Confessions of a shadow

religious battle

Holding the rains of his heart as he prayed aloud he realized his greatest fear. Was it the constant horror he faced everyday as the ones he cared for betrayed him? Or was it the fact that he let them? His slightly tanned skin reflected the day’s labor with dirt and sweat. Small scars and scraps covered his forearm. A small stream of blood ran steadily from the gash located on his right shoulder. In the deepest chambers of his mind he saw the demons, crawling all around him. Their hollow eyes tour at the entirety of his soul. He prayed even louder now, begging for a release from this world. He knew he would receive no answer. There never was an answer. He had lost all faith in a supreme power, governing over the plague of man kind. Such a horrid creation he thought. We were not meant to destroy all that is good in this world. Yet we move from one place to another consuming everything and leaving nothing. The apple of innocence was our one and only test. We failed. A noise came from behind him then, awakening him from his thoughts.

            “You question me, yet day after day you don’t question yourself. I have given you the gift of choice. It is you who decides the difference in this world. You curse me for allowing all the horrors in the world to confront you. Yet you forget that I have provided you the tools to challenge these horrors.”

            The voice was soft spoken and direct. The figure standing before him was of pure light. Only slight shades gave this figure the image of a human. It was an illusion he was sure of it. It stood there now speechless and calm. He stood to face the figure. When he cleared his vision with a gentle brushing of his eyes he noticed the stillness of the world. A humming bird hung in front of him, its wings slowly moving against the world’s gravity. He noticed the steady beating of its heart. The wind that caressed his face moved like a gentle stream of blues, grays, and yellows. Each fragment of light beat against him like a constant rain. Again he rubbed his eyes but the image remained.

            “You are not crazy. You are simply at peace. A place not many get to experience. I have offered you this gift to show you that the world’s beauty is still here. Love is a challenging thing. You must realize this. Love is not jealous, inpatient, demanding, judgmental, or painless. To open up ones heart to the power of love is to condemn you to constant trouble. You ask me why your loved ones treat you the way they do. Well my answer to you is simple. Because they too like you do not understand love. Nor do you really care too. This answer is all I will give you. You must figure out the rest.”

            And just as quickly as the light came, it was gone. The humming bird gathered speed and eluded the tameness of his eyes. The wind no longer had color and moved as forcefully as it had before. The demons no longer crowed his thoughts. He saw nothing of their once hollowed eyes or the disfigurement of their tainted bodies. What he did see was beauty. The clouds had cleared and the sun was shining brighter than ever. The scars and scraps that had covered him only moments before were replaced now with fresh skin. The dirt and sweat was gone. His body was breathing in the air of the world. He felt the peace that the figure had spoken of. It reminded him of his childhood. When he was a young boy of six he had felt like this. His father, now dead, took him to a small lake up the hills of Missouri. Surrounding this lake was a forest of evergreens and oak. The animals ran freely here. A family of deer rested near the lakes northern shore. A fox jumped endlessly to the call of the birds. His father had brought him to the lake for a lesson. A lesson he had forgotten along time ago. His father had tried to show him that even though we are surrounded by the hatred of the world, it still provides us with the greatest happiness of all, life. As the image of the lake remained solid in his mind, his fathers voice was replaced with the sweetest voice his ears had ever heard. He turned then as a hand gripped his arm. Her eyes, a crystal blue, were filled with tears and her lips trembled beneath those eyes. Her long brown hair hung loosely to her back, swaying from side to side. Her hands were cold, and the once blushful appearance of her face was replaced with a pale sorrow. He held her then close to his heart. Her tears muted her words. He silenced her as he slowly moved his fingers through her hair. Her heart was beating rapidly against his. She took heavy breaths trying to calm her self. He tilted her face up towards his. He smiled at her like he hadn’t smiled in a long time. When she went to speak he placed a hand over her lips.

            “I love you. My love is not jealous, inpatient, demanding, judgmental, or painless. I have opened my heart to your love. And it will remain open to you as long as you will it.” Her heart became calm then. The tears settled and her lips quite trembling. She watched him for a long time before speaking. And when she did speak she spoke from the heart and as soft and direct as the figure had. “And I love you”. From that moment on he was no longer a shadow. He had found the light he had been searching for, for so long. And as he sat at his desk late that night with his love resting beside him he took out a pen and started to write, “Confessions of a Shadow”.                                 

Reviews

[deeps]

YO're not crazy just simply at peace. I like that. This is a wonderful story you have here. I like this.