Once upon the midnight gray....

A young voice whispered "Would you like to play?"

startled, I spin, looking for the source of this discourse....

Into the darkness I look, but I get nothing in return, except the strain on my eyes.

The voice issues once again from the faded landscape..."Won't you play with me tonight...."

Again, I search, for this soulful voice. "I will" I say. "But first tell me who you are"

"Alas, you do not remember the sound of my voice?...tis I...your love...Lady Gabrielle...."

"But no, it cannot be. You are dead, my dear"

"But alas...my love...at rest I am not...won't you come to me..." I whispered, my cold breath upon his ear, yet I remain invisible to him still....

I froze, still as stone. "How shall I come to you? That, I do not know..."

I shift myself into his sight..."Come, my love...come this way..." I reach out my ghostly hand to him and beckon him to follow after,...into the deep, dark woods that await...

I hold out my hand, reaching for her own, feeling her cool, icy touch upon mine. And I let her spirit guide me into the deep, dark woods of the unknown...

"Come my love...let us find our fate..." I whispered,...the haze of my manifesting spirit the only light by which to follow into the darkened hollow nestled between the somber hills...

"Yes, my dear" I say, following my beloved, into the darkest, mist enclosed part of the woods where our fate is to be held. I feel a warmth fill my heart and my soul, a warmth that is familiar. The warmth of the love which I once lost...

The night's touch is a lover's touch,...caressing my shivering body as I follow my love to the dark heart of the woods...the warmth of care and grace of her presence fills me...encases my soul...it breaths forth new courage in me as my fevered brain exclaims desperately for me to turn back...to turn away...

But I cannot turn away, I cannot hide. This touch of love, this feeling of courage…It is something that I have not felt in many, many years. Only my beloved...my true and only soul mate, can lift this doubt from heart. So I continue to follow my love, and fill my broken body with this warmth.

Even as my will slips away...my body and soul succumbing to the will of the presence that waits in the depthless dark fathoms of the unknown, unseen places of the night,...I know now that I will follow my love into the very tar-dark, pits of Hell...the licking flames hold no fear for me, for my love holds my soul in the palm of her ethereal hand...and never shall I falter on my path when she lights the way...

So I dreamlessly acknowledge the magical essence of my loves lighting path, and although I let her lead my way to the forthcoming realm of Hell, I know that in the presence of my beloved, it will feel like an eternal heaven, and that my soul will be safe in her hands...

For the damned are never so truly damned as when they are caught in the rapture and bliss they find in the enveloping womb of love... But for love, they will forsake the light...but for love they will offer up their immortal soul without thought of the terrible price they must pay for their transgression of God's domain...

When you look deep into the eyes of the one who is willing to give up their soul, to give up their very existence on Earth they have known for so long, and give it all up for the one they forever love...You know that when that very one person is you...That you are someone special, someone who is truly blessed...

In the reeking, terror soaked depths of Hell...her love maintains me, renews me...the pain and horror of my surroundings...the abject torture visited upon me daily...all these things scarcely touch me...they are fleeting...ephemeral...they cannot hold a candle to the blaze of love within me....as thus I became the one soul in Hell to remember love.... both confounding and fascinating to the Keepers of the Realm...They cannot reconcile my stubborn heart to their way of thinking...and so reject me and my darling love...my Gabrielle...back into the world of men....for I am a Sinner...and my love a newly corporeal being...

The love that is within me...burning inside my heart, is much like the fuel to the burning hot flames which emerge me in hell...These flames I cannot put out, this torture I cannot stop...but this love that I hold strong and forever inside...keeps pounding my heart and this feeling, it cannot die...
So the keepers of the realm...They have not seen such power, they have not seen such a beautiful thing...even so visible to the most vile and dead frightening people in the pits of hell...
So my Gabrielle...you are the only key that can release me from this darkest, most painful pit of Hell...

Thrown from the breaking madness of the spiteful, licking flames of Hell,... My Gabrielle and I too enraptured by love to tear down, we are cast out into the world of men, our souls saved by one another from the spiraling madness of the rotten bowels of Hell, we walk the Earthly realms again...Sinners now uncondemned from the dark...

Again, I walk the world of men...I feel the grass between my toes...I feel the wind on my fair, light cold skin...and once more I am united with my beloved...the presence of love, much greater than any other...her touch on my cool lips...as we kiss, ever so slightly...moving in rhythm...as we once again become one...

Our hearts thrum in syncopated rhythm with one another beneath our breast, whispering a song with no words to each other...there is no need for words...I stroke the silken softness of my loves fair hair, the gentle curve of her cheek...her eyes, the eyes I have held in my mind's eyes, gaze up to me in adoration...my body feels as though it is floating, the lofty height a sensation brought on by even the lightest touch of her delicate fingers on my lips..."My love for you has weathered the depths and damnations of Hell...I will be yours eternally if you will but have me, my love..." I whisper to her, my brow resting

I slowly and dreamingly raise my eyes to meet my love...his eyes full of light which behold our future...a future which is hopeful and long...where we will finally meet our destiny...together...
"Of course I will have you...forever and ever...Our beautifully strong love for each other has brought me back...because of you....we are together..." I whisper back...magic filling the air...as I run my fingers across his gentle, soft lips...

I tuck my finger gently under her chin, raising it just a little, I encircle her waist gently and lift her to the tips of her toes, bringing her closer to me, I lean in and kiss her tender lips...all my love I give to her in that kiss...everything I am, I bequeath to her...a vow made binding by my lips upon hers..."Then I am yours my love, forever yours...there is nothing that could keep me from you, nothing I won't do for you...I am bound, mind, body, and soul to you...and this vow I sealed with my kiss..."...I feel the tingling touch of the wonder and awe of our love dance over my skin...true magic...magic of that is vibrantly beautiful in its many shades and depths...all the colors that grace our world with their presence...swirling with maddening clarity and meaning in the air around our intertwined bodies...