Temptations

“Do whatever you want Alexandra, but never, never, go beyond or near the wall." Out of everything my mother had ever taught me, she seemed to stress this point the most. She would fill my mind with all the terrible things that have happened there. Of people being drawn towards the wall, of them going through and never returning. The echoes of their torturous screams faintly making its way back to our ears. She would tell me of these things so much that when I was little, as little as the age of five, these stories would haunt my dreams.

But, there was always the little voice inside of my head wondering: what really was beyond those walls? What made the beyond so bad, so evil?

The wall was located in the forest, about ten miles away from our small village, some say that the wall stands twenty feet tall, made of the most beautiful mahogany that is supposed to lure humans into the beyond, like the eyes of a cobra lure a mouse to its inevitable death. Others say the wall isn't exactly a wall but where our forest meets paradise. I don't know what it is, but the temptation to see the wall grows stronger everyday. Everytime I go into the lush green forest, a voice calls to me pleading with me to keep going farther away, I'm certain that it's the beyond calling to my very being. I feel as if it's my destiny to go to the beyond. That I have to get the past the wall.

So that's what I will do.

 

I look into the transparent water of the well behind our house. My raven black hair is braided down my back, and my slightly tan skin shimmers from the afternoon sun. My piercing forest green eyes gaze back at me, wild for adventure. My pack on my back is full of arrows, as many as it will carry, some food, and a jug of fresh water. A small, sharp dagger with a long blade hangs from its sheath around my slim waist accentuated by my dress.

My mother was inside the house, for all she knew, I was getting water for Supper. I had left a note on my bed, telling my mother of what had to be done, that it was my destiny to find out what was beyond, that I was sorry to be disobeying, that I loved her so much. A twinge of guilt makes me hesitate as I take a small step towards the forest, but I disregard it. I had to find out what was beyond the wall, I just had too. I continued walking until my feet no longer touched dusty soil but the soft green moss of the forest floor. Smiling, I continued.

The sweet smell of water and flowers met my nose, and the lovely chirping of birds singing a melodious song made my heart sing. I was finally fulfilling my destiny. The sun shone through the forest trees, the green leaves blocking out more and more of the glorious sunlight the farther I continued.

Then I heard it, the beautiful sound of the beyond calling me, like a mother to her daughter. Like we were long lost friends, about to be reunited. Right then, everything my mother told me about the wall and the beyond was erased from my mind and curiosity took over. What was the wall? What was the beyond? I walked faster, stepping over branches and rocks. Flowers no longer grew here, but that didn't bother me, I didn't care, I had to find the wall. The forest was now very dark, how much time had passed? The sound of the beyond grew louder blocking out all thoughts of turning back. Where was it?

Suddenly a vast wall of gorgeous black marble met my eyes as I stepped out of the trees, I immediately froze, it was... amazing. The wall had an alluring look to it, the dark color was so dark that I could scarcely believe that the wall was real. It wasn't an imaginary wall, or a wall of mahogany after all, but a far more glorious material. Oh how I pity the rest of the villagers. whose eyes will never catch sight of such a magnificent structure.

I started walking again, the closer I got to the wall the more beautiful the sound of the beyond became, the warmer and happier I felt until I was inches away. A feeling of pure bliss entered me. If I felt so good out here, what must be beyond that wall will be even better! It must!