Savoirs

Jaclyn

At first it was only a pit of darkness. I couldn't hear, or feel, or see, or touch. I felt like I was falling and then I felt like I was floating and then I felt the pain settling through my body. It hurt too much and then I felt arms around me and felt like I was being pulled further into the dark and I clawed at the darkness to try and keep myself from being pulled down deeper into the dark abyss but I was no match for my opponent and I was pulled deeper. But as I was being pulled I felt like I was swaying, like someone was carrying me and I heard muffled voices, like the day I nearly drowned and I heard shouting from above me but it was muffled and almost unintelligible. I heard something like a door close and then I felt like I was being set on something but I was too far under the thick darkness that wrapped around me I couldn't tell. Slowly I couldn't hear anything anymore and I was back to falling through the darkness and then a sharp cry jerked me to a stop and I felt the darkness loosen its grip on me. My hand was warm and I felt something touch me.

"Don't die." I hear someone say and feel someone tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. I want to yell suddenly. I want to scream but I can't. All I can do is fight the darkness that was trying to pull me away again and I heard someone talking quietly. Slowly I realized they were telling me a story and I recognized the story as one Jason and I had created with figures of light and fire.
"...and he waited for her to return every night and every night she did and they danced again." He said and I saw the figures in my minds eye and suddenly the darkness wasn't so vast anymore and the light made it seem like it was only a blanket that covered me and that if I simply pushed it off of me I would be awake and be able to see everything and move. But of course I couldn't so I listened to the story and slowly the darkness stopped trying to tug me back down.

"Love didn't mater to them, they thought he was dangerous and she a fool. They locked her away and that night she did not return to her young man. Worried he sought out her home and when he asked of her they drove him away. Saddened that he had not found her he waited underneath a tree until one night an old woman approached him with news of his young lady. A tower he was told was where she was, locked away until she forgot the man she had danced with. He ran to the tower and as she gazed out the window she saw a young man running towards the tower and with joy did she realize the man was the boy with whom she had danced with. She called down to him and he called up to her and tried to open the door but it was too strong. So he sat and waited by the tower. Every night until time had worn the door and he could open it." In my minds eye the figures run into each others arms and then they disappear and I'm falling again but this time I wasn't aware of it.

I saw faces. My father, my mother, brother and sisters, all of them looking down at me with smiles. I was lying on a smooth surface and felt nothing but a gentle peace. My mother caressed my cheek and I smiled up at her. She smiled down at me and started humming a lullaby. I sat up and she watched me with a soft smile. I hugged her and she returned the embrace.

"I missed you." I whispered and she nodded. 

"I know." She says and I pull away, tears running down my cheeks.

"How?" I ask and she smiles.

"We watched over you. Always." She says and my father rested a hand on her shoulder. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me.

"You did good." He says and I stood. For a moment we stood staring sat each other and then I hugged him and wept. He returned the embrace and stroked my hair.

"I miss you so much." I say and he kisses the top of my head.

"We miss you too." He says and I look up at him.

"Am I done? Can I stay here, with you? I don't want to miss you anymore." I say and he smiles.

"What about that boy? Won't you miss him?" He asks and I look down at the ground to see an image of Jason sitting beside my body, holding my hand and weeping quietly.