TAIM AM - 'possessive skin'

7.

Chapter Four: Imprecation

Amelia – Present

_

It was the laboured breath that forewarned me to the current, to the hands of the ones that caressed my soul – as they took hold of my quaking form and dragged me from the ground that I sought comfort in only moments ago.

_

Their furrowed palms – the ones that saw more than was thought of, for a life – were all that reminded me of the position I found myself in; cold and alone below the seeping sky as it cried for a much happier time than what it was permitted. They brought me to the realisation that, here, within the now, I was me – that I was Amelia – the girl upon the grounds gnarled grasp. Not those, the woman that bore the marks of those who wronged them, tarnished them with their obtrusive fingers that sought meaning to it all. A reasoning behind the actions – more than the life they lived. As the men who ailed them, wanted to claim more than they were granted – the one who spoke in gods tongue, and he who sought pleasure in the night. it was these men, that gripped them, and destroyed the paths they walked.

Yet now, here, I was reminded of the power of it all; the control I had.

It was I, who could choose to end it all, and it was I who could choose to live. Not them, the dominating force of those who overpowered us – me.

And with their hands upon my shoulders, I stood – claimed the height that for so long was stripped from us; stolen – and paved my way from which I came. Back to the cliffs edge.

_

It is there that I now stand, just staring into the formatted rocks below. Yet this time... this time I allow the weight of their lives to override the obtrusive nature of the man who waits for me, as I know, that with their strength; their lives, I can, and I will live.

For I am not them, I am more than... I am more than it all.