There's a great cracking sound, as the ground rends itself apart. The world is ending and I'm standing in the middle of it. But I don't care. So much had been sacrificed and nothing gained. We had sought paradise, but found naught, but destruction. The world is ending, there's no mistaking that, and for all I know, I am the last person alive.
I trudge my way through the blistering winds that kick dust in my face while I shut my eyes tight and carry on, putting all my faith in a force that calls to me. I'm determined to keep walking, to never give up. But to what purpose? I don't know. There is nothing left in this dying world. Still, I can't just allow myself to quit.
The days are long and without separation. For all I know, I could be living one, long day. I cannot see the sun, or the moon. The dust is always in my face. Still, I carry on, till at last I can't. My limbs grow weak, from lack of nourishment and I collapse, my legs no longer able to hold my weight. So I crawl. Then my arms give out. So I remain on my stomach, and wait for the end. I know it's not far off.
I lay there and begin to think. It's the first time in a long time that my brain isn't so preoccupied with moving forward, that it has a chance to really think. That's when the faces come back to me, those of my friends. The ones who had helped me in my journey, even to the very last. But the mountain was just too steep, the dangers too perilous. One by one I saw them die. Their one driving ambition to see me reach my goal. Which, unfortunately, I did.
I reached the top of the mountain and found the cabin. I entered the door, that's when everything went wrong. She was waiting for me there, my love, but she was dying. Her blood flowing from her, staining the wood floor. I hurried to her side and held her. I buried my face and wept.
I felt a hand on my chin. I looked up, she was still alive, but barely.
"Don't cry," she spoke weakly, as her eyes fought to keep focus. "The world is ending, but we shall be reborn in a new world. On that day come and find me. I'll be waiting…" Those were her last words to me.
I wish I could have remained there and given her the vigil she deserved, but I was robbed of the opportunity. The ground beneath me shook and the mountain was torn apart. I fell along with the rocks, but I didn't lament my fate. I was sorry that I couldn't hold onto her anymore, as she had been ripped from my arms, leaving me alone, to plummet to the ground below.
I can't say for how long I fell, nor more importantly, how I survived the impact. All I know is that I did survive and kept walking. Alone and scared I kept on all the same. That is until this moment. At last I'm going to die. I'm going to be reborn. I'm going to see my friends again, I'm going to see her again.
I awake with a start. My bed sheets damp from the cold sweat that my body's covered in. I throw off the covers and sit myself at the edge of the bed, with my head cradled in my hands. Once again, I had suffered the dream, but this was not an illusion fueled by fancy. This was a vision spurred by memory.
I know that I'm the one from the dream. I know the world ended, just as I know it had been reborn. All of these things I did not believe as though that's all they are, since I know their place and what they mean. This world is very different from the one I had been in. Nor had I been born, in the normal sense. Instead, I had come into being, much the same now, as I was then.
I shake my head and concentrate. All of that was in the past and I need to focus on the now. Specifically, the path that opens up wide, before narrowing. The entrance to a hedge maze has that effect. It's here that I find myself, after a great deal of wandering, and it is here that I saw the woman who is the object of my pursuit run inside to evade my clutches.
I see her stop, just up ahead. She's out of breath. She looks behind her and her eyes seem to look right through me, without actually perceiving my physical presence. Even still, she knows I am there. She looks about her. She's in the middle of an intersecting path that's open on all four sides, a crossroads.
I remain still and gaze about. I have no idea where I am despite my feet taking me this far. "Please stop running!" I call aloud, hoping that her momentary hesitation is a sign indicating she's done running. "You don't know what you're doing."
"Don't I?!" the woman shouts back an air of defiance creeping through her fear.
I listen to the echo of her response. She seems so far off, and yet, she's no more than a stone's throw away. She doesn't wait for me to respond, but instead takes the nearest path available to her. She can't tell which direction she'd taken, as the maze does not allow for proper orientation and as far as I can tell she's just as lost as me, if not more so.
"Please?!" I entreat her, as I hurry in her direction, while I try to keep from getting disorientated myself. "You have to listen to me. I'm telling you, you don't know what you are doing."
"But I do," comes the woman's retort, as she seems to get further away despite my own exertion.
At last, I can run no more, I bend over and hold my knees. All the running I had been doing is taking its toll. "Listen to me!" I call out, breathless. "If you'd just, let me, explain!"
The woman doesn't reply. She's too busy running, while I follow the best I can from my hunched position, allowing her echoing foot falls to keep me on the right track.
My quarry is getting further away but then, she stops running. She must have hit a dead end. Sooner than I expected, I cover the distance and now stand directly in front of her. She responds by backing away, before bumping into a nearby wall. There's no where left to go. Slowly, she cringes down into the smallest form possible, holding her knees.
"Finally," I speak, as I slowly approach, while keeping a respectful distance. "Now, if you'll only, listen to me."
"I know! I know!! I know!!! I KNOW!" she shouts again and again, louder with each utterance, all while never raising her head.
I stand over her and squat down, within arms length of the woman. I reach for her, as though there's a sizeable gulf between us. She raises her head and gazes at me with moist, terrified eyes.
"Are you ready to listen?" I ask, compassion oozing from my every word while my eyes convey the sincerity of my entreaty and I bring my breathing under control.
"I don't…" is all the woman can manage as she holds herself tightly.
"Do you remember anything?" I query, as I try to map out her mental state.
The woman nods. "I remember the pain and I don't want to feel it again," she informs me and still will not look up.
"But, do you remember anything else?" I press, as pleasant memories of our time together flash behind my eyes.
The woman raises her head, tears still streaming from her eyes. "I remember us," she says, as she stares at me. "I remember being in love."
I heave a sigh of relief.
"But I remember pain and isolation and desperation and loneliness and the whole world crashing down among us," the woman rattles on, each word harder to speak than the last.
I haven't any words.
"And I remember them," she carries on undaunted and seems to look right through me. "I can't remember their names, but I can clearly see their faces. And I remember the terrible ways they died. How am I to make peace with these thoughts, these memories?!"
She reaches out for me and it's my turn to recoil. I don't know what to say. The things I remember, even the bad thoughts, all stem from love and hope. It doesn't matter to me the cost, only that I would find my true love again.
But I hadn't even given thought to the possibility that she might feel differently from me. That the visions which spur me on might prove a millstone to hang around another's neck. I had hoped to take my lover in my arms and all the passions prove, but she is not so inclined and as much as it pains me, I must respect it.
I stand from my place, give her one last lingering look, turn and walk away. I love her far too much to cause her undo pain. To this end, I'm going to watch from a distance till she reaches out for me. And it doesn't matter how long this miracle will take. I've already seen the end of one world, what difference would two make?