They had been lost on the road of undulating cobble stone for what could have been hours or years. The road was lined with trees; watched by a forest they daren’t go near. From the outside they saw only darkness. They did not entertain the possibility of canopy free light. Adventurous spirit was too costly. Adventures into the unknown cleaved hearts in two and stole the breath from your chest. A risk could herald defeat in battle. It could be bruised knees and swollen feet. The forest appeared too dangerous but their hope deteriorated as the road flatlined into the horizon ahead.

She stopped. Stepped once to the side and then twice and thrice before her feet were entirely free of stone. She stood between the trees; heart drumming in its cage to the beat of the wind. She stood and she waited.

He stopped too; feet planted in stone, letting the wind whistle between them as the sky darkened. She had been the calm before his storm and now she was removed, stood in the shelter of the trees. The heavens opened and she flung her arms open.

Rivulets of rain slid from brow to collarbone. Shirt sodden, shoes soaked and heart heavy, he ran. He ran to the thousand year old forest and the woman at its edge. The woman who had decided she didn’t want to make the bed unless one side belonged to him. She didn’t want to walk another step unless it was with him, in the shade of the trees they had long forgotten.

You see in a forest like this, people discover the tastes, smells and person they choose to call ‘Home’. Perfection doesn’t live here but Hope does. Each trunk is weather beaten and each leaf has fallen but that doesn’t stop the sun from shining or the storm from giving.

From the outside, Love is treacherous and unforgiving. But, if you take the time to wander a little, trace every lightning scar and curl into the arms flung open to you; you will learn Love is patient, Love is sturdy and it will wait for you, like a forest waits for Spring, to blossom and bloom.

© Kristiana Reed 2018

This was written for my Mum on her wedding day ❤