My bones feel like they are about to collapse.
My muscles ache,
One more movement is impossible.
My feet drag in the mud,
Creating deep scars,
An imprint of my existence.
The sun burns my pale porcelain skin.
Its light overpowers my eyes,
Obscures my path,
With a blinding white.

There is a town waiting for me ,
At the end of my journey.
I cannot see it right now.
Its elusive in nature.
It shifts from place to place.
No remnants of its existence.
Yet I am sure it exists.
What other reason would I have for travelling?
Other people talk of it.

They talk of the children playing in the waist length grass.
They run and climb,
It does not inhibit their movements but spurs them on.
The chorus of their laughter can be heard for miles.
They talk of the cherry blossoms,
which fall from the trees like eternal snow.
It compliments the vibrant magenta of the flowers dotted around the field.
They talk of birds which sit in the trees and sing in a perfectly synchronised euphony.
The trees provide a cool shade and a place to nap.
The sun is warm and endearing.
The light illuminates the colours around you.

My knees are shaking.
I am lying on the dirt ground of a desolate, wasteland.
It is soft and beckons me to rest.
I close my eyes and allow the black void to engulf me.
I allow myself to fall into the black hole.
The gravity is crushing my spine.
light is swallowed up by the invisible break in space.
I am in a bottomless abyss and I am too heavy to escape.

Someone yanks me up.
They throw me a rope and drag me up.
"Are you alright?" She asks.
I nod in a half-stupefied fashion waiting for the world to stop spinning.
More and more people materialise their chatter the background noise of their universe.
I turn back to the girl.
Her mouth makes some strange shapes I cannot decipher.
Her face contorts and twist.

The ends of her lips elevate.
She opens he mouth.
Laughter.
Loud, high pitched laughter.
Laughter that says careless joy.
I reach up and touch my face.
My cold finger feel my soft warm lips.
Their shape has changed.
It has been a while.

I laugh until my stomach hurts
And my cheeks feel numb.
Tears stream from my eyes.
My voice sounds different,
At first it is quiet and horse.
I choke on my words.
As I continue to talk it grows,
Louder,
Warm,
Confident.

I follow them.
We chatter,
The ensemble of our voices harmonise into a melody.
They act as chords in a symphony.

The land around us has transformed,
Into a fertile field of lush grass.
A river flows peacefully into the distance.
The moss feels cool on my feet.
The light dances through the trees,
As they sway gently in the wind,
Which feels cool on my face.

I continue to follow them,
Walking, talking, laughing,
And occasionally leading,
Into the unknown distance.