The Endless Night Meets A Ray of Sunshine

 The agenda is set, the bags are packed, the goals are chartered, the map is etched, the strategies are in place and the wins are on display. All is set to climb the snow-capped mountain of glory. I thought I was the climber and I knew where I was going. I was ready and yet I kept preparing myself for the climb not once did I prepare for life. 

The climb was important, my flag on the summit mattered. I had watchers, some cheering for me and some against me, I had to prove my worth somehow. Until one day I walked myself into a dark tunnel , swamped, humid and densely opaque, I ran then walked and at one point crawled to move out of it reminding myself of the climb that awaited me. Sad, lonely and silenced by fate I decided to wait and then I saw a crack through which a ray of sunshine descended and met my squinting eyes that had almost adapted to the darkness.

I was delighted to see in its presence I could feel warm again, I saw the raspberries in the light and plucked and fed myself with delight, I washed and bathed in its radiance. It took me by the hand to the mouth of the cave, from here I could see some distant camps and quagmire of climbers. Many in my camp had given up and gone, I could see new faces replacing the old and forlorn. 

I turned to the ray of light that had expanded to absorb my entirety in its heavenly embrace. I sat down before marching forward for my aspirational climb and allowed my senses to bask in the soft love. The wind soothed me, the velvety grass on which I lay calmed me down, the aroma of the orchids invigorated my senses and the vision of the arching sky above made me feel at home. I felt settled, cared for and careless at the same time, my breath one with the breath of the pulsating earth. I felt like a nurtured child in her lap.

I felt this is it, this is life, isn't it? But who taught us ever to settle for the light? I had to go, I had to ascend. I had so much to prove and time was not on my side. The ray of light had to die to make my world bright, now I stood in the day ready for my arduous ride.

I moved on to my expedition. In the hindsight, when I look back I know I lost more than I gathered. 

On one moonlit night I sat outside my camp and opened my diary and words flew from the crevices and cracks of my heart and these lonely words became my lessons from the endless night and the ray of light.

"Life is going to simply go past everything we hoped would halt for us and soon the enthusiasm will also tire off in the drudgery of routine,  the merciless age will remove the spells cast by the lovers kiss or smile soon. 

Everything will move at a faster pace , you will race and chase one illusion after another losing the coins of delight in exchange of mountains of glory which will soon be dulled by yet another hill to surpass . 

Leaving behind the genuine moments of love, joy, youthfulness , and bliss, you'll one day sit alone in a fancy chair and wish to call only the "one" who briefly stopped by and gave you a taste of life. You will once again want to be kissed by the light and eat the raspberries and smell the fragrance of the orchids. The laden platters and gardens won't give you that innocent thrill. 

At that time, all you'll have left with you is infinite time while the finite life will melt away like snow castles in the sun, and you'll realize that throughout the entire climb, those were the times when she met you, embraced you, and played with you but you were too naive to understand that life could accompany you in simplicity too. "

~Shryja