The Journey ~ Part 2: Ensnared
Ensnared
Icy
rain could not beat harder, nor soak more heavily than the radiant
sunlight. The weight of it presses the hunching shoulders low, but
not with heat. It grows unbearable – the feeling of bright and
glorious sunshine – until, at last, Ariel scoots back.
She
rises, shakily, to her feet and with a soft sigh, turns her back on
the shafts of golden splendor. Not even twenty minutes and she has
already buckled under the inner weight. Her heart beats heavily as,
haltingly, her steps carry her back into the cavernous darkness.
Stopping
beside her bed of moss and leaves, Ariel drops to her knees, dull
brown eyes searching in the shadows. She reaches out and lifts a
bundle from the ground, cradling it like a babe to her chest. A wild
and desperate smile twists her features as trembling hands struggled
to unwind the clumsy knots.
Three
enormous, luminous stones roll silently from the dirty rags and fall
glintingly into Ariel’s hands. She brings them up to her face, eyes
gleaming greedily down as they absorb the toxic rays. So beautiful,
lovely, luminous. The lights from dark places. She had found them
waiting for her. They had begged her, with their alluring rays, to
take and keep and treasure. And such she has done.
But
now . . . now she cannot bear the sunlight – its rays are too keen
and piercingly pure; now she cannot remember where she’s from –
so lost is she in the obsessive fog; now she cares no longer for her
journey and recalls it only as a distant longing, so sweet, it makes
her heart ache to think of. So she does not think of it – or at
least she tries.
“What
is a crown when I have gems?!” she
thinks, caressing the gleaming jewels in her hand, “Nothing
could be so lovely, so shining, so precious, so perfect, so . . .”
she does not say
‘pure’ for, deep down, she knows the gems are tainted and false.
They are not pure and no amount of gleaming brightness can ever make
them so.
“I
don’t care,” she whispers, wide brown eyes gazing as if lost into
the faceted gems, “I don’t care. I don’t care. I do not
care.”
“Ariel,”
a low and far-off
voice whispers. Up her eyes flash, darting wildly around the
surrounding shadows.
“Wh-who’s
there?” she stutters.
“Ariel,”
the voice says again,
now nearer and warmer, like a whisper in her ear. She shudders, but
remains still, “What
are you doing, Ariel? And where are you going?”
“What
do you mean?!” she cries into the darkness. But the voice is gone.
What did it mean? Who was it? She can’t . . . but Ariel knows. She
shakes her head, trying to cast the name from her mind. Why else
would she have inhabited this darkness if not to escape him?
No, he cannot be here! She will not believe it.
“That’ll
make him go away,”
her desperate thoughts whisper. Slowly she stands, pacing further
into the clinging shadows, before sitting again and covering the
light of her gems. She will wait for him to go, denying his presence
until he gives up. Then he will leave her alone . . . for good. A
faint and far-off ache stabs at her heart as the last flickering
remembrance whispers brokenly, “But
we do not want him to go!”
Yes,
yes she does and clutches her gems ever closer, drinking in the
benumbing rays. No way out and no desire to find one. Only further,
deeper and darker inward. She does not want him enough to cease
wanting herself.
~
~ ~
“Ah,
Ariel,” a low voice murmurs. Softly the gray eyes flicker as
through a curtain of crystalline sheer they watch her shudder and
huddle in her den, “She has lost her way,” the voice continues.
Turning, the gray eyes meets a gaze of deepest blue.
“That,”
the other man replies, in tones no less clear and calm, “Is why the
Adonai has sent me. She needs help and strengthening for the way.”
“She
is not afraid,” the gray-eyed man says, turning back to the sheer.
“Which
was her greatest mistake,” the blue-eyed replies, “She forgot to
fear the wiles of the Tempter and has fallen into one of his snares.
I must show her the way out.” And he stands.
The
gray gaze turns once more to meet the blue, “The temptation has
conceived strongly within her.”
“I
know,” the other replies, gazing beyond and into the sheer, “She
will need great strength to break free. Adonai’s strength. That is
why,” and looking into the elder’s eyes, he smiled, “He has
named me Oswald.”
With
a nod, the gray-eyed steps forward, laying a hand on Oswald’s
shoulder.
“Be
swift and may your mind be enlightened to perceive the will of
Adonai.” He murmurs. Oswald bows his head briefly, then turning,
strides from the cavern.
~
~ ~
But
those who desire to be rich, fall into temptation, into a snare.
1
Timothy 6:9
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WOAH!!!! Are there any more chapters after this one??? I really hope so, because I can't wait to learn what happens next!
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