Something to Believe In
Kassandra

         The dark, overcast skyshed no light on the earth below as it opened its greedy land to the thick drops of rain that fell upon it in ever-thickening drops. Stark silence enclosed the earth with a gentle grasp. Silverwhite light flashed off of each raindrop, reflecting an unending rainbow of colors into the dark air. A stiff wind blew across the plains, bending the grasses to its will, forcing them to submit. The air was cool and biting, digging into the skin with a dull grip and clutching with bony fingers of ice.
          She stood beneath the rain, her face turned to the sky, welcoming each raindrop to wash away her tears. Thick locks of auburn hair blew around her; startling forest green eyes stared out from a pale face, eyes that were bloodshot from crying, a face that was white from too much emotion. Her hands were gripped in front of her in bony fists; her nails cut into her palms and drew spots of crimson scarlet to fall upon the thirsty ground. Immobile, she stood upon the plains, watching the clouds slowly pass by, feeling the rain slowly start to ease. She wished that her tears would ease as the rain did, but knew it was not to be.
          Alone. A dark, harsh word; it rang through her skull with all the force of one of Quasimodo's bells, neverending and eternal. There was nothing left for her; there was nothing in the world but sorrow and a single word: alone. There was no hope; there were no fears; there was no life and therefore, no death. There was nothing but sorrow and pain and a single word echoing madly in her head: Alone. She was searching, searching in a world where everything has already been found except for what mattered to her. She was searching in a world where she was outcast and had no hopes of finding the object of her desperate quest. It was a world without belief; without faith. There was neither trust nor mistrust. There was only one moment stretched into an eternity of time and a single word that echoed, echoed: Alone. 
          There was one thing from this moment that she desired, this moment of eternity. There was one thing she wished it would give her; she would cease to care if she were alone if only...if only...if only. In a world where she had nothing, she wanted something that no one else could ever have; her fear, a fear that no one in this world of emotionless thought could share, was that she would never believe. What is there to believe in? she had been asked, and always, calmly, implacably, she answered the same: Everything. A hollow eternity without nothing awaited her past this moment; not wishing to lose it, she stood, statue-like, in a bleak plainsland of falling water and waited.
          What did she wait for? Not even she knew; she was simply waiting for what would come. Fiery feeling spread through her body; she was burning beneath the frigid clutch of the wind and the rain and the clouds. Fierce tears ran down her cheeks as silently, wordlessly, she called out to the everything for which she searched. Show me. Show her, teach her, make her believe; take her into the folds of everything and never let her go. Make her believe.
          The rain fell harder; the downpour grew thick as the clouds descended, cloaking the plains in dreary gray fog. The icy touch upon her grew stronger and the fire in her veins slowly died beneath the heat of reality. It couldn't be happening; it wasn't happening. In her heart, she knew the eternal moment was gone. Still she stood, unwilling to let go, unwilling to turn her back on the mists before her and to return to the cold society of fearless, hopeless, heartless irrationality that was reality. The wind blew stronger, the fog grew thicker, the rain fell harder, yet still she stood, her spirit reaching out for the endless moment which she had lost. Gone away; gone behind; gone ahead. The moment was gone.
          With a last, heart-rending sob, she turned away, the tears locked within her breast for the rest of time. Accept it: Alone. Accept it: Return. Accept it: Let it go. It slid from her slowly, reluctantly; perhaps everything was an illusion which she had created for herself. Each movement was more difficult than the last; the fog held her tightly within its heartless grasp. She paused to glance back behind her, and her eyes seemed to see a thousand pinpricks of dazzling purple-blue light. Still with amazement, her green eyes watched as the light approached her, cutting through the mist as a beacon in the night, grasping her within its own calm eternities. Laughter filled the air, calm, quiet, full of hope and fear and life and death. Soft whispers without voices floated on the gentling breeze; faces without voices peered at her with shy smiles. Laughter escaped her lips, mingling with the crystal tones around her; music seemed to course through her soul and lift her spirit. Quiet light pierced the darkness with a more radiant glow as a thousand hands touched her body and gentle, kindly murmurs floated to her. Believe. 
          "Take me with you..." she whispered to the thousand voices, her voice filled with desperate pleading...

          The dark, overcast sky sheds no light on the earth below as it opens its greedy land to the thick drops of rain that fall upon it in ever-thickening drops. Stark silence encloses the earth with a gentle grasp. Silverwhite light flashes off of each raindrop, reflecting an unending rainbow of colors into the dark air. A stiff wind blows across the plains, bending the grasses to its will, forcing them to submit. The air is cool and biting, digging into the sky with a dull grip and clutching with bony fingers of ice.
          Sometimes, when I stand here at night and turn my face up to the sky, letting my tears fall to the earth in silent drops, I can feel the laughter echoing from Avalon, and I can feel the touch of the faeries. She is gone; she left me here -- alone. But she gave me that which she most desired, and I am forever grateful.
          Believe; if we do not, then who will?