Embers of the Past

As with many stories, this one ends around a roaring fire; flames kissing the stars as the past is razed to the ground. And it all began with discontent... A creature of wanderlust who dared to long for more than what their corner of the world had to offer. After reading so many adventures, a voice in the back of his mind wondered why he couldn't have an adventure too.

So they ran away from Kansas, with newly opened eyes set on the City of Roses. But they couldn't have dreamed of the things that awaited them there. The stories had prepared them for the idea of obstacles, pitfalls, and distractions... However, nothing could have prepared them for the persecution. Many looked on and saw how he was trying to ask for more than he had; to become something greater than they could ever dream to be. They flung vile accusations, screamed "WITCH!" for all to hear.

Peasants and townsfolk collected their pitchforks and torches; rallying against the witch. Mothers hid children behind aprons and baskets whenever the creature strode past, terrified of what their children might learn if they beared witness to him. Lovers shouted bitter accusations; settling for joining the mob when their attempts to manipulate and control the creature failed. Even their family grew scared of the thing that was beyond their imagination... It was only a few close companions who could see the truth of it all that lay in the creature's fiery heart.

For years after, the creature hid away in their tower made of glass. Though safe here, locked away from the throngs of people circling below, the creature still struggled with the pain that coursed through their veins. Days in the tower stretched into months, and the loneliness echoed off its walls as the creature settled into this prison of discontent.

But then one day, as if awoken from a fearful sleep, the creature opened his eyes and no longer saw glass where the walls towered high overhead. In their place obsidian caught the light of a thousand candles and flickered as if a living wall of flame. The creature looked down from their tower and saw a torch-wielding mob far below, helplessly ramming against a door reinforced with steel. In anger, they flung rocks and pitchforks, but they only glanced off the slick walls of the tower. This awakening was a sign, and they knew it, they were afraid of it.

In that moment the creature realized that every time they'd crumbled they were building a foundation. Every time they thought they were broken they would pick themselves back up; head held high with plates of steel reinforcing their spine. They saw that every man who'd tried to use them, control them, contain them, were teaching them that love wasn't worth destroying yourself for, no matter how good it felt in the moment. They realized that no one can put you down unless you let them. So they vowed that day to never again let someone tear them down.

Instead, he cast them out with fire in his eyes as he lit the world ablaze. And as he watched; fingers pointed in accusation began to curl inward as they smoldered. Hearts of charcoal black were laid bare as skin melted away, and those who used to believe the creature the villain finally understood who the true villains were. Men and women cried out, begging for understanding, for forgiveness... But the cries fell of deaf ears, just as they had ignored his tear-soaked pleas for understanding and companionship. Families were torn apart, friends lost to each other forever...

Then, with the snap of his fingers, the creature was gone... Gone too was the carnage that had danced before the villagers' eyes; a mirage that was washed away with the first drops of rain. Mother embraced children, husbands and wives held each other close as everyone looked on at the now empty tower, a reminder of what cruelty can push a person to become.

No one has seen the creature since. But, to this day, rumors have swirled about the strange lands he has explored. Stories are traded in hushed whispers and private conversations. None will admit it aloud, but there are those who hope to lay eyes on him again someday, to know whether his eyes glow with the embers of what they all witnessed. The embers of a past that held him back until the day he razed it all to the ground.