My sight is blurred, my head is turning

Is there anyone, anything, out there?

My patience running thin, crisp air all around me

I take a charged step, into the unknown

Trees rise above me in a chorus of green

Harmonious leaves, shaking in the wind

I grasp the new sand, for the first time

I listen to the waves, while others shout prayers of thanks

Or were they fears?

Fears of things to come, or fear of what already has been?

I stroll further along the shore, but fail to notice that I've been followed by the tide

My shadow stands tall against my feet, distorted, yet similar to my figure

the sand gets shallower until it turns into soil

entangling roots take hold of my patched shoes, kicking and fighting, I can't break away

I leave my shoes behind at the entrance to my unknown. Nasty, wicked thorns penetrate my vulnerable feet

My mouth is too small to express my pain

I climb a hill, each step driving the thorns deeper, and deeper

Until nothing but black can be seen

when I reach the crest of the hill, I see.

My mouth opens, but I utter no speech.

The wounds on my feet, bloody and worn, fester under my weight

For what lay in the valley below me,

could rid my heart of blood, my brain of knowledge, my mind of fear.

What laid ahead of me, my remedy, my health, my life

endless possibilities, but my thorns weighed me down

I feared too much about my own thorns, and never thought about anyone else's.

Fear drove away my life