Part 1: Dark Caves, Bright Waters
Once I was walking along a hiking path. Now I am not an athletic person or one for hiking, but I needed some time to myself so I wandered among the trees, and I came upon a cliff face. Being at the base of this cliff, I could see that it could have been 50-100 feet high. My instinct had told me to run my hand across the rocky surface of the precipice. I closed my eyes as I walked, which I don’t suggest to anyone walking in nature, (y’know sticks to trip on and all,) feeling every crack and crevice, every pebble and stone as some fell because of becoming dislodged at my touch. Soon I came to a place in the face where there was nothing at my fingertips. Opening my eyes I could see an opening in the cliff face no more than four feet wide and five feet high. Its circular edges were not even in the least. The midday sun did not seem to pierce the darkness of the cave entrance, at least no more than 20 feet.
My curiosity wanted to explore as my conscience tried to convince me I was ill-prepared for such spelunking. My gut told me there was more to this subterranean crevice but not in a good way. With this internal war raging, my gut won the battle and my feet soon started to lead me back down the trail. As soon as I turned my back on the cave entrance, I heard the rise of sweet singing. I turned with my curiosity to lead me towards the enticing music as if it were like a siren's call. Everything in me tried to fight such a call, (except my curiosity of course,) but my steps toward the shadows of this cave continued.
Soon I was engulfed in darkness; my eyes took a good second to adjust. As my journey progressed down what seemed to become a tunnel, an unnatural gloom became the atmosphere of this subterranean passage. There was a dim glow about the walls of the cave that allowed me to see the texture of the walls and floors. Every step gave evidence that the roots of trees and plants reached deep into the earth. As I walked through that dark cavern, my eyes could not determine the height nor depth of this subterranean tunnel. The siren’s call soon became unbearable not to follow. Every step felt like that of an eternity as my anticipation to find the source of such a song drove me to go faster.
The surface I walked changed from the root-ridden floor of the entrance of the cave to a smooth, almost slippery walkway. A sense of humidity allowed the song to ring through the water in the air. I came closer to an opening in the tunnel, following the dim glow into a bright beam focused on the center of the alcove. This grotto was the size of a round walk-in closet, roughly a 10-foot by 10-foot space, give or take a few bumps that created an uneven surface on the walls around this hollow. The siren's song gently reverberated around the wall. I realized the source of the song was here in this recess. I had stared in captivated awe at the source of the song at the center of the fountain of light in the middle of the small cavern.
A creature in the shape of a young petite woman sat on a boulder with her legs crossed and ankles behind her. The siren was facing away from me. My stomach dropped at the sight of her. The closer I came to her, the more my finger and toes felt more like the coldness of icicles as if becoming numb. Each step did not feel like my own, but as if another force was controlling my body. The more this mysterious singer came into view, the more I saw her hair was like an oily black waterfall covering most of her back save a pale shoulder that glinted in the cold spotlight.
Her song was more profound now, but as I drew closer, the siren’s song stopped suddenly, leaving only an uncomfortable silence. I could feel the tension as I reached out for the siren’s exposed shoulder, not being able to stop myself from putting my hand out. In a snap she turned and bared a faceless appearance before my hand could reach her pale skin. With horrified shock, I stared at the featureless face. The shock of it caused me to stumble backward for a second. This siren had no eyes, mouth, or nose, nothing a face should have. She glared at me from her smooth pale porcelain face, drawing me in. In my shocked state, I had no will to resist. Instantly in this moment, the rush of the sound of roaring water broke the ground under my already stumbling feet, causing me to fall into an abyss. My last sight was that of the siren, growing over the opening of the crevice that was swallowing me. I fell into the black and the light failed to enter my eyes.
I found myself falling timelessly. No thought but one came into my mind as I experienced this free-fall. “Why is it so silent?” There was no sense to this question, just loneliness. No hope, nor search for hope, just acceptance that I had left the path. As soon as these revelations came to mind, I felt a droplet of water splash my face. No more than a second later another splashed upon me, then more and more until I was being carried by a stream. Then came again the sound of roaring water and before I knew it I was engulfed in dark rapids. Raging waters matched with raging emotions of fear, guilt and shame swirled about me. I closed my eyes to prepare for the inevitable drowning, but as I was ready to release my breath, my eyes opened again.
Shimmering light grew in the water beneath me. I didn’t know what this would mean, and in a flash of brilliant light, I found myself washed upon the shore of a small creek. I could barely hear the babbling of the brook over my coughing up of water that I had breathed in during my descent of darkness. Once I had caught my breath, I let go of all emotion in loud cries of disgrace and despair. My tears of grief and shame flooded from my already soaked face. I lay in a fetal position there on that shore for what seemed like decades, crying until I had no more tears or moans to let out.
Then I heard, from nowhere and everywhere all at the same time,
“Rest my child…” a gentle voice said with comfort tones.
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