Beyond the Shadows

I was there. At least .. I was sort of there. I responded when spoken to .. I found it amusing that everyone thought I was faded out to another place.

Because ... I was.

It has been a long time since I walked the places of memories with another. The last time I failed badly and it has haunted me ever since. I still see her frozen there .. reaching. I still taste my own inability .. it is bitter on my tongue.

Perhaps that is why I have not found the time to answer the riddle of the dream war I have been waging. I call it a war .. because to me it is. I am going to win ... I am going to kill ... I am going take over ... is that not a war?

But .. that night there was a call from within the coals. A pleading .. a request. I did not answer it .. I merely watched. Watched like a dweller might watch a gladiator in the great arena. Fight for his life .. his honor .. perhaps even his freedom against odds most men would shy away from.

It was not long before the pleading stopped. The voice too tired to do anything but survive now. But still I watched without interceding .. without lending any aid. I was the spectator. The witness. The one to tell the story when it was all done and each had passed on to their respective destiny.

Well that is how I thought it would be ... but as my focus became more intent on the scene before me deep within the flickering coals ... something else found its way through.