The Curious Road: Chapter 2
The Path Beckons
I left the window and walked to the front door, moving as if in a dazed dream. The opening of the door squeaked and let in the glare of the fall afternoon. The breeze, cold and smelling of mildewing leaves, filled the house and replaced the smell of death. I closed the door behind me without a glance back inside and stepped onto the path.
The frigid fall air startled me and stole my breath. The sun still shone oppressively brightly. The joyful light offended the darkness in my heart.
Ahead of me, I felt the eyes that watched me from the trees. The giant owl flew over my head, the breeze from the wake blowing my golden tendrils into my eyes. It flew into the forest ahead of me.
I walked the path toward the secrets held hostage by the woods in front of me. Fresh fall leaves crunched under my feet. The trees that waited for me stood dark against the bright light. The sun reflected off the white, skeletal arms of the ash trees.
“How do you know?”
The voice came from the forest. It spoke softly, a sigh of the wind carrying the words. I didn’t answer, but I knew it spoke to me.
“How do you know?” I heard the voice say again, more urgently this time. I stopped this time.
“Hello?” I called to the empty woods.
“How do you know the colors of the rain?” I played Nora’s words again in my head. The trees saw my thoughts.
“I need the directions,” I spoke to the trees instead of answering the question.
“Can you see the rain?” the voice sang to me.
“Yes,” I answered uncertainly. “Anyone can see the color of the rain.”
“I see many things. Sometimes, I see purple rain.” The trees fluttered at me.
“The cure lives in your heart. The directions lay in the path.”
I took a step towards the trees. I saw that face on the bed, growing paler and gaunter in the time that passed.
“What do you hope to find, my sad friend?”
How did the forest voice know my sadness?
“I don’t know you.” I whispered, and yet from the depths of my memory, I heard the voice calling from my past.
“Don’t you?” I heard the crunch of footsteps just past the tree line.
I stepped closer to the edge of the trees. One step, then another. The forest pulled me forward.
The autumn wind blew around me. I felt warmth in spite of the cold autumn day. I took another step. The wind became a gentle breeze ruffling my hair around my shoulders.
I looked back at the path. My sister called to me from her fevered dreams. I didn’t go back. I turned toward the whispering woods. I knew that time slipped from my grasp.
Another step. Another. The path didn’t tell me the directions, but I followed it anyway. The woods closed around me.
A light blinked at me from the darkness, and I moved closer to see it.
In front of me the winged giant sat on the lowest branch of a massive tree, waiting for me. The tree’s trunk wiggled and writhed with living things. They hustled and raced before me. I reached out to feel the rough bark, but I reached through the trunk and into the tree. A hand grabbed mine and pulled me into the trunk of the tree.
The forest disappeared.
