Mystical Veracity

"Run away," I yelled, "run to the woods and feed yourself to the wolves for all I care," my voice cold and harsh, devoid of even a smidge of emotion or sentiment. Not once did it waver from the words that rushed out of my mouth- anger channeling through my veins in ways that could make one despise even the one they loved the most.

For the tense moments that followed, the room fell into an unnamed silence as those dreaded words seemed to have created an indestructible wall between us, expelling any fondness we ever had of each other. I could only watch as the front door opened narrowly to the figure of my sister disappearing into the wilderness, leaving me to stare after her- my dilated eyes fixated at her moving figure till it receded in the distance amid the trees.

It was only a matter of time before I felt my jaw clench and my eyebrows rise in fury of her actions, of her audacity to defy me. I thrust my hand towards the nearest object, knocking it off its position as my anger conquered my mind, driving me into insanity. Another crash indicated that I had managed to destroy a porcelain vase, and before I could restrain my rage from causing any further destruction, the sound of breaking glass evoked me back to my senses. I looked down to discover a hundred shards of glass shattered across the floor, yet the sight was nowhere close to what I was yet to find. A sensation of excruciating pain seared up my right hand. The tormenting agony of the glass piercing into my skin made me feel like a score of arrows had been targeted to a single point on my palm.

"Claire," I begged, finally coming to my senses, "come back, please."

But I was too late. Late enough to lose the one my life was worth, the one I would never deserve.

I shut my eyes close to the unbearable pain, but my senses seemed more alert than ever. My first instinct was to exempt myself from the pain while the agility of my fingers enabled them to remove the fragments of glass with slow yet deft movements. The pain, though decreased significantly, remained severe as blood trickled down the edges of my hand. I was lucky that the cut was not deep, and with my minimal knowledge of medicinal plants, I was able to tend to it reasonably well. Once my palm was enclosed tightly in a thick layer of moss, enough for it to not get festered, I reminded myself of the other issue at hand.

Without a second thought, I grabbed a dagger off the table and sheathed it to my belt before closing the door and setting off towards the wild that awaited me. The first few steps I made were slow and vigilant, but before long, they became tedious. Even so, the option of reconsidering or turning back had been long eliminated. The reminiscence of my happiest memories and the promise I had made to my mother before she departed kept me on my feet. I had vowed to take care of the both of us while she was away, and I intended on keeping my word. Still, the woods were enough reason for anyone to feel threatened, especially when you were out hours after curfew. But there was no time to check myself for being a part of these clandestine and illicit affairs -I would readily accept any amount of punishment if it meant bringing my sister to safety.

The woods were now in a state of absolute tranquility. The trees that arose near me seemed to look down upon me with condescendence, casting hostile glances as if to convey that I did not belong there. But it was my home, and if anyone could navigate through this unknown terrain, it would be me. The gaps between the branches provided an unobstructed view of the moon glowing iridescently. A frosty gale swept past the thicket of trees, causing them to tremble in the gust, only to silence all the nocturnal animals momentarily- encompassing me in an eerie silence. Even in the summers, these winds did not come as a surprise to those dwelling near the forest but nevertheless, managed to send a shiver up my spine.

After what seemed like hours, I found myself in a clearing amid the woods. My legs gave way as I crumpled to the forest floor on my knees. Crouching low, I inspected my surroundings for any signs of danger and being unable to spot any, I positioned my back to rest against a tree and sat huddled on the bed of fallen leaves. Just when I could not think of any other adversities in the dark, desolate forest, the sky opened to drench my whereabouts in vigorous downpour. The place where I seated myself remained adequately dry from the showers but the droplets that did manage to get through seemed to spread on my skin like acid, as if to remind me of my faults. I tried to dismiss it as a mere fragment of my imagination and stray into sleep, but my insomnia got the best of me. Deciding that it would be safest to remain on guard till the rest of the night slipped away, I straightened myself in a defensive position, fearing the innumerable terrors of the carnivorous animals that inhabited the place. My thoughts turned to my sister as a million questions arose in my mind- where was she now? Was she safe? All I could do now was to live for the hope of it all, to surrender myself to fate and only wish that she was secure- somehow, somewhere. In the midst of my apprehension, my eyelids felt heavy as I drifted away to a world of tantalizing nightmares with no escape.

Dawn brought a sweet disruption to the ordeal of my worst fears coming alive when I was most vulnerable, alleviating me to a sky painted in hues of orange and red. But it was only then that my eyes fell upon the most angelic face I had ever discerned, standing above me, not disdainfully, but as if to take me in her arms, to forgive me. The tears that trickled down her silken cheeks upon finding me awake seemed to cleanse me of my guilt, of every mistake I had ever committed, to fix the crack in the picture I had broken so indifferently. Only then did I realise how identical my sister was to my mother.