Beyond the Borders

A soft crunch could be heard above the gentle sound of the wind, tousling their hair as they stepped off the path into the wheatfield. It has been a long time since they’d found silence calming and not dreadful and tense.

They’d rushed here after seeing that post on their brother’s Instagram. The first slide was a daytime photo of a wheatfield against an unsuspecting pale blue sky, and was followed by a photo of the same wheatfield, but with delicate flakes of dark grey drifting across the sky. The third, and last slide, was the exact same as the first. But wait— upon closer inspection, each wheat leaned in a slightly different direction. Below, the caption tagged #beautifulgoodbye.

They strolled through the field, letting the soft wheats brush against their clothes. It was impossible to find the exact spot where the photo was taken, they knew that. But they couldn’t help but seek confirmation that what was gone was gone forever. Further away from the path they strayed, idly thinking about how ironic it was that wheat symbolised resurrection.

There was nothing about the reason why they came that was beautiful; rather, it was the ambience of the post, the simplicity of caption. They told themself that they didn’t come for him. No, they only wanted to experience what was beyond the borders of the photo. They wanted to see what had drawn their brother here, scattering the remains of someone they’d both rather not have history with.

Looking around the vast field of wheats, they were hit with a realisation. It was a painting. A painting that was believed by many to be the artist’s last piece. They were suddenly overwhelmed with the urge look up to the sky, though they knew that the crows in the painting wouldn’t reflect in the sky they were under, but was still filled with relief when they found the sky clear.

Perhaps this was the best place. The best place to lay years of waiting in fear and resentment to rest, and to feel gratitude for the brother who finally managed to let go.

Full image: https://unsplash.com/photos/Zy7kT8tZj-U

Edit: also guess the painting mentioned (yes it's real and quite famous), there's symbolism in there ^^

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Since it’s my “real” post of 2021, I’d like to thank everyone who’s supported and helped me since I joined Prose. Seriously, thank you for being such a great community to be part of. Take care of yourself as best you can even if it’s hard sometimes.

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