Chapter Two

The next part of Visions

Chapter 2

            The woods have always been my escape. I have always run to them anytime anything has ever troubled me. There’s really nothing special about them. It’s just the type of woods you’d find in a back yard; a divider between neighbors.

            When I was six years old, I loved to play in the woods. It was then, during one of my excursions into the woods that I found something far more intriguing than anything else. There was a stump, a single, lifeless stump surrounded by lively, thriving plants.

            Reaching the edge of the woods, I felt something strange " like a part of me was tearing. The strangest part is perhaps the fact that I feel like I’ve felt this tearing before. I shrugged off the feeling and kept running toward my goal: the stump.

After dodging dangling branches, and jumping over fallen logs my breath escaped my lungs when my stump finally came into view. It sat just slightly off center in the center of clearing, just as I remembered it, but all of the lush, lively foliage that had once been there was withered away. It looked as if it had been ravaged by a fire.

That was when I felt it again: the tearing. I still could not figure out how I recognized this feeling, but it was so strong that it nearly knocked me off my feet this time. I walked forward to sit on the stump, as I frequently did. This time however, someone said, “You mustn’t touch it.”

I was so startled that I lost my footing and fell. My mind was reeling. How could someone know I was here… but then again, a part of me knew she was always here with me. Every time I’d come here, so would she " Jessica, The Nature Guardian.

I attempted to get off the ground when my right hand suddenly began burning. Jerking my hand back everything began to get hazy. I looked to the area where I had my hand and saw that it was becoming an intently burning fire.

Flames and smoke spiraled around me, not once creeping closer or touching me. The smoke began to thin, and through it I could see a tree that ascended to the sky. It was much taller than any tree I’d ever seen.

Whispers floated through the air: faint, almost unable to be heard. I could almost see people standing around the tree now. I squinted trying to see the people standing there. After scanning almost the entire crowd, I found my mother standing there among them.

I tried to walk over to her, but my body wasn’t responding to what I wanted it to do. My mother looked at me after I let out a grunt of frustration. Her face was torn with emotion. She looked happy to see me yet, disastrously pained. “I’m sorry,” she let out a sigh interrupting the man speaking, “but it has begun.” She turned her back to the circle of people and vanished.

The smoke suddenly began to thicken and spiral more violently than before. It crept closer to me, shrouding me in a now malevolent essence. Its wickedness became too much to bear, so I held out my hands as if I could it back.

The next thing I knew I was back in the clearing, standing in front of the stump. Jessica was also standing across from me on the other side of the stump. I’m not quite sure how I knew her, but I know she’s here to help me figure things out.

I tried to step closer to her, but again my body wasn’t responding to my commands. I looked at Jessica trying to understand what was going on. This wasn’t how I remembered this; she’s supposed to help me.

“I’m sorry Luke,” she whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. She held up her right hand and simply said, “No more.”

 

Author's Note

Again, any and all feedback is welcomed.