🎃 Imagine this. You wander through the woods. Deep in this Enchanted Forest, your delicate fairy wings are crippled and weak. You haven’t come this way in a long time. You’re not sure you’ll be able to find it. You trip over overgrown roots and foliage that looks suspiciously like clawing hands in the dying light. A howl sounds in the distance, pushing you closer to your destination. Watchful eyes in the birch bark feel more leering than protective. Your ripped and muddied gown is caked in dandelion fuzz. You limp over uneven ground, smiling at the pain of the shark bite with each excruciating step - replaying the satisfying splash as you finally chose her over the world. As you grabbed the enemy and dove into the infested waters. You squint to make sense of your surroundings through the fog, cherry red eyes glowing in the bushes. Just before you nearly give up, you see it ahead. The wooden door standing sovereign in the middle of the forest. Deeply cut claw marks mar its surface. Glittering flecks of what could be light filter through the crack beneath it. The best and worst part of it all - the lock lies broken, scorched, down on the ground. To put it plainly, your limits are now your own courage. Nothing more, and nothing less. All your life you have been afraid. Afraid of ghosts, shadows and raindrops on tin roofs. It is a fear that has paralyzed you. And yet, now, in the face of something actually worthy of your fear, you find peace and courage. You step forward. You place your hand on the doorknob, the metal cold against your fiery skin. Insecurity and hope pound in your ears in tune with your heart beat. Never in your wildest dreams did you actually believe you would arrive here. “Human, human, human.” The darkest parts of your mind chant. It burns like hot coals. But the longer you stand there, hand on the doorknob, the softer the voice becomes. Not softer in volume - if anything, the voice is louder now - but softer in tone. Who doesn’t love a good key change? “Human, human, human.” It no longer sounds like the weakness it used to. It no longer sounds like a flaw. Your heart beats red and hot and furious in your chest. Isn’t that a magnificent thing! A knock sounds on the door from the other side. You smile at the signal as your feet squash the forest carpet of clovers and daisies. With the deepest exhale of your life so far, you slowly twist the handle. 🎃

-submitted May 17, 2023