Monday, July 4, 2011

Without You - Chapter 14: Gateway


Glass and metal
Scald my skin
Black smoke
Choking out of me
Lost in the lie
I feel little
No longer hopeful
Trevor is alive

I scrape myself
Off the floor
Metal tracts
Riding my back
Little space
To move
And breathe
This tiny nook
All my own

Tears
Drip off my chin
Drenching
The binding below
I take it
In my clammy hands
Noticing
The larger gift
I’m leaning on

The edges steam
A clever handle
Carved
Into the concrete slab
Carefully
I ease the trap door open
A gust of cool air
Inviting me in

I slip inside
Shouldering the mighty walls
As they grind me
Into the floor

Mites tumble down
The cracks above
Falling onto their backs
Legs flailing
Latching
Onto the wreckage around them
They flip onto their stomachs
And race towards me

No telling
What I’m climbing into
Perhaps
A larger nest still
But the cool embrace
Of the depths below
Silences my angst

As the creatures spring
Into the slat
I slam the door shut
Debris piling on top
Sealing me into my grave
The darkness
Welcoming me back

I slip off
The metal rungs
Grazing
The rocky edge
And striking
The moist earth below

My wind taken
I lay there
Several moments
A light breeze
Washing over me
Hello
I call
And for a moment
I am pleased
That all I hear
Is my echo

I rise
Grope the walls
No switch to flip
No cord to pull
Not even a candle
For my prayers
I stagger forward
And all at once
The tunnel illuminates
Before me
Stretching onwards
It seems for miles
The promise
Of a new path

As I stumble forward
Something rustles underfoot
The key that slipped out
This tiny book
Offering
Its most prized secret

I bend over
Gazing
At the folded edge
The top of a spire
Scribbled over it
With eager hands
I snatch it up
Spread it over
The dirt floor

That’s when I recall
The orb of ashes
My only link to you
Buried
Forgotten
For all times

But in its place
This rough sketch
Stares back at me
That very castle
Redefined
Reborn
I crack the book
And realize
Someone’s been to Valtryst
Citadel of The Chosen

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