The beast tears at my heart, threatening to break through as it seeps into my thoughts, pulling me into submission. As the fire blazes its trail forward, edging closer in its rage, the beast's claws sink deeper and the fangs of fear bite harder.
I stand on the brink of myself, only a thinning rope of rationality keeping me from plunging the cliff and giving myself to the monster within. It yearns for its release, yearns to take over, as it coaxes me closer to the edge. I feel myself second guessing the rope, wondering whether I am wrong.
Gaping its jaws at me, the beast smiles, licking its lips. Yet the texts, the news, the tweets continue to fray the rope. The fire is coming closer. We must evacuate! They shout and scream, overtaken by their own beasts.
Maybe I should submit to mine too, I wonder, as I take a step forward.
The rope snaps and I fall. My throats tightens. My breath quickens. I can feel the darkness overflowing, coursing inside me as the beast tears through its cage, devouring me, ravaging my mind.
But a hand pulls me up. The beast diminishes, it's reign ebbing away as I feel the familiar comforting arms around me. They ease me, soothe me although I know the angel is not truly beside me.
Yet my mind is clear and I hold on confidently to the renewed rope around me.
The beast no longer has power, for I know my angel is with me now.
YOU ARE READING
11/08/2018
Non-FictionIn a panic, I wrote this during the Woolsey Fire, as I saw the flames outside my window.
