Nothing Inbetween

Icy fingers of doubt slid up her spine, gripping her mind with a sudden blast of fear, "What have I done? Why did I need to revisit this place? Its all wrong, so very wrong."

Alone. Bereft. A gray forlorn figure blinded by tears, and the immensity of loss. No stars or moon to shed their comforting luminance, the sound of aged brown leaves whirling in the breeze her only company.

Spirit bleak, lost in an avalanche of ancient memories tumbling down upon her.

Once upon a time her bare feet had merrily skipped down this very same street. The bricks which formed it warmed from the sun, worn soft from years of pedestrian traffic passing over them. Once sharp edges eroded smooth from eons of cold and heat, wind and rain, snow and ice expanding and contracting them.

Once upon at time, long ago, a lifetime ago, she had lived, she had loved, she had laughed. Cocooned by its beauty and bounty.

Empty now. So empty.

Trees once swathed in green had lined its edges, trees now a dead frostbitten gray. Buildings once spied upon this street through windows of sparkling crystal light, windows now dulled and shattered filled with the ghosts of tattered curtains fluttering raggedly, as if the buildings are expelling the fetid air that fills them. Proud carved oaken doors once stood golden and gleaming facing the street, doors now roughened, splintered, hanging crookedly upon their hinges.

Once upon a time she had dreamed of a life garbed in joy, her heart beating to the deep rich rhythm of love and acceptance.

Once upon a time sparkling laughter had freely spilled from her lips.

Once upon a time she had embraced the future, as it had tried to give her its gifts, arms outstretched to her, palms cupped, forming an open bowl filled with soul lifting possibilities.

Once upon a time she had been guileless, guilt free and trusting.

Once upon a time she thought she was deserving of such gifts.

Once upon a time an open heart had beat within her chest.

But somewhen along this street of her life, the armies of the dark slipped out of the shadows, oozing up through the crooked cracks between the bricks, seeping out of the dank basements hidden beneath the buildings, and began flogging her soul.

Once upon a time was no more.

~Once upon a future, a small smile forms on her lips, as thin beams of silver moonlight begin to break through the bleak night, sending the dark army skittering once again for the shadows~