The sound of a gentle river flowing, the rustling of leaves caused by the wind caressing my cheeks, the songs of the birds harmonizing into one beautiful symphony…
"Do you see?…"
She said. Trailing off as if to prove a point.
It wasn't a question, but rather a statement.
The voice knew, she knew right there while standing next to me.
She was so sure of herself, so sure that I saw she wanted me to see, that I would have been undeniably irritated under any other circumstances.
"I do."
I replied with conviction. Conviction and certainty that found form in an unfamiliarly childlike voice.
Standing at the edge of an indescribably massive green mountain, my bare feet were touching the verdant grass as I faced perhaps the most beautiful scenery I had never seen, and never would have.
A lush, green landscape. Trees taller than I had ever witnessed faced the morning sun as they stretched out into the horizon. Various sizes of blurs weaved through the infinite forest backed by a choir of chirps and trills.
"What do you see, then?"
The long strands of my hair rustled through the grass like millions of snakes as I turned to face this woman.
It would be more accurate to say that I looked up instead, since the face of this woman was roughly 50 stories higher than where I was.
A giant.
Exuding an undeniably regal and oppressive presence even while she was seated, leaning against an equally massive tree.
The only thing that could be considered an article of clothing on this giant was the pure white blindfold that covered her eyes. Though it was no help of hiding the fact that she was nothing less than a mesmerizing beauty, the kind kingdoms would fall for.
"I see life."
I responded calmly.
Her dainty, pale hand covered her mouth as she let out a sonorous giggle. An intense hurricane blowing the seemingly infinite length of my hair through the sky like a line of pitch black ink slashed into the beautiful blue canvas
In the seconds that followed, all commotion in the forest ceased.
The birds fell silent, the wind grinded to a halt, even the river could not be heard anymore…
"What do you see?"
I interrupted her laugh with my perhaps stupidly ironic question.
My hair fell to the ground. The hurricane disappeared.
She slowly put her hand back to her side to support her weight.
The lighthearted smile on her face turned equally bitter.
Two distinct wet spots appeared on her pure blindfold.
Crack!
The ground cracked under her weight as she stood up, facing the rising sun with the bearing of a soldier marching the road to death.
The atmosphere turned still, time froze.
And then she spoke once more, with that same annoying certainty.
"I see death, little hero."
.
.
.
I opened my eyes.
A sight familiar to me in more ways than one was laid bare in front of me.
Only this time, the sky was purple.
The horizon was no more, all that welcomed me was that same sight of untold gore reaching as far as the eye could see.
Standing at the peak of this indescribably massive mountain of corpses, the only sound I heard was of my own breathing.
No more were the birds, the wind, and the river.
I looked.
I looked from the same spot she had, from the height of a child.
And I finally saw death…
73,060
73,061
73,062
Squelch!
….Then I started my descent. Again.
Tiny steps that followed after each other met the long dead with utter conviction.
I walked with care, this time. With respect, perhaps.
Drops of tears would often flow along my cheeks.
I didn't understand why. Yet it happened anyway.
My hair, a whole meter long, drifted the ground with me, getting more and more bloodied every step of the way down to a place worse than hell.