The Battle to Heaven

«Ever changing, growing, and searching through stretches of time beyond life
and death
This is the journey that every soul makes
My journey always brings me to the place between wake and sleep
A landscape of memories where you and I meet again and again
Even in the darkest night, in the heaviest storm, I always find my way back to
you
When you remember, please come back to the place we both know.»
Reading her words again that night, the man falls asleep to find himself
walking inside of the same tunnel. He paces fiercely with his arms outstretched
as if he is pushing against the wind. The air smells of burnt pine and evening
frost as the end is near in sight. When he guides himself out into the light,
his hands brush against a rough surface, much taller and wider than he can
reach. What lies on the outside of the tunnel is a fully-grown tree surrounded
by a circle of white stones. He drops to his knees, touching its roots and
turning over each stone in disbelief
Recovering a lost memory is like a dam breaking open, releasing all the water
that had been barricaded from flowing. As he sits here, every moment with her
in these woods resurfaces within him. He holds a stone in his hands and weeps
as he remembers their promise