As she readies herself to leave the Fortress, she stands in the courtyard, bare foot, next to the great oak. It's branches cover her like a soft blanket - her last comfort before she leaves. Her toes in the grass search for the steadiness she so desperately desires. The air around her is still and quiet. Controlled. The outside chaos muted here.
She sighs, looking up to the sky in search of direction. The soft drape of her clothes stirring in the breeze. Her hair lies loose today. Freed from its usual containment. A strand catches in the breeze, covering her face and she bats it away. Another big sigh and she starts her journey toward the gate. Shoulders hunched under the weight of her uncertainty. Her feet feel heavy, as if the roots of the great oak are reaching out to keep her.
With a full body shake, she grits her teeth, determined, and marches toward the gate.
Upon arrival, she notices the gate ajar. She peeks through the crack and notices a lock on the outside, severed by some unknown force.
What kind of fortress locks from the outside? As if to keep the danger in?
She gives herself a once over. I don't feel dangerous!
Determination swept away by this puzzle, she hesitantly pushes the gate open so she can peek outside. At once, her eyes widen. She's expecting a vast prairie, brown and desolate, exposed to the elements. Instead, she finds an open space filled with lush green grass. What's more, sprinkled across the prairie like pillars are people. They all wear warm smiles and they glow with warmth and welcoming. Not strangers, no, but her people. The ones she would speak to through the cracks of the fortress. Also, those from before. In their eyes she can see herself and all of her struggles. Yet there is not sadness or anger in their eyes, only triumph.
She smiles from the tips of her toes all the way to the ends of her hair and glides forward. Glimmering tears slide down her face as she realizes. All this time this has been out here waiting for her? All this time she kept herself locked away from this?
One step onto the grass of the prairie and she feels the strength of the people grounding her feet. All the triumphs steadying her.
She strides out into the field and stops. Her arms reach out, face raised to the radiant sun and she inhales. As she does so, the people vanish, leaving her filling the space they occupied. She exhales, her love reaching to every corner of the expanse. And as a storm rumbles in the distance, she sits, surrounded by a stillness that cannot be rippled by the coming storm. A stillness that reaches deep.
And she waits.