Can I tell you a story?

Because it’s about you.

If you have faith.

And if you believe.

It is from long ago.

Close your eyes.

Embrace this vision, it will show you a future and the past.

Some mirages are real. 

Where we go, I do not know.

Tread carefully I would ask.

Are you ready?

It begins with a whisper.

“Shadows and voices, another time, and another place for those answers.” Our guides would tell us.

 

Time had a value it appeared.  So we would always move forward.

I could have replied, “Those worlds that collide, and tear us apart, I no longer fear.”

I do apologize for this story, you may not feel it, yet.

So, please let me continue.

Time shall meander through the forests, lakes and valleys as we speak of our many paths together.

All rivers shall meet the sea eventually.  This we know.

Please embrace your journey; our journey.

The clouds passed...

For me, this was yesterday and a thousand years ago when I woke up in the basement.

 

It is always now for me.

Some of these we loved were gone, others were not.

As you accept our path, you understand it more.

The actual places did not matter.

As always there is the flow between them; and us.

Time, that is; the infinite motion of forward.

It was a dance we risked within mere steps of falling into the abyss.  Which is something to ponder even now.

As I walked with you, holding your hand I would ask “Do you remember?”

The smile said it all.

The journey commenced.

Our journey.

From beyond, The old Witch said, “Then, let us begin”.

 

Her voice echoed with a timeless quality, “We are all just ashes in the end...”

I could feel her quiet for a moment.

“When we last spoke, this made no difference in your destination.”

I didn’t know what she meant.  Yet she chose  to speak at us through eternal eyes and a burning tongue that knew many secrets.

 

She continued with a certain cadence. 

“Time seemed to cease most of our lives. Can you see?”

And with that, she was gone, back to a shadow world.

 

The world was warmer for a moment.  Her presence ever lingering.

I joked, “I liked my girls a little bit younger, but...” and you mocked me for avoiding the problem at hand.

With your scolding and impish grin, you pushed me and said  “So should we continue with her or not?  Yesterday was always so wonderful, wasn’t it.”

I was silent and I don’t entirely know why.

I said “We could fly; the temples, the valleys and peaks and haunted places be damned.”

But this you knew before you asked me.

You smiled and mouthed the words only I could see “Who are you?”

I quietly replied “I’ve been a king, a jester, a beggar and I have been a thief, but I am always there for you, my queen”

I loved seeing your smile, but before you could reply,

From the Abyss, we heard:

“I saw your glance.

I held your heart.

You were next to me.

In the land beyond darkness”

The queen that had once worn ‘The White’ evidently had said she needed some time with us.

I shrugged and looked for your lead.

All you did was point to the nether world entrance.

You know I obey on rare occasion, for only you that is.  I went as I should.

The way would be through her domain, and into the dawn, the nothing would shine on us.

 

Just us, again.

Down we had to go by your very gesture.  To our path.

Your innocent eyes would be our beacon.

I wasn’t afraid for me, but I was worried for you. 

But I couldn’t let you know.

This wasn’t the place you expected.

This was because of the chaos. 

I didn’t know if I had summoned it or not.  I knew you needed it.

This place we had not ventured before.

Well, not together, Anyway.

I didn’t care what was to occur, I had died for you in the past and the future, so I thought, worst case scenario I would have some chocolate and coffee as the demons watched us again.

We laughed, and with that, the adventure began.