The Forest We Call Home

The Ruby Amulet

Lilac leaves and purple petals lead my crimson-soaked feet on my journey to blissful paradise. I gasp, inhaling the fragrant air till my lungs burst like bloated balloons. My meadowlark flies high above my head. Her voice resonates with the idolized stars & worshipping Gods. 

My broken ribs and bleeding gums bask in the sensual seduction of light. I twirl, strolling through this enchanted wood inside my head. My starved fingers run through my charcoal hair. A thought pops up in my head, am I dead or alive? Such a query is irrelevant as I trot down this lonely but lovely path.

The crystal sky displays only the wholesome Sun that digs deep into the knife wounds populating my naked chest. Free me from the burden of lust, paternal rule of the South. King of men and the old God, free me with unworldly pleasures. I suppose death brings me the clarity to be humored by this malicious destruction. 

My skin gently burns as I skip along the path. An animated teddy bear passes by; behind the odd creature is a disgraced man from long ago. They heed my morose and mangled body. Though, I pay them no attention. My life is coming to its last page, and I have my meadowlark's vision to fulfill. 

Skipping, skipping, skipping along until my trembling feet can't feel anymore. Twirling, twirling, twisting since dawn, won't stop till I see the lakeshore. 

Aye! A sense of clarity comes with death's presence, like a teacher who allows their students to figure out the big picture with subtle hints. My short life meant nothing to no one. I will have existed like an unnoticed worker ant, the only permanence of me will be my willow corpse and the silver amulet around my neck.

This precious blood-red ruby glistens, masking its evil, chaos, and ability to reignite the forest once more. Such raw power tied to my neck, and yet I stammer off to my final resting. I suppose it is useless to me. I am nobody from nowhere. It would only work along with one with good wit and expansive knowledge. I am a simple girl from a ruined corpse that was once a prominent farming village. 

I walk, walking till I can't anymore, feet cleansed by the freshwater. I lay down on the muddy shore, mother nature's tears wipe my bare body of its pain, and I take root in the soft mud. Raw skin mixes with the murky water, and I dissolve from this wretched world. In my absence, an enormous willow tree grows, protecting the world from the evil within that ruby. I pass on now and leave this world with no trace but the amulet. 

My precious meadowlark takes my soul in her beak, and we sail to the heavens once more. I am now far away, and I glance at the stain of the cosmos not with hate but with remorse. Their greed and cruelty blind the Godless people. They chose objects over people, comfort over true freedom and justice.