A Place I’ve Been Before

𓂃✍︎ Lunastra

I’ve seen this place before.

A place buried deep beneath the Earth, with rubble scattered across the cracked pavement. No sound of cars passing through the busy neighborhood. No sunlight exists in this hollowed hall — not even the cries of your neighbor’s children.

No presence of life.

Funny, I breathed the dusty air. I could hear the thumping of my gasping heart — my head aching in migraine, my eyes searching for light in the darkness. Searching for an exit.

I swear there was no life.

I had been buried deep down. Alone and scared, I cried my heart out in complete despair. My thoughts were nowhere, my body numb. I had felt everything to feel nothing.

Then I felt water above me — drenching my ragged clothes, the only thing that covered me from the dirt surrounding me. I touched the soil above, softened by the rain, and it crumbled, falling all over my nearly lifeless body.

I felt the rain pouring. It filled the hole with muddy water, allowing me to swim upward. I crawled and pulled myself up — out from the hole I had fallen into. I heard the roaring thunder and the howling winds. The rain grew stronger and stronger, but I stood still, as if my feet were glued to the ground.

I looked around, and there — past the tall mountains and the dark, rainy clouds — I raised my hand, trying to touch it, as if it were within my reach. I laughed as I saw the rainbow and the bright sun.

And from where I stood, I’d rather be where I was looking.

So I dragged my feet and forced myself to walk, to reach that sunny place. Not minding my lungs begging for air. Not minding my bruised legs or my aching head. My body grew heavy — heavier as I got closer — but I never took my eyes away from the lovely sight. I never looked away, and I kept dragging myself all the way.

And when I reached the place, I sighed.

I’ve been to this place before. It’s still the same — but who I am has changed.