Heart Reaper

𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖑𝖔𝖌𝖚𝖊

     Once upon a time, there was a man and a woman who fell in love.  Everyone adored them, and they got everything they wanted.  They lived happily ever after in a small cottage deep in the woods.

Sounds perfect right?

Wrong.

Life is never that perfect.

     Sure the man loved the woman, and the woman felt the same for the man, but over time his love dimmed down, and there was a void in his heart.  He was pitiful.  Everyone could see it from his dull eyes to his slumped posture.  He was missing something; he was certain.  He wanted nothing more than to love.  He wanted to feel the flutter in his stomach, the fuzziness in his mind, and the trances only brought by being in love.  He was hopeless!  He hated himself for feeling this way.  He could see the disappointment in his wife's eyes.  The flame they once felt was gone. 

     So what did they do?  They decided to have a child.

   The woman got pregnant and had twins.  A boy and a girl.  They were the most beautiful creatures in the land.  Loved by everyone, and spoiled by everyone.  The man and the woman loved their children dearly and were delighted to open their cottage to the new addition to their family.

The woman was the happiest she had felt in years.

The same could not be said for the man.

     The children only filled that void slightly.  He was ashamed.  He was only twenty, why should he be feeling this way?  He tried to hide his emotions with fake smiles, but when the twins turned three he couldn't take it anymore.  He returned to the same shell he was before. The whole town could see the change in the man.  The young children could see something was wrong with their father, and even though they were young they felt it was their need to make him feel better. 

Not even the children could save the man.

He was infuriated! 

Why did he feel this way?

Why didn't the children help mend his heart back together?

     Every night he cried himself to sleep.  Every morning he woke up empty.  It was an endless cycle that continued to repeat for three months. His wife didn't know of course, for she was a heavy sleeper. As young as they were, his children knew something was wrong with their father as they seemed to be the only ones who noticed his red eyes that were always on the verge of tears. 

He went to a specialized doctor.

What was a doctor going to do?

What did the doctor do?

Gave suggestions. 

     The man was thankful of course, and though hesitant, went with the doctors' first suggestion.  He talked out his problems with his wife.  From the washed-out flame to the empty void in his heart. 

"I feel like we are more friends than lovers..." he said to his wife one evening as they were lying in bed.  The woman slowly turned to look at her husband.  "Am I not good enough?  Is it something I said before?  Why do you feel like this?"  she said with tears brimming her eyes.  The man sighed and turned his head towards the window.  As he stared out into the pale moonlight, he prepared himself for all of the emotions that could overtake his wife.  "Nothing is wrong with you Angela, you're perfect.  It's my fault I feel this way.  Over the years I've hated myself for feeling this way, and not being able to be the man I was when you first married me. For Christ's sake, we have kids Angela! Kids! I-I just don't understand it, what happened to make me feel this way?" he cried out shamefully. He couldn't help the endless tears that poured out of his eyes. He covered his eyes with his arms as he sobbed. He couldn't bear to look at his wife. 

No more words were said between the two. 

The days after were no different.

Only speaking to one another as required. 

The man decided to take on walking. 

     It was out of character for the man; he loved to stay at home.  He would walk into town, to the shops, to the stray dog house that oddly brought in cats ( he fed them daily), and finally into the forest.  The forest has two sides.  The bright and cheerful side, and the dark and eerie side.  The man never dared to walk through the dark side, he only walked along the edge.  The forest made him forget about his problems the most.  There was something about the sounds of nature that spread warmth throughout his body. 

     On one particular day, the man went on his daily stroll to the forest.  He greeted everyone along his path, paid respect to the dead in the cemetery, pet the stray dogs and cats that littered the streets, and bought some protective crystals from the store. The walk in the forest started like any other day. Lightly pressing his fingertips against the bark, he sighed deeply as the sun beamed down on his skin giving a radiant glow. Some stared in awe at the man. He was gorgeous. His eyes sparkled as he looked around, a faint smile still gracing his face. He was so awestruck by the beauty of the forest that he didn't realize he was nearing the dark side of the forest. By the time he realized the dramatic difference in setting, he was too deep into the dark side. He panicked and ran in different directions trying to find a way out.

There were whispers.

So many whispers.

He felt like he was being watched.

The man curses himself for his clumsiness as he stumbled over a log. Not knowing that there was a small hill behind it, he fell down the slope tearing his clothes and scraping his skin in the process. As he laid there looking in front of him he freezes. In the middle of the clearing was a dark figure. Chills crept up his spine as his heart beat violently in his chest. He tried to calm down his breathing so that the person wouldn't spot him.

There standing in the clearing was a 7ft dark figure that was the embodiment of every child's worst nightmare. They wore a long charcoal black robe with a hood over their head that shielded their face. The man was stuck in a trance. He briefly gasped at the dead body lying at the figure's feet. As he turned his eyes back to the figure he froze once more. 

The figure was looking right at him.

And oddly enough, the man didn't want to look away.