Full Moon
Full Moon
By Crystal Dream
Email: astheworldfalls@hotmail.com
Part I
Running…something was behind her, but she couldn't see…her legs ached,
scratches marked her skin, her
nightgown was torn…she was so tired, but she couldn't stop, she couldn't
give in…give in to what? What was
she running from; who was chasing her? She tried hard to remember but in
vain. Help! She was screaming as
she fell, something had grabbed her leg, no…she tripped, she was
falling, falling. There was no ground, she just
fell…then it was dark, cold and black. She could feel warmth radiating
down her neck, it wasn't air…someone
was close behind her, breathing hard, she could feel their arms reaching
around her, a hand touched her
face…she screamed…but no sound escaped her lips...
Elly sat straight up in her bed. She struggled to gain control of her
breathing as she surveyed the familiar
surroundings. She was home, in her bedroom, everything was normal It
was just a dream. Her long hair still
clung to her face and a cold sweat was visible on her skin. Throwing the
covers off of her, she jumped from her
bed and walked to the bathroom. She didn't turn on the light, the moon
was strangely comforting.
All I need is a good shower, and then it will all go away. The cold
water hit her hard, causing her to gasp in
surprise, but she refused to turn it up. I need to wake up, it's too
dangerous to sleep now. Her mind was
racing, despite her attempts to calm herself. I can't keep running from
him, he's not real, it's just my
imagination. She shivered as the memory of his touch and closeness
surfaced in her mind, It seemed so real,
but how, that's impossible! She shook the disturbing thought from her
head, turned off the shower and
stepped out.
Walking to her room, she towel-dried her hair, and put on a clean, soft
cotton nightgown. She directed a
longing look towards her bed No, you can't sleep right now, it's too
soon…you need to forget. She closed
her eyes briefly and walked out of the room. The blue numbers on the
microwave read 2:00 AM, but she was
wide-awake now. The light tinkling of the wind chimes on the porch could
be heard through the open window,
soothing her, calling her to go outside. As she stepped onto the porch,
the warm air graced her skin and she
breathed deeply, inhaling the scents of spring flowers on the breeze.
"Elly…" it was so quiet, she barely heard it. The name seemed to float
on the wind. She passed it off as her
imagination and relaxed a little as she looked down on her yard. It
looks so peaceful, everything is silver…it's
amazing. It was quiet outside. With the exception of the chimes,
everything was still, almost as if the whole
world were anticipating something extraordinary.
"Elly…", there it was again, louder, there was no denying it this time.
She spun around, frantically searching for
the speaker. "Who are you, leave me alone!", she cried. "You know who I
am Elly, you saw me in your
dreams…" Her face turned a ghostly pale as she realized no one was
there. Holding her arms close to her, she
asked quietly, trembling, "What do you want from me?"
Part II
"Come with me, Elly…" The words floated lightly through the air, just
barely audible over her furiously beating
heart. She took a few deep breaths, and tried to calm herself. "Why
can't I see you, show yourself to me!" At
first there was no answer. She looked first around her, and then above,
hoping to see a glimmer of movement
from anything at all. But all there was to greet her eyes was a
star-speckled sky and a shimmering moon.
Finally, he spoke. "It's not that easy" he said, his voice low and
tempting "first…you must believe."
What is he talking about, how can I believe in something that isn't
there, I must be going crazy. Again no
answer, leaving her a few moments in which she began to fear that she
was right. "You're not crazy Elly. What
you’re hearing is very real." She spun around, her weary eyes once again
scanning the silver-tipped landscape.
"How did you know what I was thinking? Can you hear my thoughts?" His
voice came again, this time as if he
were right beside her, whispering in her ear. "I know every thought that
goes through your head…we are one,
and I have come to find the part of me that I am missing. Believe in me
Elly."
"Please tell me who you are," she pleaded quietly. "I am Aidan, King of
the Fae, and I have come to take you away from this world. I have
traveled far to find you, and I will not give up easily." She took a
step back, trying desperately to comprehend what
he was telling her. Can it be true, how is it possible? It was only a
dream. But the name…Aidan…it sounded
so familiar... "How can I believe you? Give me some proof that you're
even there at all, that I'm not just
dreaming all this!" She waited, confused and scared, for his reply but
none came. And then, a gentle, yet
persistent urging close your eyes it said, and she obeyed.
At first she felt nothing, but then a soft, cool breeze began to float
around her and she could feel someone at her
side. Wispy tendrils of his hair, brushed against her face, causing her
to shiver slightly. She could feel his
garments moving against her thin nightgown. A gentle touch graced her
forehead, a hand, and it moved down
her face, tracing her eyes…her cheek…her mouth. She tried to pull away,
as fear began to overwhelm her
senses, but he refused to let her go. He pulled her closer to him and
she could feel his warm breath on her face.
A tingle of electricity, partly fear and partly excitement, shot through
her and her heart skipped a beat, as his
lips gently, but insistently pressed against her own. He wrapped his
strong arms firmly around her body, holding
her tightly to him. Leaning closer, he whispered softly, "Elly…I am as
real as you are…just believe it, don't
push it all away." She couldn't stand it any longer; she pulled back
fiercely and opened her eyes. Immediately, all
of her senses told her that he was gone. Looking out over the vast yard
that spanned before her, she felt lost…
confused… scared… but most of all, utterly alone.
Part III
"Aidan?" her voice shook, barely above a whisper. She waited a few
seconds, but there was no answer.
Voices, millions of insane voices began to fill her head. They were
taunting her, laughing at her. Foolish girl!
they said look at what you've done. They laughed cruelly at her as she
fell to the floor, holding her hands
over her head to block out the sound. Pulling her hands down, she yelled
with all of her strength, "Why are you
doing this to me !?!"
"Why did you pull away from me? I was never going to harm you!" She
looked up, bewildered, and very
surprised as his voice filled her ears once again. "What are you so
afraid of, Elly? What does your life have to
offer you, that forces you to shut out all possibility of finding
something more?"
She looked down at the floor, at her old nightgown, and turned her head
to look at her house. Memories
flooded her; memories of when she was a little girl and how she always
use to wish for a way to escape her life.
She saw memories of her drunken father - coming in the house late at
night, only to hit her mother and make her cry; memories of the
countless men who abused her - emotionally, physically, in every way
imagineable; and a wave of realization
washed over her. "Nothing… I have nothing here…" She looked away from
her house and shut out the painful
memories as a single tear began to travel down her cheek. "Don’t leave
me here… I don’t think I can take it
anymore."
"I won’t give up on you, Elly. But you've made it so much more
difficult. I need you to close your
eyes again. This time, do not pull away and do not look until I say it’s
all right. No matter what happens, you
must trust that I will lead you." She thought for a moment. Was this
really what she wanted? How could she
know if he was telling her the truth? She paused, no, if I don’t go
with him know, I’ll probably never get a
second chance…, "I'll do it…" she replied quickly, not allowing herself
even a moment of indecision. "Good,
now close your eyes." Her eyelids fluttered a moment, fear and anxiety
causing her to hesitate, finally - she
closed them.
A familiar breeze swept up around her, as she once again felt him
materialize beside her. She felt him grab her
hand firmly and sensed the electricity flowing between them. Slowly and
carefully he began pulling her towards
the edge of the porch. One step, turned into three, and three into nine,
and soon they were standing on the cool,
dew drenched grass. Her bare feet were sensitive to every rut and rock
as they walked; she knew this path, she
had walked it a million times over. He continued to lead her towards the
woods and the light from the moon
darkened as the trees began to enclose the narrow path. She never walked
in the woods at night; they
frightened her. Still, she kept her pace steady with his, knowing that
this was the only way for her to escape.
They walked in silence for what seemed like years. She knew that they
had to be deep in the woods by now;
she could feel the moonlight pouring over her uncovered skin and the
chill of the air in her bones. Shadows crawled over her closed eyelids
and a small tremor
shook her body. Sensing her distress, Aidan spoke softly "Don’t worry
so, we're almost there…just a little further now." For some reason, his
words calmed her, and she began to forget her anxiety. Finally, they
stopped.
She felt a soft covering of moss beneath her feet and could hear the
sound of water trickling gently nearby as a
light breeze ruffled her hair. The air was buzzing and almost seemed to
be humming with magick.
"You can open your eyes now, Elly." She was almost afraid to, for he was
no longer holding her hand and she
couldn’t feel him next to her. Looking around slowly, she gasped audibly
at what lay before her. The moss, the
brook, and the moonlight was all there like she had thought, but what
amazed her was what stood tall right
before her eyes, apparently floating upright in the air. It was a large,
silver-framed mirror that sparkled in the
moonlight. The frame was an intricate design covered with delicate
shapes that looked like fairies dancing and
all sorts of Celtic symbols and shapes that looked centuries old. But
what caught her eye most, was what she
saw inside the mirror. Instead of seeing herself standing there beside
the brook, she saw a tall, handsome man,
who looked as though he commanded respect and power. Immediately she
knew who it was. The wispy
tendrils of hair told her all she needed. The man that stood in her
place, in the mirror, was Aidan, King of the
Fae.
Part IV
"Aidan?" she asked cautiously, "what's going on?" He looked at her with
a serious expression across his face, a
stark contrast to his sparkling eyes. "Elly, please…you wouldn’t
understand, just believe what you see. Do you
remember when I told you that you were one person?" He waited as she
slowly nodded her head "That's what
this mirror is showing you, just as you are a part of me, I am a part of
you." Slowly, a vague understanding
began to form in her mind. "How can I reach you…?"
"That's the difficult part. You have to leave it all behind. There’s no
time for you to be afraid, to worry about who and what you’re leaving.
You have to
stop hanging on to your world and let go for once." She took a step back
as tears began to clog her
throat. Looking up at the mirror, into Aidan’s dark eyes, she had to
fight to maintain control of her voice. "I
don't think I can do that…" He too backed away as she spoke, an
emotionless mask covering his face, "…then
it's hopeless, this is the only way you can ever be free from your
nightmares." They stood there in silence for what seemed
like an eternity, looking at each other silently, when suddenly Elly
spoke up. "How…" she asked quietly "how
do I let go."
"There's only one way. Ignore your fears; let go of your hold on this
life, and step through the mirror." Her
head shot up as he spoke his last words. Her eyes were wide with
disbelief and fear. She desperately tried to
calm the voices in her head warning her to turn away before it was too
late. She watched as he extended his
hand in her direction and beckoned her to come to him. A fierce wind
started up all around her and the air
became icy cold as if it were trying to push her away. Hugging her arms
closer to her chest, she focused her
vision on the mirror’s surface. Step by excruciating step she made her
way towards it.
Soon she stood only inches from its glassy surface. In her frightened
haze, she hardly noticed the light snow that
had begun to fall around her. His hand was still stretched out to her
and his fingertips were only millimeters
away from her own. "Elly…don't give up now…" he begged her, as she
closed her eyes to drown out the fear
that was consuming her. "Reach out and take my hand, you're so close."
She opened her eyes again and drew
in a deep breath. Touching her fingers lightly to the mirror, she pushed
them slowly through the liquid glass. First
her fingers, then her arm and finally, closing her eyes, she stepped the
rest of the way through the glass. He
reached out, and pulled her to him as tears began to stream down her
face. Hiding her face in his chest, crying
away years of pain and unhappiness, she didn't notice as the snow flew
in a fury around them and the mirror
vanished.
When the snow and silver finally settled to the ground, two white doves
- wings tipped with silver and
eyes flashing, emerged and flew in a spiral towards the moonlit sky.
Before fading from view, a bright glow
began to surround their bodies and they disappeared in a blinding flash
of light.
