this time I’m torn, please wake me if I lose that face
search in these eyes: there’s still fire in the darkness
This was just another time she was foolish, biting off more than she could chew. This was just another time she would come to regret. Another time that would break her.
She had come this far though.
She may as well continue on to her death, or worse.
As she stood there on the frozen tundra shore cursing herself for being stupid enough to leave 'home' as if she could ever do anything worthwhile, a soft breeze breathed and radiated a gentle warmth into her. It pushed into her coat plastered to her skin, gradually drying her to a light dampness instead of soaked through, trailing soft fingers through her wavy mane. After the swim through frigid waters, it was all so welcome and she breathed easier. She hadn't a clue what it was for, why this breeze chose to help in this small way, but she was grateful nonetheless.
Briefly.
Then it turned cold again and rudely gusted her from behind, her mane and tail flagging forward as she gritted her teeth with an irritated frown. Typical.
The sky was growing quickly darker and it was enough to hint that it was time to move, no stalling. Before the drifts of snow took her sight away, she caught a glimpse of two pathways, and only two. Left or right. Then her vision filled with white, her teeth chattering with the returned cold and her legs trembling. She was accustomed to island heat and this was the most miserable weather she'd ever had to experience.
Well, then. Left or right.
No going back.
For a long few minutes, she only stood locked in place, the storm pressing in on her in waves and flurries that didn't seem to have a set direction. One moment it would be sweeping from her left side, then suddenly it would shift and push from the right. It was unpredictable, but mostly she was only waiting until that image solidified in her mind like a map. She knew just about which way to turn, and about how far she should expect to walk to reach a pathway. That would tell her she'd made it.
The freezing cold made her want to rush, just run and get this over with sooner. Maybe there was shelter from the wind further ahead on the pathway. She hadn't gotten to see it long enough to be sure. All she could do was continue forward.
She angled her face in the direction she wanted to go. To the right. Her chin was tucked in tight, her hair whipping in random directions as the wind changed without notice. She took a solid step, dragging her foot across the ground to be sure she didn't waver in her pathway. Neither path had looked better than the other at first glance, though she hadn't gotten to see them but for a breath or two. This was as good as any. Once she'd made the decision, she stayed to it though. Resolute, or just damn stubborn.
She took another step, slowly pulling herself forward in the wicked Winter. It felt like it took eons of this dragging pace before she found the worn ground beneath her, somehow bare from the snow coating everything else. Good. She'd made it this far. She'd found the path.
Wallace pressed on, the images of her broken daughters in her mind.
She would set this right. They would go home.
goes to the right