The woman carried on. Her labored breath was painful, as she dragged her sore feet across rough ground. Her face was jeweled in beads of sweat and blood. The ache in her muscles grew stronger with each step and her vision blurred with each inhale. She tried not to look at the faces that judged her in the shadows, tried not to yell at them to look away, but still, she felt their eyes burn into her flesh.
A world where everyone looked but no one helped. She had tried to call out to them but they stayed silent. Their mouths moved but no sound came out. She looked ahead and saw a destination that didn't seem worth the journey but the voices told her to keep going. They told her she could make it, told her she just had to keep walking but her gut told her otherwise. For days she had been in the woods, lost and afraid. And when night fell the animals would slither out of the ground like a sprouting plant looking for sunlight. She had no weapons to defend her frightened self, she only had her weak nails and her dull teeth which did very little against the ravenous creatures.
They would tear into her, ripping the skin on her arms and legs and she'd fight back as hard as she could, not because she wanted to live, but because the voices told her to. Fresh wounds spouted thick blood onto the dry ground and the insects would gather around her to feed on her life force. And when the creatures would tire of her they'd leave her for dead, never killing her.
The voices would congratulate her and praise her but it meant nothing. They'd whisper "Now you have to keep going" She hated the voices, she hated that she listened to them. They sounded so sweet and caring, always encouraging her but never comforting, never understanding of her want to rest. They never told her the truth, only sweet lies. Lies that she couldn't help but believe because it was all she had. She hung on to those lies, picked herself up, and kept going.
Days turned into weeks and though she met some along the way she would always end up continuing on her own. Scars formed along her body, varying in different sizes, colors, shapes, and depths. Some called them pretty and some called them ugly but to her they were just scars. Scars she never wanted.
Time seemed to drag at an agonizingly slow speed and her destination seemed no closer than when she started. Her mind started to crack at the weight of her own pain. It's when the voices often started to break off like a bad connection on a radio. Without the constant noise in her head, she heard the forest speak for the first time. She stilled her feet and concentrated. Its voice was small and cold. You could only hear it if you paid attention. She had heard rumors of the forest's voice, how it made the travelers go insane. A shiver went down her spine, and she placed her sweaty palms over her ears in an attempt to shut it out but before she could think further on it the voices came back loud and booming. "Do not listen to it, keep walking" She winced at their return but her body moved to their command.
The sun fell again and dread filled her already weak heart. The moon's rays peaked through the leaves that waved like happy children on the thin branches. The wind pushed her and the roots of the trees reached to trip her, as though it was a coordinated attack. She fell forward and barely caught herself with her hands. She felt her right wrist sprain as she landed on it the wrong way again. "Get up, you're fine. You need to keep moving" She rolled her eyes unsurprised at the response. Leaves rustled behind her but she refused to turn, she didn't need to. She knew what was coming, she always knew.
"Get up! You have to-" The voices cut off. She slowly pushed herself off the ground to stand and whimpered when sharp pain traveled up her arm. She was not fine, she never was, and now that the voices weren't there to tell her to fight, this time she ran. She ran fast and wild. Her bare feet leaped from one sharp stone to another. But she kept going, her joints strained to keep her upright and her lungs pumped the cool air slapping her face into her blood. She smiled, maybe I can get away, and- the creature rammed into her back and she went plummeting down the path. Her body bounced and landed in awkward painful positions. Thorned branches tore her thin clothes and bruised skin.
She came to a halt and painfully lifted her head to see that the creature was nowhere to be found. She tried to stand but failed when the world around her started to blacken. Reaching up to touch the back of her head, she pulled away to find her hand soaked in blood. Dark red liquid oozed from her pulsating skull, coating the back of her shirt in the warm sticky substance. The voices came in "You need to keep-" and just as fast as they came in, they left. She was truly alone. Alone with her broken body and torn mind. As she sat against a tree unmoving the forest spoke once more but it didn't tell her what to do. It simply asked a question
"Why do you go on?" It whispered.
Her eyebrows shifted together in confusion. "Because I have to" she didn't sound convinced about her own answer.
"No one HAS to do anything, it is a choice. So what motivates your choice?"
Silence hung long before she answered. "The voices I guess"
the forest hummed, and birds shifted in their nests, unsatisfaction coating its tone. "Yes, I've heard that one before. Would you make the same choices without those 'voices'?"
She looked down at her fingers as she wrung them in thought. The answer was no. She had never wanted to be on this journey, never wanted to fight, never wanted to reach the destination, but it's all she'd known. To listen and keep going like everyone else. The better she walked the less those shadows judged her and the faster she walked the more praise she got but it didn't matter because that's not what she wanted. She was in pain, and so was everyone she knew. Even the voices seemed to be straining every time they spoke. The scars she had seen from other people and those who disguised their pain with smiles and hope had made her want to stop going. Perhaps there was a beautiful destination perhaps she'd feel a little less fear and pain but in her memories and scars, it would always linger.
"No," she finally said.
"Hmmm, how truly sad. Perhaps now you will be the one to make your own choices. The voices made theirs."
Curiosity plagued her mind and she couldn't help but ask "Why do they say you make the travelers go insane?"
A deep chuckle shook the ground and made it seem as though the earth was purring "I help see what is. Some have gripped onto lies for so long, showing them the truth is like ripping away a tumor that has become comfortable in its host. Some survive... some don't"
Her heart slowed and her breathing became shallow. The edges of her vision began to darken like an old picture but that's when the voices came back. "Keep going! If you call for help there are some travelers nearby that can help! Don't give up"
She shook her head "No, I'm tired." Her voice weak "It's the end of my journey"
As she felt the life leave her she slowly laid and curled her broken pieces as the soft moss-covered roots cradled her heavy head. She made her choice, her choice to rest.
