SYMBOLISM.

She is standing on a withered path. A terror is slowly building inside her, and for now she holds it back; she suppresses it.
The sky above is navy, scattered with a thousand burning lights. It is like funeral boats pushed out to sea. Their fires are bright against dark waters.
She can see herself there. The sand is cold and damp between her toes, and a bitter wind is blowing to sea. The dead are laid among boughs of pine, their swords set honorably across their chests. All around her, she can hear the weeping of mothers, fathers, wives, as they say a final goodbye to a piece of their lives.
The boats are set aflame and pushed off. The villagers pull their cloaks closer and watch. Then they turn and leave.
She doesn't understand this parting. She doesn't understand how they can let go. But the girl is back at the path. Here there is darkness in both directions, and she knows the boats are simply a memory she held on to; the night she had bid farewell to her brother. Unlike the others, she had stood by the water until dawn, until she could no longer see her brother's boat.
A wind blows down the path, and a bare branch snags at her arm. She pulls away fearfully. Autumn has passed. The trees are naked and winter is fast approaching.
The girl bites her red lip. Her dark curls blow across her face. She knows which way home is. Home is safe, warm. But it is sad. She does not want to believe it, but inside, beneath that terror, she knows what home it is. It is that vicious cycle which refuses to change and love. She knows returning means only hurt and loneliness.
Now the girl looks to the other direction. She has never left home. The other way is a mystery, an adventure. She knows this, but a fear has welled within. She does not know what this new life wields. It may be the same sadness, and for that reason, she is standing in the dark among the trees.
Then the girl remembers her brother. He had hugged her before he left, and in that embrace, he had whispered in her ear.
"Don't be afraid of change. Letting go does not mean saying goodbye. Not forever."
She knows now what she must do. And with a determined set face, she steps into the unknown.