The Dark Path
How our adventure began
Feeling the cool embrace of the night air around us, we took deliberate and cautious steps. Everything that grows was making it difficult to navigate the dark path. In fact, calling it a path at this point was an act of generosity. What had once been broad enough for us to walk two by two had swiftly narrowed to barely the width of a young girl’s foot. Dense weeds tickled our calves and formidable plants brushed across our shoulders. Roots and vines formed mischievous obstacles for our legs, tripping us with their thick, sticky tendrils.
As we followed the dark path around another corner, we came upon a clearing. Speechless fright suddenly gripped our throats and choked us into silence. Each of us froze where we stood — moving only to blink and breathe like there wasn’t enough oxygen.
Pauline, the youngest in the group, spoke first, but because of the volume of our fear, we barely heard her: “Do you see that? It looks like a body!”
It did look like a body — a young woman’s body lying supine on the plush ground. Aside from the weathered appearance of her clothes, there were no visible signs of injury or anything being amiss. She could have been sleeping given the relaxed arrangement of her limbs. Her eyes were lightly closed, and her facial expression held the remnants of a smile — like she was entering a…
