He ran through the dark forest, dodging branches and jumping over fallen trees, with no clear idea of where he was going. There was no path through this forest, so instead he made his own. He hurried across the marshy ground of mud and leaves. His shoes squishing into it and leaving a trail all his own. Occasionally, a wayward branch would snap back at him, succeeding in slicing him through the skin. He had many cuts and scratches now, but they merely served to remind him of his journey. Battle scars. He’d been running for a while now. All his life.
Above him the moon dripped down its silvery light through the branches, and barely lit the way before him. He had seen the forest at its worst. He’d been there when it seemed like the branches reached for him alone. It was a time when the night’s cold made him think there was no help in the world.
Yet, he had also been there when the trees were full from the bounty of spring, the pink, blue, and white flowers grew rampant, and the sun’s warmth made his hair stand on end. It was a time when everything was bright and sunny, and he felt that nothing could ever go wrong.
But this was not one of those times. Right now, he was running along the trail with danger close on his heels. The shadows, caused by the branches looming overhead, appeared to be arms reaching for him. They were a regular reminder of the darkness that was constantly there, not letting him be aware of anything else along his path.
And so, he ran farther and farther. His breathing ragged. His heart constricted. He thought for certain that at any moment the darkness and shadows would finally consume him. Then, for once, he could stop running and finally rest. So enraptured by this idea, he didn’t see the obstacle until it was too late.
In a moment of weakness, he found himself falling toward the ground below, having tripped on an uprooted tree. He fell face first into the thicket of leaves and dirt on the ground. The little light that had been available was extinguished in a matter of seconds, until only darkness remained. He choked and gagged on the darkness and attempted to get up. Still, the weight held him down. The more he tried to pull himself up, the more the darkness persisted and tried to swallow him whole. He was suffocating. There was no escape.
Suddenly, he found an void within himself that he hadn’t known existed. As he lay choking and gagging on the darkness, realizing the end was near, the void began to be filled. It was something that had been with him since the beginning of time, but only now did he become increasingly aware of an unknown sense of fulfillment and wonder. It wad like a match that had been struck, and the world became visible to him in its light. The darkness was still there, but the light succeeded in blotting it out.
With this newfound strength he finally had the strength to push against the weight of the darkness. He tried, pushed, and clumsily fell down. Still, he persisted, and the light showed him the way. At last his head was able to rise above the darkness that had consumed him. The glow of the moon was there once again where he had left it, and for the first time he saw its truth.
It was faith, hope, and any positive thing he could conceive. As he continued on his way through the dark forest, he was now intent on reaching this light, and making it to the other side of the dense trees. He knew he would stumble and trip once again on his path through life, and many times after. Only now he had the moon to guide him. She was leading him to her, and to her light. She lit the path to her, and the path inside him.