Esk Tales {TWWM-ARPG Writings Collection}

Majanthi Prompt #3- Distance

Distance
- Wanderer Prompt -
{Majanthi #3}

.:+:.

She did not feel distance in any sense of the word, usually.... no amount of leagues or miles or whole landmasses stretching out in front of her really felt like a great distance. Even in all her travels from one place to another, none of it felt like a distance, or even all that far for her- getting some place wasn't some stretch of earth and land that needed to be overcome in order to get to a destination. It was not something to be conquered, or won over- the journey itself was just as important as the destination to her, so she didn't feel a gap or a distance of any kind..... usually.

Majanthi did not spend any amount of time reflecting upon her own feelings and emotions, there was no time to wallow in any of that and neglect her endless duties to the arid lands and all they housed. She could not waste time becoming lost or consumed by internal thoughts and strife. She had too much to do, and her work required a clear mind and a serene soul to be most effective.... She endeavored to be as effective as she could. To be the best she could and do her utmost at all times- working tirelessly on the vast garden she had been honing and trimming for so, so long.

Usually that is what she did, and she did it well. Usually she never wavered, and never hesitated, and never wallowed.... But today was not usual.

Today was a day where distance had a meaning and a weight for her, and she could not shake it off now no matter how hard she tried.

Today.... Today she had caught a glimpse of the one being on earth where the word distance equated so something cosmically immeasurable.... Today she felt the vast black oceans and space and time and emptiness rip open between herself and 000 in a single moment's time.It was not a direct meeting, it scarcely ever was, both Majanthi and 000 seemed as physically separated by those metaphorical oceans as they were emotionally. But it did not matter, they needn't be physically near one another or even speak- the glance was enough, and more than enough to bring to the surface all those twisting, heavy, and mostly untouched thoughts and feelings Majanthi had worked so hard to bury at all times. All it took was one, far-off glimpse of 000 and it felt like the world had been pulled from beneath her feet. And soon enough she was drowning under a lifetime of ignored and unwanted things, of hopes and dreams and memory and all manner of untapped potential and unfulfilled needs.... It was a lifetime of ignoring of her own happiness and well-being, and a lifetime spent of unfulfilled promise that had 000's heart aching for the Arid Wanderer the most.

Majanthi knew this, though it may never have been said outright- but she knew what it was that made 000 so sad when their eyes met, or when they crossed paths.... She knew what had created this impossible distance between the two of them, but she did not want to be forced to think about it. She did not want to feel it.

She did not want any of it

000 was there and gone in the only a few moments, a distant, dark shadow contrasting against the warmth and heat of the sand behind them. There and gone and the matching of their eyes was no longer than a heartbeat or two, but a heartbeat was all that was needed to throw a wrench into any amount of focus or intention, or even calm that Majanthi had just that heartbeat beforehand. She could not go back to the focus and the calm that she so aspired to have at all times, and the more she fought to regain it, the more the world seemed to spin out of her grasp. Over and over was that visage of 000 on the horizon like a great, lumbering shadow and phantom that had been erased and whisked away by the wind.... Had 000 been there at all?

Or was it just a lingering phantom born of memory and emotion rising to the surface suddenly after being oppressed for so long?

She did not know, and the not knowing was nearly as bad as the surge in emotions and thoughts that joined with it. Was her body trying to tell her something? Her mind? Was it trying to tell her she had spent too long ignoring all of this? That it has been bottled up too long and the cork on the end had now popped off, and it was all fizzing over?