B R I A R S

M O O N S T O N E

Rosette

The woods were dark, but the sky was a crescendo of light. Her eyes were drawn to the stormy violet skies, that gleamed above her, embellished with stars. The moon poured down its glow, placing her under a spotlight. Drinking in its light, as she would with the sun, she felt a smile tug at her lips. A genuine one. Alone, there was no pretending. She could simply be. The woods were as quiet as death itself. The earth, so still, that she could hear a faint humming. Unaware of its cause, she ignored it. There was time to be scared when daylight hit and the tightness in her chest returned, entwined so deeply within her, that even breathing was laborious. Shaking her head, as if to banish the reminder, she turned to her side. The old bedsheet that she was lying down on, creased with her movement. It was slightly uncomfortable, as the sheet was caked in mud, but she ignored the mild irritation. It needed a good wash but she hadn't time to visit the river that day. She needed tonight, waiting for it so eagerly, she could barely keep still. This was her sanctuary away from the lies and the secrets kept from her. She was tired of being hidden away. There was nothing false about the woods, and their quiet simplicity calmed her. Surrounded by familiarity, the musty scent of the earth was welcoming as ever. She had loved these woods since she was a child. The last reminder of the childhood she could barely recall. Even her parents were just blurred faces in her misty memories. Ghosts to her now. 

The woods increased in noise and the moonlight mildly dimmed. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the midsummer breeze that cooled her skin. The nothingness was a comfort. She didn't want to remember. There wasn't exactly pain in her memories, instead, an absence. An emptiness within her that tugged and pulled, when triggered. It disturbed her when seemingly out of nowhere, this emptiness would leave her feeling hollow. There was no emptiness in the woods, for they were the embodiment of nothing. She was full in contrast to the vast wildness. A being of flesh and blood, mostly. She often wondered if the rest of the continent were a mirror image of these woods. If the human race was gone completely, a quiet death instead of the blaze of fire theorized. She has contemplated this so often, that there was no pain or sadness left to plague her. Morbid curiosity was the only emotion left, for she did not have anyone left to mourn. No one worthwhile, at least.  The unlikeliness of ever discovering the answers to the questions that echoed in her head all night was what truly infuriated her. 

So entranced in her own thoughts, she had tuned out the intense humming that would have burned in her ears. Instead, a shuffling of leaves and twigs is what awoke her senses. Her eyes snapped open, after which, her body leaped upright, alert. The bushes rustled, while she was deadly still, positioned to defend herself. A figure crept out clumsily, their face bathed in moonlight. 

She gasped. One of her questions had been answered, finally.