Essetia & Romul

And although I wasn't losing my mind, It was a chorus so sublime

Time passed slowly as we talked, the sands sifting through the time glass one mere grain at a time. How was it that some days passed so quickly while others chose to halt midday, crawling slowly by until nightfall seemed almost a reprieve?

The Riptide Isles were a gift from the Gods or perhaps just a gift from the rift from whence they came. They were beautiful and exotic and far more than I could have ever hoped for. They had become a place that didn’t necessarily fit into the framework of Helovia… somewhat like me. I turned one pale eye toward the vast, unexplored range beyond and wondered what mysteries lurked behind the stone ruins and within the dark caves. I’d come looking to find out, but was instead deterred from my mindless wandering. I hadn’t a clue what the stallion called himself -what others called him- but I imagined he had a fitting name, something strong like him.

He appeared to mull over my new course of conversation and I was lead to believe that he was intelligent, or at least marginally so. His eyes told stories that his words could not, but I was not equipped to decipher their code and instead let those sleepless tales lie. Not everyone could express their hearts and souls to strangers as I was wont to do. It was that sudden lack of caring that often forced me into a prison that I’d built myself- one where I knew that I would one day face my fears.

Until then, I was determined to speak aloud all the things that I’d formerly let consume me. I was tired of losing wars against myself. I was tired of fighting.  

As if by clockwork, just when I was close to allowing my thoughts to eat me alive, the stallion posed a question that I hadn’t been expecting… not from him. I dared to ponder whether or not his attentions had truly been piqued or if I’d simply given him a piece of thread to tie. “I like to remember how I came to be this way- something like a reminder to keep pushing when I feel I can’t any longer,” I told him quietly, unreserved. “Many of us have lived through trying times… I guess I just like to remind myself of where I’ve been and where I’m going before I get lost again.”

How many times had I given up control? There’d been too many to count now and yet I found myself wanting to reconcile those evils and pave my way toward something bright and everlasting. I watched the stallion’s face as I entrusted him with such heavy thoughts and ideas, still wondering what kept him here with me. I assumed everyone had hurts.  It was soothing to hear of them because it erased our own ceaseless agony for a time… to know that we weren’t entirely alone.