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.