The last spirit guardian (epilogue)
She was at peace in the forest,
Though she really couldnât tell you why;
Something about those tall trees
Consoled her,
The girl with the hollow eyes.
Every time she went to visit
Those old-grown trees untouched by man
Her shadow-self stopped whispering
And its weight would abate
For a short timespan.
Questions,
Ever looming in doubts and worries,
So swiftly dissolved in ur-infused air,
And, homebound, sheâd always wonder
Why sheâd take so long to
Get back, there.
Back in the box of stone she shared
Inner tensions soon would rise
As shadows reclaimed her, unnoticed,
For none would acknowledge
Her hollow eyes.
Questions, ever piling;
Swallowed in self-effacement;
The unwillingness to be considered
Whining.
Solely muttered to the mirror; the moon;
The god sheâd pray to;
Questions,
Sans respondence,
Save for self-shadowâs whispers,
Reverberating
Within the confines
Of her heart, womb, lungs, and mind,
Seeping from her portals of soul,
So tainting the beheld world
With an umbral grime.
One wintry night
The walls tried to snatch her
As the stone box she shared
Turned a casket,
And she fled from the bed, by dejection
Possessed,
Toward the sanctified arms of the forest.
She traipsed through the cold
Of the moonlit snow,
So pristine bright no shadow could live there,
Till a peculiar patch of moss, she found.
Its lush, vibrant green in
Winter so rare.
Warm to the touch, the moss did feel,
As if a great beast
Had there found nightly peace,
And she, overtaken by sudden fatigue,
Collapsed on the soft
To decompose;
Before her stood
The great ancient wolf
With daunting teeth, and gentlest eyes.
He looked concerned:
âI almost didnât recognize you, pup.
Has life been treating you
She could not speak,
Her throat lumped shut;
Yet answer did her hollow gaze
As at long last eyes brimmed with tears
She had planned on sucking up
Forever and a day.
The ancient wolf but shook his head,
Then turned and ran away.
âPlease, donât goâŚâ, she whimpered.
The ancient beast
Did say.
At first she felt helpless; rigid and rusty,
Clumsily following the wolfâs swift pace,
But soon enough her steps
Returned bouncy,
And she felt so agile
Leaping past trees and shrubberies;
She started to believe â
She could win
This race.
She ran and for the first time since so long
She did not run away;
She dashed, and darted; ducked, and dove;
Frolicked in giggling liberty !â
Till she finally tagged the wolf,
Who chuckled, accomplished:
She woke up in that lushest green moss,
Beholding the forest in summerâs delight.
âHave I slept for so long?â,
She wondered,
Marveling at all buttoning wonders of life.
She looked at the blue
Through the treesâ canopies;
She looked at the dancing butterflies;
She looked at the ground, and, bewildered,
Looked at the paws that once were her feet.
She looked at it all
With sparkling eyes;
Eyes that could ward off each umbral grime.
Finally gone,
The gnawing hollow.
The girl was reborn a forest spirit,
So taking on a great wolfâs shape.
She was chosen
For her heart, her courage;
She was picked
For her care and whit.
One last time she pondered
On shackles, and stone boxes; caskets,
And shadows; loud inner voicesâŚ
She pondered on all her lives,
Unlived.
She pondered on all of this,
Till a chuckle, a nudge, and familiar voice,
Exclaiming:
â
14-10-2021, M.A. Tempels Š â⌠inspired by @becomingpoetâs comment on âThe last spirit guardianâ, saying she âhoped the girl would find her light one day, before the wolf and forest were goneâ⌠I hadnât considered that to be an option, so when I did I immediately had to write the happy ending.â
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