I sit still in my car on a remote forest road. I see a woman standing by the roadside. Her face looks familiar, reflected in my car window.
She walks towards my headlights, my heart quickening as I watch her hypnotic sway. In the amber glow of dusk, her long auburn hair ripples like a tapestry of copper and gold, and her skin gleams like polished bronze. I admire the fullness of her breasts and the narrowness of her waist through the sheer white dress, backlit by the setting sun.
As her long shadow stretches across the hood of my car, a fearful pressure wraps around me. I lower my window, and our eyes meet. The breeze brings her scent of forest and wildflowers, settling on me like a wild allure.
She comes closer and bends down real slowly. The low sun catches her pendant, sending a flash of light into my eyes. I squint, lifting my hand to shield against the glare. Suddenly, she grasps my wrists as if she’s been waiting for me.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, her melodic voice wrapping around me like velvet.
It takes a moment to compose myself, my throat constricting as I force out my words. “Is this the road to salvation?”
She scans my face and leans in. The emerald in her eyes dims, her brows tightening with anxiety.
Taken aback, she says, “There is no upward road here. You have strayed; this is the road to hell.”
ooOOoo
I am not the man I thought I would become.
Despair did not strike all at once. It crept in, wrapping me in a choking, icy fog. My double-crossing friend is whiskey in cut-crystal, easing my broken mind yet leaving me exhausted and alone.
The root of my despair… betrayal. It’s venom, coursing through my veins like an incurable infection. Alone, I unravelled, staring out at a reality both warped and distant. Days bled into nights; weeks dissolved into months.
She drove me to my knees and plunged my world into grey. Nothing was left but to take a long drive to nowhere and disappear forever.
ooOOoo
I am jarred from my melancholy by the woman who takes hold of my hand.
“Come with me,” she urges, leading me away from my car.
She stands beside me in the forest I cannot see through, beside a river that does not flow, beneath leaves that do not flutter. Disoriented, I shift my stance; the trees blur and stretch before me. As the sun descends, evening drapes the trees in surreal shades of deep purple, indigo, and grey. Above, the sky forms a mosaic of turquoise, yellow, and red. On the forest floor, darkness rises from the ground as dusk’s long shadows merge. To my right, a molten moon rises above the horizon.
Fear chokes me as a hush falls. I shiver, the chill air a warning of the day’s end.
ooOOoo
Her hand clenches tighter. I look around, struggling to make sense of the scene. Nightfall has transformed the forest into a palette of silver and deep blue, with moonlight shimmering across every surface. The trees are veiled in delicate mist, and the ground sparkles as moonbeams filter through the canopy. Immersed in the forest’s beauty, I feel momentarily dislocated from my pain.
The hoot of an owl breaks the quiet, and her hand pulls me towards a clearing. On the ground, a large, uneven circle of moss-covered stones lies as if part of the forest itself. I stare at the pattern, certain it’s intentional. She stands in silence, then kneels within the circle, arranging dry kindling and bark before lighting a fire. As the flames take hold, I watch the flickering light cast a golden halo around her, her figure silhouetted against the flames.
“Here, warm yourself,” she urges me in the cool of the night.
The circle beneath the towering oaks and their arched canopy evokes a sense of mystical awe, as if I were standing in a magnificent cathedral. The fire’s heat penetrates my skin, and in that moment, a profound sense of loving connection rises within me, linking her, the forest, and me.
Her hand melts into my shoulder, gently turning me to face her. In the moonlight, her skin shines like polished silver, the metallic pendant luminescent on her neck. I hold its coolness in my palm and let my fingers trace three intricate markings etched into the metal. She clasps my hand, her eyes fixed on mine as I study them.
“It’s the sacred symbol of Awen,” she says, answering my unspoken question.
I nod. She smiles. “The markings are three rays—the land, the sea, and the sky—and the divine inspiration of nature.”
Calm washes over me, the pendant in my palm like a compass pointing the way. Her gaze stirs an intense yearning that pushes back the darkness, dissolving hopelessness and awakening long-buried feelings beneath my sadness.
ooOoo
I brush my fingers along the arch of her cheek, over the slight upturn of her nose, and across the plumpness of her lips, watching her nostrils flare and her mouth part in eagerness at my touch. As I stroke the graceful curve of her neck, she instinctively tilts her head back, signalling her pleasure. I let my finger rest in the moisture pooled at the base of her throat.
She guides my hand to her breast, her eyes daring me to come closer. I draw a sharp breath, jolted by the intimacy. A flush of warmth surges through me; my cock hardens as I feel her breath rise and fall. Her expression is intent. She steps back and slowly peels away her dress. Firelight flickers across her curves, shadows accentuating her breasts and the tight peaks of her nipples. I pause, longing to be consumed by her erotic power.
My hands trace the soft curves of her breasts, down her ribcage and abdomen, following the inward slope at her waist, over her hips, and to the fullness of her thighs. Her breath quickens, and my heart pounds as my fingers graze the plush golden hair of her pubic mound, guarding her sacred intimacy.
I am barely able to control my desire as she unbuttons my shirt, her fingertips gliding with a feather-light touch across my chest. Her touch navigates a slow path down my abdomen, lingering forever before gently unzipping my jeans. A wave of anticipation leaves me paralysed, arousal pulsing through me, my cock rigid and straining against the tautness of my foreskin. Her eyes flash as my erection unfolds.
“Make it glisten,” I plead.
She smiles, wraps her hand around the thick girth of my cock, and milks me until I gleam in the moonlight. I’m torn between plunging into her there and then and savouring the exquisite tension at the edge of desire.
I desperately need to feel her heat. My fingers brush over her pubic hair, following the line of her wet slit, and I circle her clit slowly with my finger. A soft moan releases as her body arches with each rotation of my finger. My arousal grows as I feel her clit swell under the control of my fingertips, her legs trembling as I elongate the moment.
Gasps of pleasure escape her as I slowly part her lips and slide a finger into her, then two, then three. My fingers sink into the warm, silky wetness, and I gently search for the soft pad of her G-spot. I hook my fingers firmly against the smooth pad and massage the spot towards me with unyielding pressure, determined to bring her to orgasm. Her breathing quickens, and her cries of pleasure signal me not to relent. I press harder and faster, feeling a spurt of fluid as she spasms on each orgasmic wave. A low, satiated moan escapes from her lips, and she crumples as her pleasure fades.
My hand is soaking from the gush of her juices, and the thrill of pleasuring her ignites me. Pre-cum oozes from me like sparkling diamonds as I feel the ferocity of my arousal.
I surrender and lie on the forest floor, cool grass pressing into my skin. She stands astride me, the soft curl of her hair framing her breasts. I follow the poise of her legs and watch her execute the full force of her sexual power as she parts her legs, letting the butterfly of her lips gape above me. The taunting intensifies my excitement, turning my cock purple with hardness.
With agonising slowness, she lowers herself, holding the tip of my cock at her entrance. I moan, the token contact stoking my passion. Desire burns in me. My balls feel like they want to explode as she gently squeezes them, then slowly takes me in, inch by inch. I sink deeper into her wet heat. She wraps me tightly, gyrating with slow, rhythmic precision. The friction overwhelms me as she circles and grinds her pelvis against me. In that perfect moment, her beauty overthrows me. I grip her hips tightly, frantic for release, urging her to ride harder until she breaks me to a climax.
I feel as though I am floating above my body, convulsing, exploding warm jets of cum deep into her. Her loins clenching me as she vacuums every last drop of cum from me. I want to cry out as she draws from my lips a deep, resonant moan that echoes through the forest, purging the last of my hate and sadness from my soul.
I lie on my back, body exhausted, my flaccid cock dripping silvery globules of cum. Her hair brushes over my skin as she leans across me to kiss me. A slow, tender kiss that feels like warm rain on my skin as she kisses my chest, then my abdomen, then the last drops of my cum.
I hold her close as she nestles beside me, draping her arm over my chest. The flames dance over her skin like spirits in the night. Something awakens deep within me, fragile and new.
“Who are you?” I ask, my voice barely more than a whisper as I try to anchor myself to reality.
“I am many things. I am a healer, a seer, and a guardian of ancient wisdom,” she whispers, her voice soft with conviction.
“I don’t understand,” I murmur, confused.
“You called for me to awaken you from darkness, to bring you back from being too far gone.” Yet her words float past me.
My eyelids grow heavy as the weight of my world dissolves, and I sink into a soothing slumber.
ooOOoo
Bright sunlight wakes me.
A chorus of birdsong announces that dawn has awakened the forest. I’m dazed, blinking rapidly, struggling to open my eyes. My mouth is bitter and parched.
I’m lying on my back, my clothes damp with morning dew. Above me, golden light filters through the tree canopy. The leaves shimmer in vivid green. To my side, the grass shimmers like wet crystals, and water flows like a silvery ribbon in the nearby river.
I turn to my side, and a dry bottle of whisky is nestled against me.
I get up, seeking clarity amid my confusion. My mouth is so dry that I am desperate for water. I look, trying to connect with my surroundings, searching for clues about how I got here. Then I see it, an irregular circle of moss-covered stones encircling me.
Everything is a blur, making it hard to distinguish reality from illusion. I stare blankly at the ground, then my eyes catch a glint in the soil as the sunrise breaks. I bend down to brush away the soil, and a metallic object lies on the ground.
As I brush more soil away, it reveals three intricate markings.
My eyes widen. I jolt back. It’s the sacred symbol of Awen.
She has turned my night into day.
