The silence was overbearing, but this was nothing unusual. The sunlight, which had once evoked such a sense of hope in the heart, was now unusual. A sliver of gold glimmered through a break in the leaves, carrying with it an unfamiliar and inexplicably cruel sentiment.
Many a joyous time in the past had been experienced in this forest. Years earlier, a new mother had skipped across the very same ground, her gown flowing behind her. In her arms, she cradled what she believed to be absolute perfection. The infant lay sleeping without a care against her chest. Tears of joy streamed down the woman's cheeks as she gently kissed her new daughter's forehead. The inexplicable sensation of holding her very own progeny brought the woman to her knees. It was then that she wished this moment to never end. She studied her daughter's features intently, examining the cherubic flawlessness of unsoiled porcelain skin, round and rosy cheeks, and flecks of golden hair. She could only bring herself to kiss the infant's head once more. "I love you. I will always love you," she whispered, her voice piercing through the silence of the evening. How could it be that so many years had progressed from that moment in time? How could that past moment be such a stark contrast in comparison to the present moment? Today, that once-perfect infant now stood in the forest as a broken woman. Her back slammed onto the grassy ground, her mouth ajar, unable to catch her breath. Once she was able to draw in a gasping breath, a dreadful series of screaming sobs ripped through her throat. Her very own infant lay across her chest, but this time, the forest beheld a very different circumstance to the prior one. The infant lay lifeless, her skin cold and hard, permanently in a slumber. The weeping woman was unable to form any consciousness. The hollowness of the forest clearing exemplified the deep, gaping wound in her soul—she was alone in a wide-open wilderness of her life, the tall trees in the distance reminiscent of the walls she'd built up against the outside world for years. She was truly bemused as dark waves began to flash before her eyes. She began to dissociate from reality, and abruptly, the unbearable agony she was feeling warped into a blank space of nothingness. She could no longer cry, move her body, or even make sense of the area around her. Nothing mattered any longer—from every event of her life that had occurred up until this very moment. Even as her most precious creation lay dead before her....everything she had ever known suddenly grew innocuous. Still laying on the forest floor, the woman's eyes rolled to the back of her head as her eyelids closed tightly. In her perspective, everything was over. Since she had absolutely no remainder of consciousness whatsoever, she could no longer ache for every loss, and she could no longer experience the joy from finally being free of that aching. The woman lay on her back, infant on her chest, for what seemed like hours. There were no signs of life or movement within her. The forest seemed to only grow more silent by the minute, with the only minuscule hint of sound being a soft breeze rattling through the trees. The sun was sinking lower behind the trees, casting a contrasting golden glow over the entire green woodland. This was the moment that a very strange humming noise resonated throughout the space, carrying with it an inexplicably beautiful melody. In an instant, just as the blink of an eye, the grieving woman jarred back into consciousness. She involuntarily sat up ramrod straight. Disorientated, the previous memories slowly began to flood back into her mind as she gazed down at what she held. The unconsciousness had been a temporary relief, and suddenly, she wished with all her heart to be back there. The pain was new this time, as she had experienced how wonderful the unconsciousness had truly been. The wails of anguish once again began to rip through her entire body, sending her into a helpless pile of quivering bones. It was then that the woman was interrupted by what she initially believed to be her own echo. She grew silent, and listened closely, tears still flowing in a continuous torrent down her face. A sound of sobbing floated through the air, highly reminiscent of the woman's desperate sobbing. This sound seemed to be coming from everywhere, occupying every inch of space, with a reverberation unlike anything the woman had ever heard. It was such a powerful sound, yet with a simultaneous and odd gentleness. The woman's eyes completely dried up. The hair on every inch of her body stood up, and it felt as if ice had been injected into her heart. Unable to stand up, she used her shaking legs to maneuver her body in a circle. She could not locate the sound of the sobs ringing out. "H-h-hello? Hello?" the woman stuttered. "Who is out there?" An amorphous, transparent figure appeared in front of a tree in the distance. When the woman gazed straight ahead in its direction, it vanished. Although she had not seen it with her own eyes, she could sense a definite presence in the vicinity. Chills began to shoot down her spine, and she became completely immobilized, still clutching the lifeless infant tightly. The figure once again reappeared twenty feet before the woman—and this time, her eyes met the figure. She froze where she sat, her crying entirely stopped, her mouth hung agape, and her heart nearly ceased to beat. The figure levitated through the air, slowly and ominously approaching closer to the woman. The hollow sobbing noise that had previously been heard erupted from the mysterious figure. Bemused and unable to move or vocalize in the least, the woman's eyes widened as far as possible. She remained absolutely paralyzed in pure terror at what she was seeing and hearing. The figure continued to ghost forward until it floated just inches from the woman's body. The sobs of the creature were transitioning into something brighter...something far more beautiful...laughter. This laughter sounded like that of a bell; soft and whimsical. As the laughter increased, the clear color of the creature shifted into a luminous iridescence. Its shapeless form gradually began to take on a humanoid form. Although the woman had previously felt a sensation like ice coursing through her entire body, the feeling was suddenly replaced by a feeling of utmost warmth and comfort. It was inexplicable, and for the very first time in months, a smile pulled at the corners of her lips. The figure increasingly grew brighter, eventually causing the woman to recoil, infant in her lap, shielding her eyes with her hands. Between small blinks into the outside world, all she could see was the light surrounding and overtaking her, cancelling out every other view. Oddly enough, she hadn't the least desire to escape.
Reality became the brightest white light.
Agony, anger, hopelessness and regret were replaced by love and compassion.
The sound of a crying infant flooded through the space.
