Spark

She had only ever known the forest. The evergreen boughs far above her head were the sky. A world in perpetual shadow. There were others. Some hunted the beasts which flitted among the vegetation for sustenance. Others gathered and ate the fruit of the trees and bushes. All were wary of each other.

She always suspected the spark. She felt there was something just out of sight on her chest. It wasn’t until she happened upon a pool of water that she saw. There, in the reflection, a point of cool light shone at her clavicle below the neck. She realized the others in the forest had the spark too. Some had not realized. Some ignored it, afraid. Many unconsciously tried to hide the spark by covering the area in mud, a piece of leather, or with scars to thicken the skin.

One day, she encounters a man transfixed by a bowl of water. His knife lays on a rock an arm’s distance away. She nocks an arrow before she speaks, Do you see it? The man is startled and spills the water. He freezes when he spots her bow, See what? She gestures to the bowl, The spark. You see it too, his eyes widen. She nods.

They traversed the forest together, hunting, gathering, and protecting each other. Those in the forest gossiped about them for it was odd for alliances to form. She and the man ignored them and instead whispered together about the spark.

I feel the spark points a way, Said the man after a while. She agreed, I think it is beyond the forest. He nodded. And they followed the spark. Many days passed before they found what they sought. The end of the forest. She never imagined the forest ended. It was the world. But there, the trees stopped and the valley began. And it ran for leagues to the base of a mountain which rose to the heavens. The peak shown with the light of the spark.

We are to go there, She says. Look, Says he. They observe in the valley others like them, journeying to the mountain. Still others, with scarred chests, stalk those drawn to the summit. And beyond this, they can see giants roam the foothills. Are you ready, She asks the man. No. She takes his hand, Let us go. And they step from the trees toward the mountain.