Whispers in the Dark

Some conversations happen only in the mind, and cannot be spoken.

In the benighted shadows, a whisper: "I'm afraid… It's so dark, and I am alone." A chuckle. "Shh. You are not alone. I am with you." A trembling hand reaches out, pale in the darkness, seeking reassurance, and is taken up and held.

"Why are you trembling..?"

"I am afraid you will leave me alone in the dark. I've changed. I was only halfway living before you came to me, and now I cannot go back to the person I was. Don't leave me here in the dark."

"Surely after all this, you are not afraid of the dark."

"It is not the darkness I fear, but who I become in the darkness. You are my angel. When you are here with me, I remember light and laughter and life. Without you, it swallows me alive." A hand rises, stroking a smooth cheek.

"Why do you shudder at my touch? Are you so afraid of me still..?"

"I am afraid of myself. I hardly know myself anymore. Your touch, your kisses, have awakened feelings that leave me twisted inside, wracked with longing and fear, desire and doubt. I want to trust you, give my soul to your keeping, my heart to your breast – but I am afraid. I would surrender to you, yet I do not want to be a prisoner…"

Voice breaking, one tear tracks gently down porcelain skin, to be touched gently away with a graceful hand, a shake of the head.

"No, Erik. You will never be my prisoner."

AMH
30 March 2005