Bloom
Quaint and peaceful, are the words which come to mind. A cottage a bit further up the hills from the rest overlooking the small yet lively township now becoming subtly submerged by the smoldering rays of dawn, washing this image in a deep carmine tint... even that grand pale tree painted in an unreal ethereal red, reflecting those few shimmers before the unavoidable nightfall, I can hear it, even from here at the porch of what can be my new home, it is humming, it's ancient incomprehensible voice lowered down into inviting tunes tugging against my beating heart.
"Don't you want to come inside?" Agatha... these feelings of mine, it's strange, like I'm torn shackled between three forces calling for me, freezing my steps, it's almost too much... paralyzed at the cusp of something, something, irrevocable?
"What is it?" These soothing words, her soft, kind hands laying rest upon my shoulders, radiating with a calming aura, will she be able to understand if I try to put this discord into words?
("It is weird. I'm happy, excited, tired, sad, and scared, all at the same time like I'm torn between several great torrents") Her eyes, blue and clear, taking it all in, her lips are curling into a smile, her hands journeying past my shoulders, connecting in a deep embrace.
"I understand, it's chaotic, you feel like you've had no choice in where you get taken or what happens, and now that you can finally do something, to feel safe and still on your own two legs, yet there's the uncertainty, the frightening notion of chaos sweeping you away yet again." That's it... I'm frightened, I take this step, letting myself feel safe and happy just for it all to be ripped away. These tremors, pulsing from my core, spreading from the tip of my toes to the top of my head, my heart trembling, choking my breaths halfway... the beautiful image in front growing blurry, this unmistakable taste dripping over my lips dousing them in bitter saltiness... if it comes to that... no, I don't even want to think about it.
It was only a few moments, but they felt so long, healing, just like the past few weeks, the rest beyond that before I got ushered into my new rooms all a blur, it's open, the bed draped in smooth linen, or is it perhaps silk? Is placed right beside a grand window hung with blue curtains if I desire privacy from the outside world, but now it's more than just a gap revealing the sky above, it's an eye spying out on this silent village cast under the enchantment of a starry night. I'm alone again now, but yet I'm accompanied by the quiet whistles of wind and the steps behind these wooden walls signaling the end of a long day, when I ran away that night, did I ever think I'd be able to live like this? To witness such beauty just beyond my fingertips? No, within the panic I didn't really think at all except for those intruding visions, visions of a lake and heather rusted with the blood of dozens, and... I should probably go to sleep, if I keep recalling that moment I'm not sure what will happen, on another note that child, Lazarus was it? I wonder what happened to him.
A cold press, envelops every inch of my body, pushing me downwards into an unseen abyss slowly elevating, behind my back there's the moisture and poking of numerous flower stems, it feels like it at least, a faint breeze whisking over my face carrying a familiar floral scent, if I open my eyes right now will I be able to see what I think I'll see? Well... here goes nothing! It is! A wavy scape of hills bathed in the color purple from its numerous spurts and mantles now submerged in the same magnificent moonlight as Ashwood, Alchemilla... Cobbled roads sprawling through a township of wood, stone, and metal, now laying silent from the hilltop I find myself on... yet there is something, not a sound, not a scent, not a light, but a pull, drawing me down from this hill towards the hushed houses in this town below these numerous hills, if I'm to turn around now for a moment will I be able to spy Arthur's clinic in the distance? Yes, it's right there looking like a miniature construct barely peeking forth from the numerous mounds between there and here.
This draw is guiding me down these empty soundless streets, the only noise permeating from the air's, distant cries of owls and other nocturnal avians. Pathing further down there's a line of homes standing in line so close that the walls are almost merging together at their ends, but, one of them stands lit up, a flickering beam of living light piercing through its closed window, this tug, it is definitely leading me here, but for what? Could it be, I wondered right? Was that enough to bring me here? Arthur did mention that if I wished for it I could see, if I spy through this window will I be able to lay my eyes on that ill boy? Just like when the longing for Harry got overwhelming and I got to briefly see him again, is it a similar thing now?
Chilled stones pressing against my toes my fingers are wrapped around a coarse wooden frame, splinters almost digging themselves beneath my nails, yet all I can sense is my heart beating rapidly giving spread to an unprecedented sense of warmth pulsing with every throb... He's there, that dying boy, no longer pale with defeated bloodshot eyes, no longer shivering like his next breath could be his last, his eyes are grinning just as much as his lips, his skin radiating with a healthy flush as he's sitting around the dinner table with his family, everyone looking over the moon, cherishing every passing moment, that light from that time, the one which enveloped both of us did it cause this miracle? Did I... was I finally able to truly help someone? Was I truly able to gift him with the time to bloom?