Dating : A walk in the woods.

Sun hanging low on the horizon, casting an orange hue on the sky. Wind rustling up the leaves fallen on the trodden path that lies before me, a long dirt road amidst the trees. I walk past squirrels and rabbits that are jumping about near the road. The shadow of the canopy making it seem dark and gloomy, but the sunlight creeps through routinely and forms a beautiful glow.

Time flies as I keep walking and by twilight, the daylight is blurring and I see a bright, blinding red light in the sky. In the blink of an eye, the light had vanished. I look in front of me and I see a doe, looking right into my eyes as if it were peering into my soul, I walk towards her, and like a perfect reflection, she strolls toward me. With each step I took, things started getting hazy. When I was getting close to the doe, All of a sudden I appeared in front of what appeared to be a family photograph session, tears gushed my eyes. My mother called out my name and asked me to be in the picture, I start running towards my family when I start falling. I fall and I fall, tears falling from my eyes, sounds from the distant past echoing in my ears.

I tumble to the ground with no evident torment, I open my eyes and there I stand in front of myself, albeit a youthful version of myself, glancing through the mirror, but everything I see is in the right orientation and it dawned me that I am the reflection. I watch myself ponder aimlessly at my reflection, but this time, with a smile on my face. Mother calls out my name and I am suddenly running towards her. I am wearing a cape and a mask, it’s Halloween night, my first one. Mother promised she would take me. I try to let go of my mother’s hand as we were about to walk the fairly deserted part of the neighborhood to get to the neighbor’s house. I lost sight of my Mother and there I stand in the middle of the road, lost, shouting, “Mother!”, but there was no response, I heard a distant shriek, a woman cried in pain. I feared the worst, panic building in my chest as I pray to all the gods that I knew for my mother to be alright. I run trying to find her, and I wake up in a hospital bed, my big brother tells me my mother had been discovered dead, killed by two men trying to steal her necklace, the one that father gifted, many years before. The world started spinning, all I could see was red, pain.

I am on my knees, enervated. I feel the warm embrace of the doe, and I feel the same tender love that had completely left my life since I was left alone in this world. I pet the doe and she pushes her head into mine as if asking me to look ahead. I see my mother waving her hand and kissing me. I run as fast as I can and I hug her with all the love that had escaped me in her absence. A million questions ran through my head, but the words did not come out of my mouth. My mother hushed me as though she comprehended all that I felt. She held my hand, requesting that I walk again with her, and we walked. We walked under the moon sparkling splendid in the now night sky. The world is not how it once was, riddled with sadness and exasperation. She held my face in her arms and said she loved me, and asked me to live my life how I wanted to, with no regrets, and said that she was watching. I started to cry, like a child, in his mother’s arms, but that warmth and love protecting him from the evil in the world. “These are dark times but know that I will always be watching over you, go now and live your life,” she said. And she started to disappear into the moonlit sky, dissolving into flower petals. The last drop of tear left my eye, but this time it was of happiness, knowing that she is there somewhere, watching over me, giving me that strength to carry on. The doe pranced towards the forest leeway and looked back at me one last time, and disappeared into the trees.

What is life after all, but to persevere? For it is not the destination that matters, but the journey. No matter how lonely and depressing this world gets, know that there will always, always be someone watching over you. Carry on doing the things that you want to, the Earth will be there for you, and so will your loved ones. Do not be saddened by the lack of love, for they are always watching, and loving, you.