St.Valentine's Fortress

Another from my first Chapbook. This was created Valentine's Day 2013.

I awoke that morning, restless from my dreams with fragmented thoughts of last night's reason. Searching through the outer-most levels of a stone corridor that was slowly being reclaimed by uneven ground. I found my way to a passage in the wall, hidden by lush foliage and shadow.

 It came as no surprise to me that there was a descending staircase in that place, and like so many times before, I bounded off into the darkness without a second thought. I did not notice that I was being watched. After all, when the feelings of apprehension and paranoia settle within your mind, you learn to tune out certain feelings.

 Lower and lower I went, a slave to my own curiosity. One hand pressed along the carved wall, gently surveying the artistry and craftsmanship now hidden by darkness. My hand told me that it was a beautiful story of two lovers who lived in the stone fortress, and how they stood upon the summit every morning to greet the new day. Just as I began to continue the story, I came upon a section of the wall that was untouched, and my heart dropped a little as I realized my fairy-tale had come to an abrupt end.

 As I continued down the stairway, I kept my hand along the stone wall, hoping that my story would continue as I steadily descended into thicker darkness; now accompanied by the presence of lingering moisture in the lower levels of the passage. I began to sense deep feelings of sadness from below. I wondered why, but as I began to question myself about this feeling, I stopped and glanced back up into a part of the darkness that was not so saturated.

 To my amazement, the part of the wall that contained the beautiful, broken story, was empty. I looked down to the bottom of the staircase, to a massive stone door that blocked my path into the lower reaches of the fortress. So I stood there for a time, trying to make sense of what my left hand had seen along that old stone wall, as I steadily intruded deeper into the place love once resided for an unknown friend. I began to feel deep sorrow as I stared at the stone door, convinced that what was held on the other side was not for my eyes to see.

 I turned my back to the door and started back up the stairway to that beautiful spring day, but as I took my first few steps back up, I heard the voice of a man in despair from directly behind me. "She never had a chance to touch the sword..." I replied softly, " She had no use for it..." And continued on my way....

Author's Note

Constructive criticism always welcomed.

Reviews

[Ghost of Jupiter]

Wow, you were right this one did suit my soul. I was left with such a deep heartbroken feeling after reading those last words.. "She had no use for it..." as if "she" was never fully understood in her time... in her heart. Except for the admirer/friend who had the connection to her spirit, she was locked inside the castle, in ways unknown..hmm there is a mystery here in this write, that can be interpreted in many ways, leaving me questioning and wanting more, yet sated from the emotion elicited from this beautiful work...well done, sir!