Lost

Fog settled in the air around them. The shy moon lit up just enough for her to see the few among many boats around her. Despite many around her having someone to share their moments with, she had a boat all to herself. Her parents, like many around them, had each other. Why was she alone?

As her thoughts kept swimming around in her head constantly shifting from topic to another-as often as it did-she noticed something odd about the water. She looked around to realize that no one immediately around her saw what she did and passed it off as being delusional. Falling back into her spiral pit of thoughts, her boat drifted away.

Hot white blinding pain seared across the length of her back. Looking down, she was met with the gruesome sight of an arrow head sticking out of her chest and blood dripping. Each drop seemed too precious to let go, but she let them fall with the tears. Huge cold droplets of water fell from the heavens. She did nothing. Another shot from a bow struck her. And yet another one. She did nothing. After all, this was all a backstabber like her deserved.

The arrows had stopped coming and the blood washed away with the rain. The fog lifted and an immense sense of emptiness flooded through her. She was a long way from home, wounded, but strangely not alone. Someone else was in the boat, someone else was with her all this while. She stretched a hand of friendship, relief overflowed the lonely heart of her life and she smiled for the first time in a long while. A genuine, heartfelt smile. She had a friend. A raven flew over them, dropping a variegated leaf onto their boat. Yes, she was far away from, but she wasn't alone. She wasn't without hope. She wasn't without a friend. A friend was all she needed. A friend was all she had.

Together, they set for another journey. A long journey, further away from home. A journey without guarantee of a safe return. A journey, an adventure, nevertheless. A journey to return the lost back home.