reflect.

Walk with me. Through fields, over rivers, crunching leaves underfoot, leading me every step of the way. The sun glistened through cracks in the canopies high above us as if teasing another world beyond our mortal view. Time slows as heavy drops of rain bounce down onto fallen branches on the ground below us. This was always our favourite place; somewhere our connection ran as deep as the roots of great trees that surrounded us. We would come here when feeling weak; when we were lost; when we just needed to get away from everything.

Together on the precipice of hope we could embrace in our shared solitude. As I clasped my warm hands around yours I would look into your eyes and calm you in an instant - one look was all it took for you to feel safe; to feel free. As the cold winter breeze bristled around me I would sit down and listen to the overwhelming silence - a reminder that this will always be a sanctuary when we needed it most. You were the reason I was still here; the reason I could face the day; you gave me life when I didn't feel life wanted me anymore. The days were getting darker still; I would chase the sunlight as if grasping onto the very memory itself. Ever darker.

The dying embers of your lost empire.