Where it all began

You stand before me, your hand outstretched in a silent offer, the corner of your mouth tilted up in an endearing smile. Cloaked by shadows, you are just out of reach of the blinding light.

We are parted, by the darkness of your land and the light of mine, but your hand suggests that it needn’t be so. There is a spark in your eyes, a challenge. A quirk of the eyebrow and a tilt of the head and I know, at that very moment, that my heart has already chosen for me.

I tell myself that I could never resist a challenge, but deep inside, I know that it was you I couldn’t resist that day.

Time seems to stop. I am Persephone, with the blood red seeds fisted in my hand. Like her, I am fated to this moment, but I do not regret it. I could never really regret you.

Your eyes are full of promise and it’s all I can do to not throw myself into your welcoming arms. But I know that once I enter the darkness, there is no leaving. And nevertheless, I know I will.

I look to the skies, to the overwhelming shrine of crystal-blue above me, chasing the grass into the shadows at the coming of dusk. It is time. My world merges into yours and I raise my hand and place it in your callused one. You smile, and your eyes gleam in the darkness.

For a moment, I am scared.

I turn back for one last look at the world I leave behind, a past full of unfulfilled hopes and dreams, but it is too late. I am pulled into the mouth of the tunnel and into your arms as darkness closes in around me.