One step, one more, and then another.
The sun mocked her, the dark creature walking in light.
The ground punishing but withstanding.
Beyond lie the wood, she was surrounded by quiet chaos, ordered indifference, and complete exposure.
Still, she found herself alone. Unlike her empty, crowded kingdom of water, always embraced, entrenched, and encompassed, here,
she stood and felt withered under an unrelenting star.
A faster pace. She begins to move in confidence. Her feet growing hard. She’s dry now. She looks up.
And then,
A voice shakes the world.
Fear and panic. She turns around.
She runs now.
Falling in water. Sinking to the depth.
For now, a retreat.
The sun laughs.
Hiraeth Examined 