She sat in the familiar darkness; her body curled up as
small as she could make it. She trembled
as the cold tingling of the harsh stone floor forced itself against her exposed
flesh. The musty smell of oppression and
unbathed skin filled the air and she longed for freedom from this place. She had been here for so long. Here in this dark unkempt cell. She had resigned from cries for help for some
time now deciding that it was pointless to wish for anything other than confinement. This was her home now, this prison. The most unbearable part of her incarceration
was not the hard floor or the wretched smell.
It wasn’t the constant darkness.
The worst part of it all was how alone she was. Silence shook her very soul as she longed for
someone, anyone, to just be with her.
Soon… she stopped longing for anything.
She became content in captivity.
One day, something changed.
She looked up from her hunched position in the corner to see something
she had not seen in a long time. So
long, in fact, that she had all but forgotten what it was. There, far at the end of her prison hallway,
glimmering slightly in the distance was a light. She squinted her eyes as she strained to see
where it was coming from. Even stranger
still, it seemed that the more she looked at it the closer it got. Soon it shone from the entryway, rays of
light licking the hard concrete of her cell and she hid her eyes as its
brilliance blinded her. Her hands cupped
tightly over her eyes, she could see slightly through her fingers that the
light was directly in front of her now.
She felt the warmth of it kiss her skin.
Suddenly two strong hands grabbed hers and gently pulled
them away from her eyes. For a moment
she was blinded, but her as her eyes adjusted slowly the figure of a man faded
into view. He was a muscular man with
thick arms that were covered in beautifully artistic tattoos. A five o’clock shadow covered his face and
his short brown hair was wild and ungroomed.
He wore tattered jeans and a dirt stained white tank top. His eyes were soft and kind and his mouth
stretched into a smile that she gawked at.
Those eyes… they looked past her, straight into the depths of her
spirit, and without him saying a word she knew that he loved her.
Tears made streaks down her soot covered cheeks. He reached up and softly wiped them away with
calloused hands, and she caught a glimpse of the scars that marked his
wrists. “Don’t cry, love,” he whispered
to her softly his eyes filled with compassion.
She said nothing. She just buried
her face in his shoulder and wept. His burly
arms wrapped her up tightly as her heaving sobs echoed off the walls of her
cell. When her tears finally stopped he
looked down at her cradled in his arms and said, “it’s time for you to be
free.” At first, panic knotted in the
pit of her stomach, but then he took her hand in his. “Come, follow me,” his voice untangled the
now web of emotions wrapped around her stomach.
Slowly, she got to her feet, grasping tightly to his rough
hand intertwined in hers. Carefully he
led her out of her cell, down the dark and narrow hallway, out the heavy doors
of the prison, and into a beautiful field covered in tall grass and fragrant
flowers. The wind caressed her skin and
the sun overwhelmed her with warmth. The
sweet smell of flowers and freedom ravished her nostrils. She let go of his hand and ran recklessly
through the field until finally she collapsed peacefully on the soft
grass. He lay down beside her and they
stared up at the stunningly blue sky dotted with bright white clouds. She laid her head on his chest and listened
to the rhythmic thumping of his heart looking adoringly up at him. “You are free now,” he said, “You never have
to go back to that place.” She nodded
silently and snuggled into his chest. He
squeezed her tightly, kissed her forehead, and whispered, “You will never be
alone again. I promise.” A sigh of security left her lungs and she
dared to believe him.
