Su Yee Htun, Period 7, 2/15/22

 Youth

    The night sky loomed above a frail girl. Her legs ached from her journey. She walked along the roots of the trees that are gnarled and twisted among one another. The soft grass felt cool beneath her worn feet as the moon lit up the ground through the leaves above her. Has it been months? Has it been years? She doesn’t remember when she entered the forest but she thinks she is around eighteen years old by now. 

She stopped for a moment and sighed. She felt like giving up as she felt her face heat up as tears welled up in her eyes. She leaned against a nearby tree and collected her thoughts. She didn’t understand the purpose of this journey. She thought it was long and pointless, with no clear end in sight. All her days are filled with progressing towards the other side of the forest. She doesn’t even know if she is going in the right direction, she just keeps moving forward, wherever forward is. The “path” she walked on wasn’t so much a path as it was wherever the roots of the trees didn’t block. Countless times she has doubted herself. Asking herself if it was the right way or if she had somehow gone in circles. When she first entered the forest, she felt prepared. She didn’t fear the forest or even think about how difficult or long the journey would be. But soon, the motivation faded. Her doubts soon turned into antagonistic remarks about herself. Nitpicking every decision she has made. Regretting some of her choices. She often felt helpless. What's a girl to do when all she can do is nothing. She wished she could go back to the time before she entered the forest. When she was happier. 

She got off the tree and started to walk again. After walking for a while a particularly gnarled root caught the edge of her foot and she fell. The cool grass is now beneath her whole body, with her face feeling most of the coldness. She lay there, feeling the sensation of the grass. Her face heated up again and a few teardrops fell onto the ground, leaving droplets that resembled morning dew on the grass. She curled up on the ground, bringing her legs and arms to her chest. Her heart felt like it was being wrung like a towel and her throat felt dry with despair. 

    Once she calmed down, she slowly got back up. She sighed again and once again set off to continue her lonely journey towards the happiness and fulfillment she was promised, towards adulthood.