Confessions

Hand in hand. Eye to eye. Heart to heart. We used to walk this sidewalk together.

Interestingly enough, this sidewalk was one that I oft-traversed alone. It was my solitary sanctuary. A place that I could call my own. I could feel, with every step, the journies of those before me. They had experienced the cracks, the tense pounding beneath their feet, and the safety of consistency that it gave them. I was alone, yes, but I was not the first to walk this singularly.

Then you came along.

Luckily for us, well, for me, this sidewalk was big enough for us to walk side by side. You found me on what seemed like a plateau. For many years I felt as if the sidewalk had been resting on an incline but you gave me rest.

You gave me strength.

We walked along this path enjoying the scenery before us. The beautiful, orange trees cast a brilliant glow against the dying countryside. The cool, brisk air gave us a refreshing breath but we all knew winter was coming. Regardless, we would face it together.

And oh, how it came.

Grey skies flitted between white and black. The snow gave an effervescent dynamic to the otherwise muddled air. I didn’t think we would make it. The brutal wind nipped at our faces. The ice froze to our weak bodies and forced us to our knees.

The tears didn’t come. I tried lifting you up. You tried for me, as well. We decided to hunker down and weather the storm. We had no other choice.

What I didn’t realize was that our paths were slowly drifting.

The snow covered it up. I didn’t see it. Or maybe I did? Maybe I didn’t want it to be so. We hadn’t been together long but we had been through a lot.

I couldn’t stop the ice from forming over our hearts, this sidewalk. I tried. I built a fire but the bitter cold suffocated it. I couldn’t do anything. It was as if all had been lost.

I fell into a deep sleep.

It couldn’t have been long but I woke up to green pastures, birds singing, and leaves on the tree.

You were gone.

I searched frantically. Wondered out loud. Screamed for this to be a joke.

It wasn’t.

I ran back, hoping that you had only gotten lost or turned the wrong direction. You weren’t there either. What I did see was a steady, gradual forming of two separate paths.

I traced it and sure enough, the other path led away from mine.

I stopped, face in my hands, and I cried.

You were gone.

Now I walk this sidewalk alone.

 

This topic provided for by the Daily Post’s Daily Prompt Word: Sidewalk