Juxtaposition

by: ellyse the silent

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jux·ta·po·si·tion n jùkstəpə zísh'n : two or more things placed together to emphasize the contrast between them or suggest a link between them

(- definition paraphrased from MSN Encarta Premium Dictionary)

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Prologue:

He was running - or more like flying since he was moving so fast his feet seemed to barely touch the ground. But he could feel his muscles begin to burn, and his chest begin to ache. How long had he been running...? Well... not very long, but far; farther and faster than he had ever gone before. It was freedom, and it felt so good.

Up ahead the expanse of green meadow stretched out before him. A black smudge that grew each second was the edge of the forest, and the beginning of a new life.

"Hang on..." he gasped to himself, and staggered to a halt to rest his hands on his knees and catch his breath. He couldn't stop now... not when he was so close... not when he wasn't being followed or pursued, not when he was out of his cage.

He was still thinking like a prisoner... telling himself not to stop, because there were always people watching him. But he was alone now... he could do whatever he wanted! And that meant he could stop for a breath of air if he felt like it! He was his own master now. "The end of this slavery and the beginning of freedom." He whispered.

After a few more minutes of catching the air in his lungs and massaging the stitch in his side, he set off again with a few quick glances around him. Then he was running, still barely recovered from the last lap, but he was determined to put as much distance between him and his old life as he could.

His lungs were burning by the time he reached the forest, and he was drawing in such ragged breaths that it was all he could hear for a time. But here was the forest before him, a black wall like stretch of trees that spread as far on either side as he could see. He knew that there was land beyond this forest, new land for a new life.

"From the unreal lead me to the real; from the darkness lead me to the light; from the shadowdeath lead me to immortality." He whispered. He didn't remember where he had learned that prayer but he said it often; it was comforting in an odd way.

A sharp pain in his side startled him. His big golden eyes looked up and met the dark ones of his former master.

"Where are you going?" He sneered.

(A/N: This is a rather experimental project. Ifyou like it and want me to continue please review. Thanks.)