The Dark Road Ahead

I was running. It felt so surreal; that night, that moment.

My lungs were burning for air, my calves screamed at me for running up the mountain without stop. The endless, bright red shrine gates hovering over the old, stone steps. Dim lights laced the top of the gates together allowing some vision of the path, but outside the gate was absolute darkness. It felt like nothing existed outside of the path, only darkness waited.

Oh, how I wanted to stop and breath for a moment, just to catch my breath. Adrenaline pumped through every vein, the thrill of the atmosphere edged me on telling me not to stop. I could feel the spirits encouraging, racing outside the tunneled gates. I could just imagine Inari's fox messengers dashing up their mountain along with the stream of people.

Up I continued, making sure I didn't fall behind my companions. And then we reached the overlook with the morning light parting through the mists revealing the city below. Returning to me to reality. My chest heaved as I stared at the sight, the brand new day arriving with the sunlight filtering through the cloudy sky.

Walking down back the mountain, the darkness had dissolved and revealed the forest that had hid only moments before. Those brief few minutes were one of the best moments I've ever hard. I was all ready wishing that I was reliving it. Reliving the isolation of the path ahead of me and nothing else could touch me.

I have yet to feel another moment like that; where the path was crystal clear despite the darkness, leading me to the brand new day.

Now I sit in the middle of a stone path staring down the road the fades into darkness. There are no lights this time, no gates, no guiding force, no excitement or adrenaline. Just a feeling of dread and unwillingness as I sit there, staring.

Is this my path? A road full of darkness that I know will lead down to war, death and destruction. Even though I am not moving the darkness is crawling forward, and I wonder if there will be a light at the end.