My Path

The story of a girl torn between her love and her life

 

 

Avanell stood in the middle of a large clearing. The lush forest growing green around her was still, and almost eerily silent. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed. It was as if time itself had stopped to rest in this clearing alongside the lithe girl. She twisted a strand of her dark brown hair between her thumb and index finger, trying to decide how to get out of the clearing.

 

There were two ways out, two choices. One side of the clearing had a bright and warm path that tapered into shadows and darkness. The other path was covered in thickets and thorny bushes, and had small spots of light glimmering through the branches of the large willow trees that outlined it.

 

Despite the warming summer day, Avanell felt cold. A chill caused her flesh to fight back, raising goose bumps all over her arms and legs. The little bumps were just a reminder of how she felt, and made her eyes well up with salty water that threatened to over flow.

 

The night before she had decided to visit the clearing in the strange forest was terrible. She had been up till two in the morning contemplating her fate and that of her lover. She felt stuck, fear kept her trapped. That was what motivated her coming to the forest with its bastion of thick trees and secretive shadows. She could take one path, and either lose the thing she loved the most, or take the other and gain a chance to move on with her life.

 

Avanell didn’t want to be stuck in a dead end job raising the kids and taking care of her husband, but she also didn’t want to let go of the one person she loved just to find out that he was everything she would ever need and more. Her path was muddled and dark. And worst of all the girl was  completely terrified.

 

Avanell knew that she couldn’t let him go, it would have to be his choice because she was not strong enough to do it. Her strength was merely a façade. But she had to pretend, for him. He needed her, and that was why her choice was so hard.

 

Standing in that clearing, she thought about the night before. He came to her in tears, but unlike all the other times, it was different. It was the worst. He was sick and in pain, and he had been tossed out like a dirty wash cloth. He gave in, right there in front of everyone who’d thought he was too strong for tears, and fell to his knees. Sobbing. Avanell felt as if her reality was tearing at the seams as she watched her rock, her protector, become her child.

 

Kneeling beside him, Avanell took her lover in her arms and wept with a fury to match his own. And time was no longer important to the girl that always worried about it. It was a moment of utter pain, and they were both breaking from it.

 

When the night was through and a pleasant numbness began to settle over the girl, she decided to make a choice. Would she face many more countless nights like this with the one she loved? Or would she turn a blind eye on him like everyone else did and walk towards and unknown future?

 

Avanell decided. She would take the path that most would deem unworthy. She would choose the boy that others saw in the same perspective. It would be long, hard, stressful, and painful, but Avanell knew that he was all she wanted and more. Maybe he wasn’t what everyone else wanted him to be, but she didn’t mind him riding on her coattails.

 

Her aching body and fitful mind finally reached an agreement and she was able to go to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Constructive Critisism always accepted <3