The Warmth of Tomorrow

The darkness is closing in, what does one do when there seems to be no escape from the fear that lurks inside you and the utter darkness engulfing you. You desperately search for any source of life, nothing seems alive here, it's all dead and still. You find yourself on your knees screaming, yet no noise emerges, is the dark too thick for even a voice to pierce? Slowly giving up you admit defeat and accept this fate. You begin to sink deep into the pitch black waters, suffocating and choking to yourself. It's hard to breathe, your lungs search for air, but air seems too far out of your reach and the tides of this water is pulling you down to the depths of who knows what.

"You can't stop. You have to keep going. You can do this." A voice pulls you from the muck consuming you. The voice is gentle and seems to soothe your soul, it seems to encase you and clean the grime from your body.

The voice is not only that, it's warm like the Sun. As you begin to surface from the dark, thick ocean, you feel a faint glow heating up your cheek and pulling you through the waters quickly. The glow turns into a warm embrace upon your cheeks and you instinctually nuzzle into the warmth. You break through the surface of the water and gasp for air, swimming too nearby land and coughing up slime that seemed to invade your body. The slime is thick and black, coughing it up just makes you gag more. Such a substance in your body makes you feel sick, no wonder you felt so defeated. This toxic ooze was taking over your body and devouring you from the inside out. Spitting up more until you feel your body lighten and your lungs break free from their iron bars. As you gasp for sweet air the spot you find yourself in a small patch of green grass, offering little colorful flowers. The area is warm and covered in light. When the sudden realization that light is surrounding you hits you seek for the source.

A being standing on the edge of darkness and light gazes down at you, you can't see their face for their hat covers most of it, but you see a light smile across their lips. Their hat is odd, it seems to be a beacon of light, pouring golden rays down upon the being's body. Their hands are pinned behind their back as they simply stand there. The warmth this being offers is beyond anything you have ever felt, it's a lifesaver, quite literally. As you study their figure, you can only guess they are female from the dainty overall look. Her white dress drapes her frame as if it was meant for her. The dress is short, like a dress you would wear in the summer. As your gaze moves up to her head, her hat is much like a sun hat and with the light pouring down from its inner makings that name for a hat seems to hold true. She smiles down at you and your body heats up like someone lit a match and tossed it to gasoline. A fire is set inside you and seems to burn away any toxic sludge that was left lingering in your body and the thick black coating on your skin.

"Fret not, for I will light your way. I may not always be seen, but I am the light at the end of the tunnel you find yourself in. I will be with you until this storm stops, just look for me. I promise I am never far." The girl's voice is lyrical and pulls you closer, her words offer hope and a chance to keep going.

As you stand you slowly approach her, wanting a better look at the one that seems to hold the light you desire so desperately. The light that can save you and lead you out of this impending darkness. As you near her, she turns and begins to step into the darkness, each footstep lighting up like a sun painted stone. The closer you get, the more she begins to walk away. You reach out, wanting to embrace her, but she avoids your touch, continuing to step forward. Each step lighting up and beckoning you to follow.

"You can't quite touch me. Focus on my light and follow my steps, they will lead you out of the darkness. Catch me if you can." She glances over her shoulder and offers a playful smile, this mere actions cause your feet to pull you forward and you find yourself running after her.

The dark world around you fades away and you can see the girl leading you to a brighter light in the distance. Reaching out one more time you finally are able to touch her, but her touch burns you so you pull back and suddenly the world shifts drastically. The colors of a world you have never seen paint what was once black. The black canvas turns into this bright and vivid painting. You smile and feel like a new person. Whoever the person was back there is not who you are now. The outer shell you once had as seemed to crack and chip off, exposing a new you. You feel reborn.

In all the excitement of this, you lost track of the girl draped in sunlight and find yourself looking for her, but she is nowhere to be seen. Where did she go? Was this a dream...? Searching for the girl that saved you from the toxic darkness you look to your hand. Searching for anything to validate her existence, the burn, if she was real your hand would be burned, right? As you look to your hand something stops you mid glance. A warmth that was like the girl's but more powerful. Looking up to the sky you see the Sun and blue skies for miles. The storms have seemed to pass and bring forth tomorrow and the Sun. Perhaps that girl was a dream, but she was your Sun that led you here. She was your own little Sun Witch.