This piece is a short excerpt from my short story 'Forever', inspired by the game Finding Paradise. I was deeply touched by the themes of friendship, love, loss and growing up.
"Hey! Wait up!" shouted the breathless girl as she scurried along the narrow pathway, leaving plumes of dust and dirt in her wake. "You know that I can never keep up!" she bellowed, her vision hazing as she felt herself nearly succumb to the exhaustion that threatened to steal from her that stride of hers–and with it, any hope of keeping up with what had become naught more than the fleeting vision of a vague apparition in the distance. She knew that, if she stopped here, she'd be left all alone in the midst of an unforgiving mountain trail, for she was all too aware of the fact that she had no hope of finding her way out of here alone. If she lost him, she'd be all alone.
'No!'
Inhaling deeply, Lily drew on her resolve. She pressed a dainty hand against the crudely carved wall that ran adjacent to the mountain path, then lifted her satchel, clutching it against her form lest it came loose and ultimately delayed her. At that, she hurried forward with an all too clear, utter disregard for her well-being, treading atop the uneven path, bending razor-thin blades of grass with every stomp, and casting stray pebbles to and fro with each of her hurried footfalls. Though her vision was hazy, she managed to catch a glimpse of the figure she was pursuing.
Appearing as though it were a silhouette of a man being carried by along by a wind, the figure glided through the air, passing through a narrow space wherein the thick brush that hung low over the distant alcove parted, allowing a few stray beams of luminescent, radiant light to filter through, bathing the verdant terrain before it in its brilliance.
Lily found herself coming to a sudden halt, her arms flailing as she fought to remain grounded. But a brief, cursory glance was spared downwards, for she found herself perched atop a lofty precipice that led unto an endless, distant drop, the bottom of which was covered by a thick veil of mist. She found herself stumbling backwards–exhaustion and terror clear on her visage. When her hands made contact with the craggy ground, she shut her eyes. The press of her head against the uncomfortable ground did nothing to dissuade her, for the discomfort was ultimately eclipsed by her exhaustion.
"Come on! We're almost there," came a familiar voice that roused Lily from her stupor. When Lily opened her eyes, she saw a young boy looming over her, his small and muddied hands extended towards her. His face was a hazy mess, but she could readily recognise his light brown eyes and cendré coloured curls. And, of course, his endearing smile.
"Come on! It's almost here. We're going to miss the best bit."
Lily pushed herself up to sit, taking the boy's hand. He struggled with her weight, which caused Lily to burst into a fit of weary but light-hearted giggles. "You were never strong enough to lift me..."
"Hey, that's your fault, not mine," he replied with a smug smile.
"Nothing ever is your fault," she replied with a huff as she pushed herself up to sit and dusted herself off, her exhale leading into a soft, mirthful laughter as she stumbled to her feet. She shook her head slowly to clear it of the fog that clouded it, then peered off into the distance.
Beyond the horizon, the last glimmers of sunlight waned and the first glows of twilight appeared, bathing the tall mountains in a calm, tranquil glow. From here, the soothing sound of ocean waters lightly caressing the distant shores could just about be heard heard over the soft whispers of the wind.
"Hey... do you think..." Lily began, turning to face the young boy. No sooner had her lips parted, than she saw him hurrying off into the distance, ready to take his first steps onto the wooden bridge that connected the two ends of the ravine. With a frustrated sigh, Lily mustered her courage and hurried after him, her hand on the rail of the wooden bridge to steady herself against its sway. Lily braced herself – not only to steady herself in case the bridge swayed violently, but, too, to prepare for the little, provocative little sniggle that would inevitably carry itself through the air when Lily made the bridge sway.
But it never came.
Lily's eyes narrowed a tad bit in bemusement, though she was soon summoned from her reverie when an unforgiving gust of wind threatened to steal her balance from her. Redoubling her attention, Lily gripped the rail tautly and waited patiently for the gust to settle and for the bridge to cease its violent sway. Her eyes fell shut as she focused entirely on remaining still and steady. This wasn't at all a foreign experience to her – she'd made this journey far too often to call it a novel experience – but despite the frequency of her trips, one could hardly ever call the prospect of descending into an endless abyss not-terrifying.
As the violent gale slowly waned, Lily's eyes fluttered open, and she watched as the boy cast the thick, ivy-laden brush aside and disappeared beyond the low-hanging alcove in the distance. Lily cleared the footbridge and hurried after him, using the tips of her fingers to very gently push the ivy aside as he had done before her, whilst using her free hand to shield her eyes from the sudden beam of warm incandescence that briefly rendered her sightless. Arching beneath a low-hanging protrusion of rock and earth, Lily cast her eyes every which way, searching for the companion that had led her here.
Twilight had long since arrived, and where the world was once glittering with the last remnants of incandescent brilliance, the skies and the seas were now painted a tender violet with glitters of indigo accentuating the faded stars. This was Lily's favourite sight – it was the sight she often saw in her dreams. It was here, beneath these very stars, that she'd met him.
It was here that their life together had begun.
As Lily approached the lofty precipice that towered over the realm and its radiant waters, she clutched her hand to her chest and closed her glossy eyes. With a single, crystalline tear descending along her fair countenance, Lily keeled forward, her bare palms making contact with the dishevelled terrain. A soft whisper left her shaky lips as that precious tear of hers stained the ground beneath her.
I'm sorry that I couldn't promise you forever.