I wandered through empty streets and ruined passages in a town whose inhabitants are nowhere to be seen today. Asking was out of the question - who would even look at me in the eye let alone engage me in conversation?
They wouldn't even see a single strand of my hair - if there were anyone who would even look.
With the implements the Light gave me to embark on my crusade, I set forth on what I believed to be would be a grim tale.
I was right.
~
The streets and houses were barren. Lifeless. Empty. Like a fruit that has been hollowed-out, its inhabitants were nowhere to be found. Wind whistled through the streets, chasing away stray paper and litter, but touched no skin. The rain fell moments later, wetting the grim ruined houses, eroding an eternal cycle of dust, its infinite arrows missing its usual human marks.
Or at least it did, when it was about to leave.
A man emerged from one of the unbarred doors, clothes ragged and torn. From his face came an impression of hopelessness, despair, and fatigue. He shuffled along the wet stone streets , carrying a rucksack that rustled with his belongings, and emerged at the town square - once a haven of celebration and merrymaking, now a sanctuary of people, cloaked and grim. What seemed to be the entirety of the barren town gathered round the empty fountain, as if waiting for something to happen.
"It is hopeless." an old woman murmured to herself, warming her hands in front of a bonfire that has been lit beside the fountain. "We will all be destroyed. We have lain waste to the land and now she collects her due."
"Please do not say such, mama." a middle-aged woman said, gently embracing the old woman. "Everything will be fine."
The man passed by them, taking in each word like a vile disease creeping through his veins. For so long they spoke of ill fate, of things unspoken claiming its toll for the waste they had lain on the land. Yet they do nothing but lament over losses and cry over spilt milk.
Not he. He would do something about this.
He strode past the huddled crowd of townsfolk, holding his rucksack higher as he did. Through the empty streets he walked til he reached the town gates leading out. Without another look back, he took a deep breath and disappeared through the light mist now encroaching.
They have done nothing but watch as their town was consumed from within - corruption, discord, hate. Lordly nobilities treated lowly peasants like dirt and lowly peasants slew lordly nobilities like pigs. Resources were put to waste, without thought of what would happen. Now the bells toll, and the dues are to be collected. They are to pay for their sins!
Not he. He swore to make things right - to start anew and undo what was done. It would be a renewal of life, one he had sought to do long before this era of chaos dawned upon them and consumed them.
But all he managed to do was scream in frustration and agony as his dreams of renewal were shattered by seeing the same gates from whence he came, emerging from the low mist like some twisted nightmare made real.
He realized that they - all of them - are now trapped. Left to their own demise.
~
As the last words poured from the pen to the journal, I heard the Light speak in my head.
"The coward who runs from his trespasses shall be doomed to stay within its clutches for all eternity. Bear it in mind when you are born anew. Life is cruel, but through that she teaches everyone to be stronger and to face reality with valor."
The voice faded, and a new path was shown to me.