The leaves crunch noisily underneath her feet as June runs deeper and deeper into the forest, tears pouring out of her eyes and cascading down her golden cheeks. She wants to be as far away as possible from him, her broken future, the one responsible for practically ripping her heart in two. The naïve girl had heard plenty of stories about this feeling, this misery beyond all other miseries. It was nothing like the pain she had felt years before when she had fallen out of a tree and hit her head on the ground; nor was it like her mother scolding her for breaking all of the eggs. This was much worse because without him, she was nothing.
June starts getting deeper and deeper amongst the trees for she has ceased to recognize her surroundings, there are no familiar landmarks to her, or any sounds either to help her figure out where she might be. It’s getting harder to breathe and she has to stop and sit on a log.
Suddenly there is a sound of sobbing that exceeds her own. June abruptly gets up and is alert, in case of any sign of danger emerges. The noise begins to die down, and she thinks to herself, “They know I’m here too…” Her curiosity gets the better of her as she cautiously moves towards the incessant weeping. Suddenly, she pushes through a thicket of leaves and steps into a clearing; the sun beats down on her face and she closes her eyes to escape the intensity of its light. Once her eyes have adjusted she sees a woman sitting on a stump of a tree, her long blonde hair draping over the stump like curtains and her dress, a dull gray, appearing to be damp in some places from the humidity of the forest as well as the tears she has shed.
“Who are you?” the lad is startled by June’s words and quickly moves her eyes up from the ground, her teal eyes gazing at June, as if to invite her to join in her misery.
“The better question little girl, is who are you?”
“And why should I tell you?”
“Then why should I tell you who I am, if you are the one who has intruded?”
There is a silence that settles in comfortably as the two women simply looked at each other, not with malice or kindness, just with wonder and awe. Somewhere else in the forest, a loud bird chirps and sings a mating call, and is answered by a female bird in the clearing, breaking the quiet tranquility.
“Why have you come here?”
“Why are you here?”
“Not by choice, I can promise you that, my dear.”
“Is someone forcing you to stay here?!”
A sob springs up from the somber lady’s throat as she gasps for air. She suddenly looks vulnerable rather than terrifying, and young rather than old. June realizes that like herself, she is broken inside. She collects herself and begins to rise from the stump, her golden tendrils falling gently around her.
“I am trapped here by my broken heart, by my tears and misery, and my stubbornness to move on.”
“How long have you been here?” June is bewildered; it’s as if this is some sort of fairytale. This can’t be happening, she has to be dreaming. She is holding a conversation with a mentally unstable woman, who obviously has many more problems than June has ever had. Part of her wants to stay and dig deeper into this woman’s past, but the other part warns her that this could result in something unfortunate. But to go back there, where her heart had been practically ripped out of her chest; where he still existed. But in this fantasy he isn’t here, she has left him behind with the rest of reality and what she would give for him to cease to exist entirely. She’s in denial now that she has ever loved him and thinks that solitude in this forest is so tranquil and wonderful, so why must she go back into society where she would be forced to hide her sorrow and who courage in the face of adversity. The lady, having recovered from her sobs, interrupts her train of thoughts, “I would tell you if I knew; some days I wonder if I’ve been here for years, while other days it simply feels like a few days.”
“Who has trapped you here?”
“So many questions-whom as brought you such sorrow as to lead you to me?”
“He…he…”
“He left you? They all do, darling. Time after time; it’s quite a puzzle how we fall for them yet again.”
“I thought he…”
“Was the one? We always do.”
“But he was…”
“Different? Each and every one of us thinks that as well. And look at you now-do you still think he was that different from the rest? Why do you think I’m here?”
“So it happened to you…”
“No, it didn’t. I don’t exist.”
“Wait…what? What do you mean you don’t exist, I’m looking right at you.”
“I am only a figment of your imagination June.”
“What, no! I’m not crazy-I ran into the woods, I..I..I ran in here and saw you!”
“June, you’re fast asleep in the clearing.”
“But, I’m, I’m awake, I never fell asleep in the clearing!”
The mysterious lady smirked at her, ignoring her resistance, “I’m warning you now, sometimes letting go requires so much more strength than holding on. Don’t hold on, June; he isn’t worth it. It’s going to be hard at first, it always is, but eventually youll get on with the rset of your life and meet someone who was wirth the pain.”
Leaves of all colors, being blown by the wind and scattered across the clearing; June sits up and looks around. The warm colors surrounding her, and the damp area on the ground where she had shed her tears-so many tears wasted on the one who wasn’t the one. She sits up and realizes there is a stump, but nowhere in sight is the lady with the teal eyes. It doesn’t matter though. No matter how hard its going to be, June is going to make it. She smiles to herself as she realizes, life goes on, and so will she.
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