me to follow. Not even the promise of perfection radiating from the golden city was enough to persuade my stride in any direction but hers.
