Embers.

I first saw Him when I was just a boy. He was always near me even though I had no name to call Him by. In the garden we would play, at the table we would eat together & joy we would share. Mine was His & His was mine. There was no fear in me because I knew there was no fear in Him.

Soon there came an age when I was convinced of the forbidden fruit. I learned of fear, shame & I left to be on my own. I, myself, became enough to live on. Little by little, my ears grew deaf to His call. My pleasures hardened my heart so much as to think I did not need a friend, & so the darkness dimmed the light within me. He wept in the garden where we once enjoyed one another, for I would not come to be with Him, & I also wept, for I would not let Him be with me.

For years I tried to forget I knew Him. His presence was too pure to exist in the choices I made, so I thought. A weariness & a question overcame me.

"How could such a light still love me?

All too easy I would forget that glowing ember still fighting for breath within me, wholeheartedly yearning to ignite once again. Yet, I kept His light from my path & covered it for no one to see.

Many days swept together & the nights drew on until I opened my eyes to behold a valley of darkness. There was no retreat in this place, no way out, & a beast sat before me with his eyes feasting on my very flesh. The beast was here to take to last of my light, to forever darken the ember that remained in my heart. It was me who would be the victim & he would scream as vanquisher.

"It is a life I want, any life," the beast moaned, "Your life."

A fear grew within me & became a burden too great to bear. I released to my knees in despair & my eyes welled with tears as I knew I was no match for the beast. A distant hope remained & the ember deep within me flickered & I remember, so long ago, when I was with my friend. Like a flood in my mind the memories returned of playing in the fields with Him, learning His name & walking quietly alongside the waters in His company. I knew nothing of this dark valley in the days that I walked with my friend, but I was far from those meadows now as my knees scratched the parched earth & my eyes were shut tightly wishing I could be with Him just one more time.

"Forgive me," graced my lips.

When the light first struck my closed eyes, it felt as though I was being beckoned awake by the sun after a sleeping through the winter. My eyes peeled open to see the beast retreating.  Before me, now, was my friend from so long ago, bloodied & bruised. My friend has given His life for me. A life was owed & a life was taken. I could hardly utter a sound as my feet shuffled atop the scorched dirt & gravel to be with Him.

I spoke through my tears, "I wasn't sure you would come, I was so afraid."

My friend smiled & whispered, "I am always with you, to the very end of the age."