Madison's Willow

The Willow

It is dark. I can hear the wind howling through the trees as it comes to greet me. But I keep on walking. I don’t know where I’m at or where I’m going, but my feet continue moving. Trying to stop is impossible. It’s like someone is dragging me away. Leaving the land I found myself in, I enter a forest. The trees are full of sharp branches that catch on to the lacy white dress that I am wearing. As if the trees could move themselves, the wind rustles the few leaves that remain as they close the opening that I entered from and stand still once again. The branches continue to grab for my dress. Tearing the thin fabric into shreds and ripping my skin to form small beads of blood. My bare feet step on hard pieces of stone and stumble over the old roots of the dead trees. I fight to stop moving but to no avail. I try to lift my arms to my face to brush away the dirt that’s rests on it but they stay at my sides. 

Stop fighting. This is how it supposed to happen. You can’t fight. Someone tells me. 

I can see a faint light in my vision: an opening out of the forest. The trees get thinner and I can see the musky grey sky above me. A few yards away from the opening is a willow tree. The large roots connect to a thick trunk and continue upwards into the dull sky. Its delicate branches dip down and touch the frozen ground. The leaves sway in the wind and whisper inaudible murmurs. I get closer to the tree and stop in front of it. The branches welcome me as I walk closer to the dark trunk. I closely examine the deeps cuts of the bark and see markings. I step backwards to see it better. The marking form a name. Madison. I gasp and stumble back but something stops me from falling and inches me closer to tree. There are more markings on the tree. It seems to form another name. M-A-. I look closer. The rest of the word has been violently scratched off. 

I move to the opposite side of tree. The lonely tree sways in the soft breeze. On the other side, I see a mirror hanging off a rusty brown nail. It has the letters MR engraved into the soft wood. Madison Rivers. The mirror is small and dirty with soil but I can still see myself in the reflection. My thick brown hair falls around my face and piercing grey-washed blue eyes stare back at me. The reflection starts to waver and change. My hair becomes black and my eyes a dark brown. The reflection smiles and focuses on me, then screams. 

I step back from the willow tree, turn around, and run away from the willow tree. The memory of the reflection is printed onto the backs of my eyes. Cold drops of sweat form on my forehead as the picture of the reflection forms in my mind. It yells at me. 

This is my tree! Stay away from my tree! 

My bare feet turn cold as they touch frozen dirt. I exit the dark forest into a large clearing. The wind now sits still and lets go of my hair. I can see the musky grey sky cutting through the horizon. In front of me, I see a cliff. Its steep edge is covered in sharp stones. I don’t know where I am but I somehow know what is down below. Water. I can sense it. Unsteady and cold as it crashes in foamy waves onto the jagged rocks at the bottom of the cliff. I will myself to stop, but my feet won’t stop moving closer to the edge. Thirty feet. Twenty-five. I’m trying to imagine good thoughts but none seem to come in mind. All I can think of is what my fate will be and to keep walking. Ten feet. I can feel myself crying although I am unable to make any noise or move my hands to wipe them away. So this is how it ends. I think to myself. Being forced off a cliff. I manage to force a slight smile although it burns to push against the overpowering force. At least it’s a pretty original death. 

My feet stop at the edge of the rocky cliff. It is at least a five-story drop. Being so high up, I can still feel the slight mist of the salty water as the waves continuously crash onto the rocks below. My tears fall off my chin onto the cold ground. I suddenly get angry. I fight to push my voice up to my throat, resisting the overwhelming pressure that is holding it down. I burst out a yell to the power that controls me. “Well? What are you waiting for?” I yell into the open air as the wind starts to pick up again, pushing my voice into the darkened sky. “Finish me!” I feel myself start to lean towards the edge. I get louder and yell the words that are possibly my last. “Do it!”

“Madison!”

I stop. No. The force controlling me abruptly stops me from falling and turns me around. The wind covers my face with strands of loose hair. For a second, I feel like I see a smile spread across an invisible face in the depths of my mind. The wind pushes my hair back and I can now see the tall figure of a boy running towards me. His arms are red from the branches of the forest and his hair all tangled up. He sprints in my direction, gaining speed.

“Madison!” he yells. I recognize the familiar voice. I can see his lightly tanned skin and light brown eyes focused on one thing. Me. He is getting closer. I try to run towards him but the force holds me down. He’s going to save me. I yell in my mind to my controller. In the wind I hear a faint chuckle but it blows away before I can recognize who it belongs to. He is going to save me. He is only thirty feet away from me. Twenty. Then he stops. His face covers in fear. He tries to call my name but he can’t. He can’t move. The wind gets louder, yelling in my ear. I can’t hear him anymore. Thousands of voices travel in the wind and I can’t hear what they are all saying. 

A static feel charges the air. I’m attempting to call his name, crying a constant line of tears. I can’t reach him, touch him one last time. Suddenly, the sky fills with light and a bolt of lightning strikes the willow tree in the background. It burst into flames. Voices scream in the wind. I move my eyes off the tree and stare at him. He turns his head towards and faces me. He looks worn down and old. I cry out to him but all he can see is my lips moving. He shakes his head He can’t hear me. I moan in agony as my tears cover my eyesight of him. I can barely see him but I can see him close his eyes. The sky then booms with the sound of thunder and then it turns bright as another bolt of lightning hits the ground. And him.

“No!” I scream as he drops to his knees. That’s when I fall.

“Matthew.” I whisper as I close my eyes. The roar of the churning water deafens my ears. Gravity pulls me closer to the ground below. I can’t do anything. It’s too late. The girl from the willow tree mirror leaves my mind. The markings on the weak bark turn smooth in my memory as if nothing has happened. My last thought is the lonely willow tree swaying in the silent wind behind Matthew. The pressure that controlled me has left my body and I am free to move but I don’t decide to. There is no point. I just wait for the jagged rocks to meet me and set my fate.

And then I wake up.