An Exhaustive Search

Hill

Once Upon A Time,

There once was a boy. He was prey to the darkness, for the boy felt a lot of negativity, and such negativity was fuel to the darkness. All the boy wanted was a shoulder to lean on. Sure people cared for him, but even with the best of intentions, the boy felt so alone. The more lonely the boy felt, the more food for the darkness.

One day, the boy discovered a hill. Everything surrounding the hill was dark, pitched black, except for a star that burned bright. He figured the hill was the exit from the darkness, so he climbed all the way up the hill. He climbed and climbed, and just when he was about to touch the star, the darkness flung the boy back to the bottom.

The boy screamed, rolling all the way down the hill until hitting his head on a rock. He cried and cried in pain, punching the ground, as his eyes gazed the sky, only to see no star. Just when he was done screaming and crying, he heard another sound. It came on the opposite side of the hill, a scream and cry that mimicked his own.

It was a girl. That's when the boy realized he wasn't alone. The boy stood up, wiped the dust off his clothes, and with his newfound morale, the boy ran up the hill. This time, the boy knew he wasn't alone, for there was another person in the darkness seeking the light.

The same time the boy finally reached the hill, the girl was there too, for they locked eyes on each other. Unlike last time, the star wasn't present, for what he thought was the bright star was the girl all along. He saw the girl as the bright star, the very light he sought in the darkness, and the girl felt the same way too.

They touched each other, the darkness surrounding them was being purged from view. The sky began to clear up, a blue sky to be revealed where the sun was starting to penetrate. The boy and the girl smiled, they were on their way to the light, but just when they were about to declare victory, the darkness fought back.

The boy and the girl tried to resist, placing as much weight as possible on the ground, so neither gets blown away. The darkness's first target was the one who gave the most fuel to it, and in this case, it was the boy. That meant, the boy's feet lost contact with the ground, about to be blown away, but the girl wasn't going to just watch and let the boy suffer. She grabbed his hand, competing for dominance against the darkness.

He wanted the light so badly, but at the same time, he lived in the darkness for so long; it even became a home to him. Though he hated the darkness, it was still all he knew, the very sense of familiarity being what drew him back. He couldn't just let go of his home, but the girl convinced him they could build a new home, a better home.

The boy gave into the darkness. He told the girl to leave him, to move on, but she didn't want the boy to suffer alone. Sure she had her chance to leave, for she was already consumed by the light, but she sacrificed that chance. As she continued to cling onto the boy, they were both pulled all the way to the bottom of the hill.

On the ground, the boy looked at the girl. He was mad at her for sacrificing her chance to go to the light. He thought it wasn't fair, but the girl said it was worth the sacrifice as long as she can take another person to the light. She reassured him that while they sought the light all their lives, this time they wouldn't do it alone, for they would do it together. By doing it together, it would be easier. Or would it?

The girl led the way back to the hill, and the boy followed. The darkness too followed. It attacked the girl first, but her positive thoughts repelled it, so it struck the boy instead. This caused the girl to stop in her tracks and run to get the boy back. It was a cycle. The girl led the way to the hill, the boy followed suit, and the darkness chased them both. Of course, the darkness exploited the boy knowing that the girl would never go to the light without him.

There came a time when they both reached the top of the hill. Both the boy and the girl. That was when the boy found just as much courage as the girl to reach the top of the hill with the darkness finally away. For years to come, they looked down on the hill being the bright stars that lit the night sky. They swore to be those bright stars to guide future people away from the darkness.

Even though he was so deep into the light, the boy still faced temptation to the darkness. This caused the girl to keep fighting several times to keep the boy in the light. She knew that under all that temptation, the boy wanted to be in the light, but did that truly matter?

One day, the boy found himself all the way back to the bottom of the hill. Once he was the bright star that shone alongside the girl, now he was back to where he began. He stared at the sky, staring at the bright star that was the girl, tears streaming from his eyes while the darkness laughed in the background.

The End