To Heal a Princess Heart

Chapter 1               Dreaming

                I could see the pink, castle cliffs in the distance, each step of the pain staking journey ripped at my heart.  The end was in sight, at least I hoped so.  The pain, both emotional and physical, had been so intense in my life I could no longer bear them in this physical vessel anymore, my heart could not take the constant pain, the constant loneliness, the constant guilt, each beat of my heart just kept reminding me of how I still lived and breathed and remained here while everyone else was gone.  If only my beloved wife was by my side, I had grown accustomed to her loving, supportive presence.  She had always been the light in my eyes, the sparkle to why I existed, the joy to waking up in the morning to see her smiling face and joyful presence. If she were here, we would make conversation as I walked each grueling step, each agonizing step up the mountain to the cliffs or perhaps she would stop me on my journey and put an end to this foolishness.

                I was alone, one hell of a place for a Chief of a tribe to be in. Usually when a Chief passed on there were celebrations of a life worth having lived, a life of honor, glory and accomplishment, which was not my lot in life.  None of that was for me, I deserved nothing and nothing is what I got.  M’Lore was my beloved wife and in an instant she had been taken from me along with my beloved daughter, Merelina, and every other tribal member.  Oh the pain, Oh the agony!  Why did I have to think about those things now, of all times  Why would my mind not ever let go of the memory, so raw and so fresh in my mind, even after these many years.  I guess it was the loneliness that laid heavy on my mind and emotions that kept my mind always going back to that horrible day, the day when life as I knew it had ended, when….

                Enough!  Enough of this old man, press on, focus on the task at hand, to climb to the cliffs overhead, to escape this suffering once again.  The pink castle cliffs loomed above, like beautiful sand castles erected by playful children by the sea shore, there they stood.  The cliffs overlooked a long and lush beautiful valley where a stream had carved through for many ages a narrow passage way for horse and foot to travel.  The river now was only a trickle, where once it must have been massive and forceful to have carved such a cavern through this valley, a narrow passage way away from all of the high mountain trouble.  But, as always there was no escaping memory for even now to the East stood the black lava stones mocking me as I glanced over to them.  Those damn, black, monstrous lava rocks that stood as a monument to destruction.  There wasn’t anywhere to go and not see the rocks and immediately my mind would recall the pain and suffering, the molten flowing lava formed the rocks had been a nightmare and here they stood before me hollow, black and cooled reminding me of the lifeless presence they represented.

                I lifted my right foot as high as I could to climb over the boulder, reaching with my left hand for a branch to pull myself up with.  When I was a young buck, lean and muscular, this would not have been a task at all, now each step, each aching and tantalizing step was a testament to my age.  Age was indeed a curse, when the physical failed you and strength and vitality were gone. Why exist at all if you couldn’t h