Lost

The chill night draws the warmth from my flesh and feeds it to the howling wind. I am not dressed to be facing such extremes, yet here I am, trudging through the woodland muck; I search. It is something I’ve never seen or smelt or touched, but it drives me to find it.

My nightly robe gives me little shelter as I try to hide from the invading cold. And all I around me is a mystery which can not be discovered, for the fog cares not for my search. He mocks me openly as I trip on his plotted snags and tear my bare skin on his hidden barbs. I can not be stopped or put off by him, for my cause is greater than bodily harm.

Onward through the darkened forest I am looking for the unknown. I can’t say as to where it is other than it is not where I am. My mind is unwittingly the slave to the unseen necessity. It cares nothing for the numbing in my body. All that matters is finding it.

Suddenly, I am lost, although never knowing where I was. I don’t know where to find it anymore. It is disappeared to my mind’s eye and I am nowhere to be found. The nightly chill takes its toll on me. My exposed feet are unfeeling for all the blood they are showing and my legs have become stiff and sore.

I collapse to the ground as I feel the darkness and the fog push me down with their weighty curtain. My breath slows and I am warm from the attacking coolness. Unblinking become my eyes and my frame moves naught. Recovering from the weakness that set me to the floor, I see that I am no longer cut and bleeding. My body tingles with feeling and I am alive again.

Beneath my feet lays a wretched soul that hath withered from his loss and sadness.
I step aside in respect for the deceased and find my mind is once again beset with finding the lost. I am not unsure where to search any longer for there, in front of me is the missing. She is beautiful and, without an utterance, takes me with her. We leave behind the despairing tomb and are one with the mist. And as we fade into nothingness, the sunlight cuts through darkness and I am whole again. My spirit lifted with the fog.