The Flower of Darkness

There is a dark seed which multiplies and scatters on the wind. Look out and see it. It darkens the sun and the moon. It washes through the ocean and competes with the darkness of the elf. This is not a darkness the brings life. This is a darkness that chokes, that destroys, that captures light and squeezes it until there is nothing left.

The seed comes at night. It comes when you are alone. You clean the house and find it lying on your table, or under your pillow. You hold it for a moment before casting it away. It falls among the garbage, but there it plants itself. There it grows.

When you walk alone among the forest you see a cavern that wasn't there before. The vines and branches almost hide it from view, but something about it draws you. You come close and enter the darkness, and then you see it.

It has sprouted and grown. Its fragrance is repelling, and sweet. It pushes you away with all its might, but at the same time, it is so intoxicating you cannot forget it. If you were to walk away, the memory would follow you. The sight of that dark flower would follow you back to the village and would make a home among your dreams. It would whisper to you while everyone slept. It would whisper desires into your heart and you would hide them because you  know the deep darkness of your desires. It would deceive you. It would convince you to be silent and would convince you to return.

“Return to me,” it says in the dark. “Return and feast on my beauty. I can fill that hole in your heart."

So you listen. Although every time you visit the dark cavern in the forest, you lose another part of yourself, you go. You go because the flower promises to fill you. It promises to help you. It promises to replace that which has fallen. But it only destroys you piece by piece.

You fall away from your family and friends. They see you fading, but know not what to do. They reach out, but you run away. You refuse to share your secret, so it remains hidden. It is hidden in the darkness of a cavern in the forest, hidden from the sight of all, except for you. You bind yourself to the toxic flower and convince yourself it is best.

How far you go no one will know, but one day things change. Something changes in you and you understand the lies of the flower. You know it is destroying you. You know if you cling to the flower any longer you will die. It has drawn you away from all those who cared, and now you stand in an abyss with no one to save you.

A voice calls to you across the deserts of your mind—deserts of water, ice and sand. It echoes through your arctic tundra and reaches you as you hang suspended in the air above your northern pole.

“Come back to me,” the voice whispers. “Break the cavern around your dark flower and let the light flow in. Share your secret and watch the light free you from your bondage. Be free.”

You listen. You wander through your deserts and pull against the bonds of the darkened flower. You emerge from your deserts and bring your friends to the cavern. You raise an ax above your head and break through the stone. Light streams into the crack and your friends see the seed of darkness. They understand why you wandered away and where you have been. They see what you have seen and watch the light destroy it.

The flower shrivels and cringes at the light. The light seeps into its leaves and through its roots, penetrating every cell, and the flower turns to ash and is blown away.

You turn to your friends and expect them to be appalled. You expect them to throw you out now that they know the truth, but they take your hand and guide you through the forest. You arrive at another cavern, and your friend takes the ax from your hand. He lifts it above his head and breaks the cavern of his own deadly flower.

For the rest of the day, you and your friends wander the woods. Each friend takes his turn and leads you to the cavern of darkness, and together you destroy that which was destroying you.