Our Woods

We walked for a while. That time we spent in our woods. The woods the world had forgotten. The woods we grew up in. We really didn’t have the words and both knew our twin flame was out of control again. Our strides eventually slowed and as we turned to face each other, we paused to survey our woods.

We paused, as it could be the last time we laid eyes on this place, the place no one knew, the place we first shared each other completely. Our woods were on fire, a raging inferno of swimming flames throwing bellows of smoke as high as the sky could manage to stretch overhead.

Our woods were on fire again.

That’s when our pause ended and you turned and walked away. You never looked back. You never did. I loved that about you. You were always strong enough to walk away when we needed it and never looked back. You walked hard and true away from us every time as confident as ever, albeit who else would notice the tremble in your knees as you turned away. Your hair, a glowing fan of sass that followed the unmistakable rhythm of your boots as they met hard soil and bark beneath your feet.

You never looked back to prove to yourself that you were strong enough to do it. Strong enough to know you were still free and in control in at least that moment of your destiny and the flame you carried within did not dictate this existence you fought through brutal campaigns to justify. By the sway of your hips and bounce in your steps I could venture to assume there was a part of you that also never looked back because you already knew that damned look I’d have on my face.

That look of pure terror in the eyes held in good company with a sly grin. The grin you knew when game recognized game. You knew I wouldn’t take my eyes off you until you met the horizon and it empowered you. I think it empowered me too. Your beauty, your confidence, the love I could not deny and your determination.

You never looked back so we could see each other again. See each other as we should; without the pain and fear we always had just before our flame exploded and fucked our world up. As your figure disappeared up the hill toward the great oak tree, I whispered “I’ll see you in a couple chapters, Love.”

Chapters…that thought brought a smile. It was familiar as our destinies were intertwined. This was a part of us and a pattern documented In the chapters of our past. A part we understood through the pain.

That’s when I noticed that trickster was free. I saw my shadow for the first time, free from yours, in years. And it was dancing in our flames. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony…because you would have encouraged me to go ahead and dance “let it out babe, play - I’ve kept your shadow locked up for too long”. I would have retorted something clever about you knowing my shadow always gets me into trouble…and frankly we both knew my shadow was more a monster than I could ever be.

I always looked back.

The sight from the top of our hill where the great oak tree mused was… It was beautiful. It was a painting of earthy tones savaged by reds and swirls of darkness. The flames danced to the heavens as the sun was setting perfectly behind our woods. It looked like we had set the world on fire. It reminded me of your beauty.