It's a Swamp thang. #milkboxinfo writing challenge

Why would anyone want to keep coming back here? It used to be a nice place, but not now, not unless you prefer dark swamps, over babbling brooks... Yet here was a woman, who I had never seen here before, and she keeps returning to my swamp.

I first noticed her the other day and it was the most peculiar site. I was just over there, besides the hedgerow of thistles. The day seemed not to be an exeption and the swamp held its usual, dampened, mood. But then, through the mist, a slender figure, dressed in red, strolled along with all the grace and silence of a confident doe, eyes just as deep and holding a different world in their reflection.

Many have found their way here before and it is customary for them to leave with haste, but on her first visit I just sat silently and observed. Why this time was different, I could not explain and it's not as if I can ask her, either....The girl just doesn't seem to know I am here.
On her first visit I just watched, expecting her to retreat back into the distance. Instead, she just strolled around the perimeter, brushing her hand over the weeds and withered plants, as if she were strolling through a field of heather, on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

In the moments when she came close to where I had now hidden, I could swear to have heard her speaking to her surroundings, maybe even singing, I just couldn't tell for sure. But how strange it was, to see something as beautiful as this in a place so morbid. For once, I was frozen and unable to speak and for some reason I felt unwilling to scare her away.

But I am the swamp-monster and I live here alone. My world has grown around me and now I feel unable to leave. Sustained by their shook reactions, I take my rightful place, where lonely pains begin to dull. Only ever ignited by passing encounters, overloading the senses and freshening the wounds. A howl of pain, as the beating-arrow slices open the stitches. A clenching of teeth, trapping the pain within and then releasing the rage on the undeserving, frightening them away, for good... I am the swamp-monster, stay out of my swamp!!

But here she is again, my red temptress, my greatest fear. Each time staying longer. She walks straight through me, while holding my gaze. A stealey look from those piercing brown eyes and I can feel that she knows I am here. Striding with confidence and creating a void that consumes the darkness behind her, she looks back and seems to beckon me on, but I am the monster and this is a swamp, a place not fit for fair ladies. With a fearless look, she turns the meek, into the curious, sowing seeds of lost desires. Now I begin, not only to watch, but to follow just as closely.

I forgot to notice that the branches and weeds, that had once restricted my limbs, had completely fallen away. I moved as swiftly as she did and the pace of our feet followed my beating pulse. I expected us to trip and fall at any moment, but the path just seemed to hold no pit-falls. Then, as we synchronized our movements, I heard her voice for the very first time... "Look around you, what do you see?"

Slicing through the the air, I felt my body had taken oven itself, leaving my mind free to absorb the moment we were sharing. I was so captivated by her eyes, that the first few words were unclear and all I heard were the last 4...

I see it all, everything she did, all in the reflection of her stare. I could see myself and a beautiful backdrop, all within those eyes of Oak, and then her supple lips moved once more, repeating her instructions to me... At this moment I felt her warm touch for the very first time, as she reached out and pressed her hand against my chest, gradually halting the sprint. Standing face to face, with her hand, still in place and holding each others stare, she slowly closed her eyes and repeated herself, once more; "Look around you, what do you see"

I paused for a moment, willing her eyes to open again and when they finally did the reflection had been traded for a mischievous smile. This immediately broke my concentration and allowed me to realise I was no longer standing in the swamp...

Written by Rebel-Dan

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