The Hollow
Running through the deep, damp and dreary ember of night,
the little one heard the sound. The horrendous thunder had finished and the
silence filled the air, she knew she was alone. The forest in its ever-growing
terror twisted its way through her mind as she lost herself to the trees. With
no way of knowing which direction to take, she followed the patterns of the
branches as they shone in the moonlight, toward a dim flight of fire that
danced in the distance.
“What dastardly deed
did I muster to be so lost I wonder?”
She said with her fingers curling her mottled plaits.
“I would have never
strayed so far from father if I had known these Forests were so terrible.”
She came upon a grand tree that had fallen in its fatal age
hollowed out over time, an opening had appeared creating a cave that although
dangerously strange, was more comforting than the silence behind her.
I wonder if that fire I seek was here.
she pondered as she crawled her way into the hollow. There
she knelt for a moment adjusting her eyes to the darker innards of the tree,
trying to find anything, anything at all.
Suddenly and startlingly a match was struck, the whoosh of
the flame ignited her heart and it pounded fiercely with anticipation. As the
flash of light diminished into a dull candle an elderly face crept from behind
the darkness and smiled upon his guest. Scared, the little one backed away, not
trusting what she had seen in such an unusual place.
“Please don’t be
startled little one, I mean you no harm,”
said the dimly lit figure
“I haven’t seen a soul
in a year, time has gone by so slow and all I have is time to wait.”
He continued moving forward toward the girl who had loosened
her pose and tried to become comfortable in the cave.
The old man carried the flame toward a pit of twigs and
branches and set it ablaze in a fountain of light that swallowed the hollow.
“My name be Hector
Hollingsworth, young lady. I wish to know yours before the light dims again.”
said the old man in jest.
“I apologise sir for
being rude but I thought you were a prowler, my name is Siann Therberry and I
am 13 years old.”
Hector cackled at her proclamation,
“oh well in that case
I am amongst a young adult and shall treat you as such, too bad I was going to
treat you with a story.”
He peered at Siann through the corner of his eye, waiting.
“Well I would not
refuse Mr Hollingsworth if it weren’t a child’s story of course.”
she stated with avid curiosity.
“ Very well my dear to
pass the time until morning I will regale you with the tale of the sad case of
Henry Hollow.”
He stoked the fire with a burnt branch and stared deeply
into the dancing flames.
Many decades ago the world was bright and defined by its
happiness, the people shone with smiles for each other and the air was thick
with promise. These were the years for love, the kind of love that stays in
your pocket protecting you always. Henry was an optimistic lad full of
curiosity and adventure, wanting to take on the world and win its praises. One
day Henry met Elise. No one more radiant had existed and no one lovelier ever
has, she bewitched him with her stare and he was lost thereafter
“What a lovely story”
Proclaimed Siann with a gleeful tone,
“Ah, impatient girl
it's not over yet, I told you it was a sad story now listen carefully and
remain quiet,”
quaffed Hector, clutching to the burnt branch. He continued,
“Henry and Elise were inseparable, they walked together and
sang together and leapt from the top of the world just to fall in love with
each other again and it seemed that nothing could ever tear them apart. That
was of course until they found the Forrest. They sat beneath the trees every
day and stared through the leaves at the sun strobing its light onto their
brow, Henry would dream of things that were and how lucky he was to be alive
but Elise would always be dreaming of things that could be; things that were
out of reach to the simple folk they were.
One day out on the red brown dirt
she looked forward instead of up and saw a fantastic light ahead of her. It
shone with a thousand suns at once and enchanted her heart to follow. Henry
tried to show her the sun again but she was not interested in dreaming through
the leaves and wanted to find what was at the end of the light. Elise begged
Henry to take her there but he knew she would never return the same so he
refused. The days and weeks passed, and all that Elise could busy her mind with
was what was at the end of the Forrest, what celestial wonders awaited her
heart."
“My what an obsession,
did she leave? Did Henry finally give her what she wanted?”
Asked Siann with honest intrigue,
“Not all things are so
simple my friend and not all things are worthy,”
proclaimed Hector in
a damaged voice.
Hector sat up and adjusted his position on his stool and
took a sip of water from the puddle beside him and sighed for only a moment.
“Henry knew he could not hold her for long in the house they
built, she was slipping further beyond the Forrest and would not wait for him
to change his mind. On the seventh day since the Forrest she came upon him with
her head held high,
'I am leaving,' she said, 'I am leaving to the light and you
will be coming with me.'
'No,' said Henry 'I will not let you leave me, your
heart belongs to me and with me it shall stay.' And with that Elise reached
into Henry's chest and ripped out his heart
'Then I shall take yours with me to protect me always,
goodbye.'
And with that, she was gone.
“That seems awfully
violent Mr Hollingsworth”
Said Siann in a very concerned voice.
“It is all a symbol my
dear, but what is the truly tragic part is what happens next,”
Hector continued.
“Henry, now with a hole where his heart should be, had to
live the rest of his life trying to find a way to fill it. First he tried to
fill the hole with love, he searched everywhere for love, decades past and
every glimpse of love was fleeting for he knew it was never truly his.
He spent the rest of his years pondering in loneliness, if the only thing that
can fill the hole is love - but the only love he will ever know is forever gone
- how will it ever be filled enough to live? He sat there in the Forrest at the
edge of the light, a light that lead him to believe that there was an
emotion even stronger than love that was laying dormant but growing inside him
all those years, to bring him hope for the years that twilight bring, to seek
some peace at last"
“But what pray tell
could be a stronger emotion than love Mr Hollingsworth? Love is the strongest
thing our souls can hold,”
said Siann in happy disbelief,
“No Siann, it is not”
Said Hector with his head bowed down to his chest.
Hector, in one fluid motion, threw his stick onto the fire
and in a blaze of light the cave lit up like a carnival. For a split second
Siann finally saw what had been lurking in the dark beside her. Through Hectors
torn shirt on the left side of his chest a large hole was born. In all its decadence, an eerie discharge wept through the cavity of his bodice. A scaly tendril extended from beyond the damp swamp that became of his soul, reached
for Siann, and drowned her in darkness.
With the screams of terror lifted by the rich putrid stench
of decay, Hector sat with his eyes fixed on the terror, picked up Siann’s
heart, and as the fire dimmed into darkness once more, Hector filled the
hollow.
The End
