The Light

She ran as fast as she could. She stumbled on stones, broken branches and bushes with thorns but she wouldn't let herself fall because she knew she was getting closer, she could almost feel it. At the end of the road was a light, it shone brightly but not enough to smite the dark. At the end of that road laid nothing. Finally at the end of it all laid a rocky path and the light that once stood there seemed father than it was in the beginning. At the entrance of that rocky pathway stood a young girl baffled...too shocked and tired to continue the marathon she had started. "B-but," she stuttered "it was here! I swear I knew it was here" she viciously grabbed chunks of her hair and pulled as if falling into the first stage of madness. "What was here?" a dark cloaked stranger asked "Aaaaaaaggggggrrrrhhhhhh!" she screamed over and over again. "Jesus Christ! Shut up! I'm not going to eat you or anything- look look lOoK!" the stranger said while removing the hood of her cloak "its me Lisa, you can calm down now...jeez your going to pop someone's eardrums out with that banshee shriek of yours" she tapped her ear gently. "who are you? and why do you look exactly like me?" she trembled "I'm your subconsciousness...sort of but for starters you can call me Alex. You seemed to have had it rough" she looked at Lisa up and down "come with me you need to rest for a bit. I don't want you dying on me" she turned to leave but turns back abruptly and grabs Lisa's hand "come on...up you go that's it let's get some food in your system" she said smiling at her. she followed the stranger who called herself Alex into a dark cave lit with fire. She shifted nervously, "I don't like fires" Alex stopped, momentarily shocked, the silence that filled the cave weighed heavily on them..."I'm sorry what did you say?" " I don't like fires they cause hazards, accidents, painful burns and death" she sat a little bit far from the fire " Yes they do that-" Alex spoke slowly while poking the raging fire with and iron rod "if they're misused, I'm sorry to ask but did someone important we know personally died from a fire accident? Cause I don't seem to remember any..." " No, no one I know but still.." " You do know that you loved fires when you were little? do you remember any of that? you would go on and on about how its colours are influenced by different chemical components and even the oxygen level in the atmosphere. About how its different colours were common but yet oddly unique, how the flame brings warmth..." she sat upright and looked straight at Lisa " Heck you were overjoyed to know your zodiac sign was a fire sign. I just thought maybe a little bit of light would cheer you up since you kept chasing after that one." " They are not thesame" " Why don't you come over here...its warm and cozy, let's talk for a while" Alex patted a spot by her. Lisa stood up and stepped slowly closer to Alex, she could feel her sore muscles relaxing from the sensation of warmth the fire provided, she sighed " Comfy?" Alex asked tilting her head to the side a bit " Yeah." Lisa sighed again. "This...this is a dream, isn't it?. If you're my subconsciousness that mean a I'm actually sleeping right now right?. I remember reading somewhere that you're wildly active in the dream world...filing away memories or something" Lisa spoke slowly " but why can't I wake up?" she whispered Alex grinned daintily "what do you think?" " I don't know anymore, I'm sure I'm asleep and I've tried everything...eVeryThing! and I can't seem to wake up" " As long as you didn't jump off a cliff or something your definitely ok." She chuckled "But I am curious why did you think that light was the way out?" "'cause I don't like the dark and isn't the light always the way to go? No like seriously its like a place of peace or something right?" Silence fell again this time the wind blew and rustled the trees "How is there wind in this place? I mean its a dream world" "Hey don't you mock my creation, my work isn't always office work where I'm the secretary filing away memories...hmph" she used air quotes to make her point " soooo...what do you think this is?" "I don't know? it feels too real to be a dream but it has to be a dream right? 'cause my world can't be this dark right?...right?" she asked frantically "hey hey calm down OK? breathe in...breathe out, that's right slowly. Hey! here's another fun fact you were never scared of the dark...you loved it actually, so much that everyone thought you were a weirdo...well everyone except mama, she always knew you were strange from the moment you were born" Lisa laughed remembering those fond memories " heyyy there she is, she's finally smiling everyone" Alex smiled too "but what happened to you?" " I guess I grew up?" Lisa said whilst wiping the tears she had shed while laughing Alex abruptly stood up then, dusted her cloak " you know the one thing I wished I had in times like these? the ability to bring up the memories I want at will, but noooo everyone decided that responsibility should go to your brain like I could just flick my wrist and bam! the memory I want just comes up." .... "Lisa you didn't grow up, come with me you asked what this place was right?" she said while gently pulling Lisa up " this place is what we like to call a trail. Its like a connection between your emotions and your mentality, because most of the times your emotions are the real you and your mentality is the part of you you chose to show everyone. As your subconsciousness it is my duty to guide you through it" "uurrgh" Lisa grumbled " can't you just show me the way out?" " I don't think you get it Lisa, you're supposed to learn something from this. This isn't a nightmare" she squeezed Lisa's hand gently as they walked together "...and that light won't be your saviour" " I just want to get out of here...I'm scared. I don't know why but it seems I have to reach the light" tears threatened to flow " life isn't a race, if you fast forward through it you'll miss the little things that make living worthwhile" The tears flowed easily now "Grandmama" " I thought you would remember, you and your little weird habits were the best thing that ever happened to her...I can't conjure up the memories physically but they are there. I know you chose to be this way for the sake of everybody but once in a while you need to think about yourself too so here's my suggestion once in a while stop and enjoy your surroundings, after all as your eyes adjust to the darkness..." they both stopped at the entrance of the stony pathway where the light once stood " you realise the dark is a wonderland on its own" Lisa said nothing and just stared at the pathway while trying to wipe away the tears that had escaped her eyes "The dark wasn't always dark and fire wasn't always destructive to you" Alex said while gently hugging Lisa " they were once a part of you before you were forced to separate" As the realisation of those words dawned on Lisa, Alex had disappeared " I think I get it now Alex" she looked up and ahead of the rocky pathway and laughed " this is going to be hard since I've been running so far and now I suddenly have to take a stroll but don't worry Alex I'll do just that and maybe accept my true self in the process..haha" she took her first steps and stumbled " hahaha slow and steady Lisa, slow and steady" she whispered and continued her journey. THE END