Many painful miles of path still to tread down. I will not close my eyes and the drowsiness never comes. I just continue shuffling forward, onward towards the end of something that I cannot comprehend at the current time. It is forever just outside my field of conscious vision, but it's there somewhere. This reason I keep on moving forward. It is in the shadow just beyond the trees that line this path. All covered in ash and embers that continue to rain down forever all around me. The crows in the trees vocalize in a way that sounds like a warning and a threat all at once. Their eyes, full of a fire that I cannot place that is black in color, not the normal colors of flame. It is more intense and they seem grim as they eyeball me walking past. How many of these crows have I seen? Are they the same ones from the first tree I came across? Just forever materializing into the next set of trees as I pass? I am not sure of much of anything at this point. Just the insane and driving thought to keep moving forward. Somewhere I know the answer can be shown to me finally. I just don't know what, when or how any of this will come to pass. It must end some time surely? "Take another step. Take another. Keep moving damn it." I can't stop thinking in that circle but I'm able to partition some of my thought process to wonder about these concerns I'm voicing in my head right now as well. An equal and worry filled line of logical questions with no answers. Somehow, I'm not panicking or angry about this either. Just a slight sense of dread and severe pain. My limbs, my torso and my head all swimming in pain and worry. I just hope this journey ends soon. The ash and embers are starting to scar my skin where it is bare and it's beginning to do damage to my clothing too. Little burn holes are starting to form. I wonder if it will hurt worse and worse if this ashy fire rain continues? "Shut up. Keep moving and maybe we'll find out. Just keep walking." Have I mentioned how tired I am?
