Part 5: Me, Her, and The Light

I hadn't gone more than a step when I tripped, landing hard and smacking my face on the ground. I groaned in pain, as I slowly got to my knees. I looked ahead and noticed the woman hadn't stopped or slowed down, but was still walking calmly up the path.  I checked behind me to see what had tripped me up and found another rock. This one seemed rather small, hard to imagine it was even heavy enough to make me stumble.  When I reached for it though I found it immensely dense and I had to grunt just to heft it in the one hand.  Written in bright blue and all capital bold letters was "PRIDE".  Well surely I didn't want to leave this one behind. What would the woman think, and the man who had helped me if I caught up and didn't have any pride?  I slid it into my pocket and quickly got back to my feet, intent on trying to close the gap between me and the girl.   I found the heaviness of "PRIDE" kept trying to pull my pants down so I had to use one of my hands to hold them up, which only allowed me to do an awkward lopping motion.

As I followed the woman up the path I began to notice that it got narrower and steeper the further we went, the rock walls dropped away revealing a deep dark cavern underneath that stretched further than the light could penetrate.  The path itself felt no longer like stone but a rough, splinter-prone wood.  I was having trouble keeping up as the path got ever steeper and "PRIDE" seemed to weigh heavier with each step. I no longer seemed to be getting closer to the girl, who seemed to not notice the increased difficulty or dangerous drop to either side, she just kept staring straight ahead at the light and placed each step confidently. As for me, each step became tentative, wrought with worry as I would glance at the girl, then try to peer ahead to the light and then down at my feet, all the while tugging at my pants to keep "PRIDE" from pulling me down. Then a new problem added to the difficulty as I felt the wood getting slick beneath my feet. It wasn't water as it felt slightly sticky and thicker, but the further up the path I went it ran heavier, saturating the wood, running up and oozing over my shoes until the warm liquid had soaked into my socks.  Finally I could take it no more, curiosity and caution drew my eyes off the light ahead and down to the path to figure out what this confounded new problem was. That's when I slipped. I landed on my hands and knees, thankfully not flat on my face again.  The liquid was now flowing pretty good, rushing over my hands and swirling around my knees.  I brought my hand to my face for a closer inspection and gasped. The liquid shone a bright red; blood red.  Violently I shook my hand trying to fling the blood from it and wiped what remained on my ragged shirt.  Now for another surprise(I should have been getting used to these by now); my hand was no longer covered in the black tar, even the gunk that seemed to have seeped into my skin was gone. Clean, unblemished skin showed where ever the blood had touched and when I looked at my shirt, where I had wiped my hand off there was pure white cloth without a single rip.  Quickly I dipped my hand into the blood and splashed a handful onto one of the festering wounds on my side. Instant soothing rushed into the wound and as the blood dripped down it revealed a tiny little scar, completely healed and free from any of the discoloration of infection.  With elation I lay down in the stream, letting it rush over me, using my hands to cover me in the blood entirely.

"Travis" It was the woman's and the mans voice this time, and I slowly got back to my feet, checking myself to make sure the impromptu washing was thorough. Every trace of the black grime that had covered me was gone, my shirt was a brilliant white and my jeans where whole again.  The aches of wounds and injuries, including the ones I had taken while on the path were gone, and I felt energized and complete.  As I looked up the path it made a sharp incline, almost vertical, and then it reached a platform of sorts, where another wooden beam came and crossed this path, making a spot wide enough for two people to stand side by side. And there they were. The woman had already climbed the vertical section and was kneeling, possibly in exhaustion.  The man was facing me but it was hard to see his features as the light seemed almost to be radiating from him. I quickly headed for the vertical part and and began to climb.  It wasn't overly high, maybe twice my height but the blood ran thicker and faster here, and as soon as I tried to use both hands to climb the rush of the stream and "PRIDE" would begin to pull my pants down.  I reached into my pocked and removed "PRIDE", not wanting to lose it in process of the climb and clutched it tightly in my hand.  Slowly I began up the wall, awkwardly wrapping my arms and legs around the wood and shimming my way upwards. The higher I went the heavier "PRIDE" got and my arm began to ache. Then almost at the top I lost all strength and the arm holding onto "PRIDE" swung down limply at my side. I cried out, envisioning me falling, crashing off the path below and careening down into the dark abyss.  My other arm and legs were clenched in a death grip around the wood, and my face was pressed tight against, blood flowing and cascading over me.

"Let go and give me your hand" I looked up to see the mans face peering over the edge at me.  The light still seemed to radiate from him so his exact features were still hard to make out, but I could see compassion and love in his eyes.

I can't, I will fall if I let go.


"Not of the path, let go of "PRIDE", its the only way to reach me."

I shook, knowing I couldn't hold on much longer.  What good was holding onto "PRIDE" if it only brought me to my death?  If I never reached the top and met this woman, or got to know this man, what was the point of keeping it? Slowly I forced each stubborn finger open until "PRIDE" slipped from my grasp and tumbled off into darkness.  I reached for the mans hand and he pulled me up easily and I collapsed on my trembling knees, thankful to be alive, thankful to the man for rescuing me.  I became conscious of the woman kneeling next to me and finally got to see her face.  She was looking at me, her smile mimicking the one in my heart.  She was simply put the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.  Had I seen her back in the dark pathway or heading down the red-lit, crowded path I don't know if I would have noticed her, but here, in this radiant white light her beauty shone through, unrivaled.  Our eyes met and my heart jumped somersaults while threatening to beat right out of my chest.

"I am so glad you found me" Her voice rang clear in my ears but her mouth never moved, the words spoken between us deeper than any sound could convey. Words escaped me, so I quietly reached for her hand, her fingers intertwined with mine and tears of joy ran down both our cheeks. I wanted to thank the man for bringing me to this woman, for helping me past those obstacles and we both turned back to him. He was smiling down at us, joy evident on his face.  I noticed with some shock that his hands were covered in blood, so much that it was running down in a steady flow, joining with a stream that seemed to be coming out of his feet. He must have noticed my shock and locked my gaze with his.

"Yes, this is my blood, the blood that washed you."

But why? Why are you bleeding for me? Why did you help me?


"Because I love you." This answer was so simple...yet so complete. I didn't need any other explanation.  His calling me to this path, the help he offered with out me asking him first, the blood he shed so freely for me all proved his love beyond question. "Now, come, I have plans for you two." He reached down, grabbing our joined hands and pulled us to our feet. "Follow me closely, keep your eyes on me. The path ahead will not be easy, but as long as you hold tight to each other and follow me, I will guide you together on your way."

With that he turned and started on down the path. I squeezed the woman's hand, she squeezed mine reassuringly in return, and we followed him.

Part 4: The Rock-Slide

The rock-slide rose abruptly, towering over and dwarfing me.  How could I ever get through this? The task seemed hopelessly large, impossibly daunting in its magnitude.  There is no way I could move all these rocks, certainly not the big ones, some taller than I was.  I leaned forward, pressing my forehead against the rough cold rock. My breathing was heavy and I realized I was sobbing.  After all this, fighting my way to this point only to be stopped dead, my heart began to feel dead.

"I will give you strength" This voice startled me, and I involuntarily jumped, catching my breath and wiping at the tears running down my cheeks(this only served to smear the black gunk all over my face).  The voice had been a guys this time.  I felt inexplicably reassured though, buoyed with confidence. I took several calming breaths, inhaling deeply. A slight breeze whispered through the rocks, seemingly fresher and invigorating.  Reaching down I grabbed the first small rock and chucked it behind me. The next one was large enough to need both hands and as I bent to pick it up I stopped and stared, puzzled.  On the rock was written "Greed". A quick scan of all the other rocks revealed they too had various things written on them. It didn't matter how small or how large the stone was, every one was labeled.  "Greed" got thrown behind me, followed by "Anger", "Lying", "Cursing", "Prejudice", and "Self-love". These rocks all varied in size, but the weight of each felt identical, from small river stones to bigger blocks that required me to wrap my arms around them in a bear hug, the oddity and increased size being the bigger challenge to move rather than the weight.

Now I was confronted with my first real obstacle, a boulder taller than me, and probably three times wider. Written on this one in a glowing red paint was "Selfishness".

"Hey, hey! No need to move that one there champ! Its not really in the way! If you just knock out some of those rocks along the side of the wall you can just go right around it! Or better yet, come on back and we'll go snowboarding! No, wait, on a Heli-skiing trip!" It was the voice of the Odd Man echoing up to me.  I didn't bother turning around, not really wanting to see what incoherent outfit he had on now, but I did glance at the wall that was still standing, the part I would have to remove to go around. The wall that was hemming in this path and guiding me up this narrow way had words written on it too, but instead of scrawled in various colors like the loose rocks, these words were written in a clean, neatly scripted white.  The words closest to "Selfishness" that I would have to knock out were "Family", "Friends", "Church", "Responsibilities", "Self-Discipline" and "Self-Sacrifice", all linked together so that if I took one out the others would topple.  It did look like the wall would be easy to knock down but then I would be exposed to falling off the path. I found comfort in knowing those rocks were there to protect my way, all of them formed to help lead me to the voice(or now voices).  This left me with only one option; to remove "Selfishness". Upon looking closer at the boulder I now realized there were some cracks in the rock I hadn't noticed before(had the cracks been there before?) which made perfect hand-holds.  I grabbed hold as best I could, pulled in a deep breath and with a heave I pulled. The rock didn't budge an inch. Again and again I threw my weight back only to slump, exhausted and panting. My weight alone wouldn't move this rock, I needed some other way to dislodge it.  I studied the wall again, noticing that the seams between the rocks on the wall, notably "Self-Discipline" and "Self-Sacrifice" would make perfect footholds. Given the fragile look of the wall I was hesitant to use it, but realized I had no other choice. I tentatively wedged my feet on either side of the wall, grabbed hold of the rock and pushed gently back. In a rush the boulder gave way, and I had to quickly scramble back as "Selfishness" began rolling down the path.  Elation rapidly turned to fear as I realized the huge rock was now coming right for me, picking up speed and there was no way to get out of the way.  I back peddled as quickly as I could, but tripped over something, probably one of the other rocks I had thrown behind me, and fell with a thud, the air rushing from my lungs.  As I watched my impending doom bearing down on me I still felt comfort, knowing that I had at least moved that boulder, had gotten that much closer to the voices.  Then something miraculous happened. "Selfishness" began to break apart. First into two big pieces, then those began to crumble, breaking further and further down as it got closer until it was a small tide of pebbles and then as it reached my feet about to bury me it vaporized into a fine dust that settled over everything. Finally able to regain my breath I inhaled sharply only to lapse into a fit of coughing trying to clear my lungs of the thick chalky dust.  Shakily I clambered back to my feet, trying to shake as much of the dust off me and stumbled back up to what was left of the rock-slide blocking my path.

Now that "Selfishness" was gone I could see an archway with "True Love" etched in ornate lettering across the top. The pure white light radiated from all around it, blocked by one last hulking boulder.  Because of the bright light shining in my eyes I had to draw close to this last barrier to read its label. It was smeared and barely legible, pitch black scribbled on the dark rock. It read "Lust".  This one had no hand holds though, no way for me to get a grip on it.  I tried wedging my hand between the archway and "Lust" but as soon as my hand touched the rock images shot through my head and I staggered back, blinking to clear my vision.

"Oh yea suga', rememba' that?  Wasn't that just a hoot? Why my dear, ya' blushin'! You wasn't too ashamed of it back then. Come on back to me baby, we can make more memories."  The lady in red! How had she caught up to me?! I quickly glanced over my shoulder but couldn't see her anywhere.  I couldn't go back there, not again, not after coming this far.  Frantically I beat at "Lust", kicking it, punching it, throwing other rocks at it.  Every time I touched it a shock was sent through my system, sapping my energy to keep fighting and to my great shock each rock that struck it was absorbed into it.  Finally exhausted and ready to give up I feel against the archway of "True Love" and collapsed.  Strength seemed to flow back into me the second I touched the archway, not in the violent bursts of "Lust", but in a steady, constant stream of energy. Then from the other side came the mans voice again, still a quiet whisper, but yet it carried authority and reassurance indescribable.

"Allow me. Just ask and I will remove it."


Please, I can't move it and I want to go through "True Love" and see you and find her, the girl whose voice I heard.

"Stand close to "True Love" and you will be safe"

I scrambled to my feet and pressed in close to the archway.  With a sudden blast, "Lust" shot forward and almost instantly vaporized. I had to squeeze my eyes shut as that piercing white light flooded the hallway, temporarily blinding me.  A few minutes passed and I slowly opened my eyes, allowing them to adjust.  I quickly passed through the "True-Love" archway and then I saw her. More accurately I saw her figure, with the light shining directly from further down the path behind her I could only make out her silhouette.  My breath caught and my heart leaped in my chest.
"Follow me" her voice rang clear and melodious in my ears as she turned and continued up the path.  I quickly started after her, breaking into a quick jog.
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Sorry this took so long, I kind of hit a creativity wall and wanted to make sure I was ready to work on it, not try to force it or rush it. I believe I can wrap this up in one more part, which hopefully should come early next week but no promises. Thanks for reading and hanging in there, I do appreciate your time. Again, if you missed the other parts, just use the menus on the right to go to January's posts and you'll find parts 1-3 in there. Thank you again!