Young Writers Society

A young girl wanders through the woods. A warm summer breeze shake the leaves of the tall trees that surrounded her, the branches stretched out upwards reaching towards the sun, there were small spots in which there was an opening in the canopy and the sun shone down lighting up the dark forest floor.

Tall grasses grew around the bases of trees and in small patches throughout the forest floor. Moss grew up the trunks of some trees and everything in sight was a wonder to behold itself. It was a beautiful sight, like none other, everything seemed to grow a shade of green that no artist could recreate.

The girl walked through the forest tall and confident as if nothing could challenge her, as if no danger was present in this world. This innocent idea that nothing could challenge them, that they could wander this world all they want without danger provided confidence like none other, though sadly this idea was wrong.

The girl stumbled across a large clearing, no trees grew in this area, and the ground was blanketed in thick grass. The girl walked into the center of this clearing and looked skyward, at the soft blue sky, clouds dotted throughout it like small bits of cotton floating across the afternoon sky, being carried by the soft breeze that filled the air.

The girl ran about the clearing for some time, and the afternoon was filled with the joy and laughter of an adventurous child, but it had to eventually come to an end. The sun began to set over the horizon and the sky had turned a magnificent shade of orange. Her parents would soon begin to worry, and she knew, so she turned back the way she came and left the clearing with a sunken heart, promising to herself that she would return one day to the clearing.

Long ago, thousands of lifetimes in the past, in the very same clearing once stood a large boulder. It stood high, reaching high over the tops of the trees, scratching at the sky. Its edges were rough and jagged. It proudly looked over all of the forests, taller than anything in the nearby surroundings. Wildflowers and long grass grew around the base of it and during the day the exhausted birds would rest atop it. At night the stars of the heavens shone round about it, lighting the night sky.

It stood sturdier than any building, stronger than any wall ever built, with more resilience than any other thing in this world. Nothing had dared to ever challenge the boulder, it was seemingly undefeatable. the boulder would not be defeated in a single, swift blow, it would not be defeated for many many years, but its end was undeniable, time stood against the boulder. The sands of time flow endlessly and nothing could put a stopper to it.

The winds blew violently against it day after day, week after week. The rain pounded against it mercilessly month after month, year after year. The ice took hold in its cracks and decade after decade it began to destroy the boulder. The boulder did not mind though, it paid no notice to these forces that stood against it, that challenged the seemingly undefeatable.

Bit by bit the boulder began to lose itself, it began to shrink in size, even if by a single grain of sand, it shrunk with each passing year. The boulder paid no mind or notice to it, it was only a small bit but over time even the smallest of things can add up into something more powerful than the mind can comprehend.

Countless years passed and the times of sand flowed constantly, the boulder shrunk slowly but steadily it shrunk. It was autumn now, the leaves on the trees had turned a beautiful shade of orange and red and had begun to fall to the ground. The wildflowers wilted and died and the morning dew froze into a thin layer of frost over the grass each morning.

The boulder stood barely reaching the top of the trees. It had lost most of itself to the cruel elements of this world and it sat in the clearing cracked and broken, afraid of the future. It had once stood tall but now could no longer stand at all. It was alone, dying alone.

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The girl wandered the woods once again, now as a young woman. Many years had passed, the trials and challenges of life had worn her down, had left her feeling lost and alone, and the constant noise and chaos of this world left her no time to find peace within herself.

Her emotions ran wild and rampant, destroying her with each decision she made. Each decision she made was followed with guilt, how can one tell what the right decision is in this twisted world? One can not, and that caused her stress greater than any else. She no longer walked through these woods with the confidence she once had, she no longer was the fearless young girl she once was.

Her head hung low as she walked throughout the woods, instead of taking in the autumn beauty around her she walked staring at the ground, at the dead leaves she stepped on, and the mud she trudged through. The sun had hidden behind the ominous grey clouds and the chilled wind rustled through the bare branches of the trees and carried leaves off in every direction.

She no longer walked through the woods with a fearless, adventurous spirit, she had tasted adventure and in the end, all it had brought her was pain. Her eyes were filled with fear and as she walked deeper into the forest the fear only grew. Eventually, she reached the same clearing she had once visited as a young girl and the memory of that day flooded back to her and overwhelmed her.

A pure unfiltered joy, something she had not felt for so long, something that had seemed to always be just out of her reach. The young girl who she once was seemed like a stranger to her, the world had left her battered and bruised and she had lost sight of who she once was.

Slowly, bit by bit, day after day the world had worn her down. Even if it was barely noticeable with each passing month her exhaustion grew, with each passing month her pride was broken, with each passing month, her confidence was shattered again. She knew little of what she once was and had not realized the person she had lost until now. Not until now did she notice the truth that stared back at her.

An indescribable emotion overwhelmed her as she stood in the center of the clearing, something that no word could describe, an emotion that no artist could paint onto a canvas. Her sadness grew, longing for the little girl she had once been, knowing she will never be that little girl ever again, knowing that she will never again be whole.

Peace had settled over the air, for the first time in countless months silence filled her ears, for the first time in months she felt like no one was pushing her to be who they wanted and she could not bear this feeling. The silence unsettled her, it felt unnatural, she had lost who she once was and she could not bear to face her past. So she turned back and left the clearing, going back the way she came, swearing to herself that she would never return.

The boulder sat in the middle of the clearing, crumbling, falling apart. With each passing day, it lost more of itself and it could do nothing to stop it, with each passing day it was worn down, with each passing day this cruel world took more of it, never to have it return. It was a shadow of what it once was, it used to look over the whole forest but now it could do that no more.

Its pride had been broken, wildflowers no longer grew around it, the birds no longer rested atop it, the stars no longer shone round about it. The flowers had wilted and died never to return, the birds had flown someplace else, The stars had abandoned it. The stars, if it could have one thing back it would be the stars. the boulder had never felt so alone.

The winter season left the boulder feeling cold on the inside, it felt hollow, a shell without a purpose. Time had yet to slow down, years still passed like seconds, and as the years past the boulder weathered more and more. The boulder wished for an end to its pain, it did not care if it was returned to its former self anymore it just wished for an end to its endless suffering.

Defeat, the bitter taste of defeat, the boulder had put up a good fight but in the end, it could have never won, its fate stood clear in front of it, and even though its end was undeniable it hoped it was wrong and that it could one day return to its former glory.

Centuries pass like minutes but with each passing minute, the deepening sadness grew a bit deeper. Time would never cease, never slow down, never give the boulder a chance to regain itself. It was weathered away, it was gone, lost to the world, the world had worn away at the boulder until nothing remained, except for a single grain of sand, alone, lost, afraid.

The girl was now reaching the end of her teenage years, her youth was fading and still, she felt lost in this world, she had been worn down still, and when she thought she had reached her lowest she sunk just a bit lower. She wandered through the forest one last time, and though she had promised herself to never return she had.

Her eyes were not fearful, they looked calm, her head was not hung low, she held it high. And on her back, she wore a bag. She walked deeper into the woods in search of the clearing of her childhood, in search of the person she had once lost, though when she entered these woods today she had entered with the intent of never leaving.

She had been worn down to nothing, she had lost herself over and over again and now she sunk, hopeless, the world had overwhelmed her, she had put up a good fight but she had lost, she was to no longer to live. She could see no purpose in going on, each day felt like a living hell, each day she dragged her feet as she walked, each day her sadness grew deeper, each day her will to live, her will to continue forward faded, and barely anything was left.

Though something deep down inside her told her to continue going forward, told her to live, to continue to put up the fight, it was futile, she did not want to go on like this. Death scared her, but the prospect of living longer in this world filled her with a dread that was stronger than her fear of death.

She found the clearing, though in the center a tree had begun to grow, life had sprung up out of the bare ground and wildflowers had begun to blossom around the small trunk. She sat up against the trunk of an elderly tree on the edge of the clearing and leaned her head back against it as tears began to stream down her face. This was it, the end. The adventurous young girl who had once played here was dead, replaced with the cold empty shell she was today. It had been twelve years since that little girl played in this clearing, and these twelve long years have dragged on with endless misery and pain and they would finally be put to an end.

It was the end.

The grain of sand sat there, alone and afraid, purposeless. It was once a large boulder, its magnificence like none other, but now it had no value. This world had taken everything from it and it still carried on, in despair, and misery

The winter season began to thaw and with the melting snow, the grain of sand was carried away, and it was left far from the clearing and the forest. The winds picked up and with it they took the grain of sand, soaring through the sky, the world was below it, all its troubles seemed secondary now, it flew higher than the boulder had ever stood. It flew miles and miles across the land. And it saw the stars, once again the stars shone round about it, once again it felt confident, it felt proud of who it was once again.

Though the winds began to die down, and it fell back to the earth and landed on the shore of the sea, on a sandy beach.

Amazing.

If one had to use a single word to describe the beach that would be the word. It had a beauty like none other, it was a work of art crafted by nature itself, one could stare at it for hours on end and never get bored. One could walk along the sandy shores for the rest of their life and feel more fulfilled than anyone else. The waves crashed against the sand endlessly in a mesmerizing fashion. The sand shone in the sun giving off a beautiful glow.

One could not imagine the scene without sand as it felt simply wrong. The only reason the beach was there was because of every single grain of sand. No grain of sand was alike, nor were they even close to similar, each was unique in its own way but they all fit together perfectly to create this masterpiece. The boulder no longer felt alone or afraid, it was once again proud of who it was, even if nothing or no one paid attention to a single grain of sand it helped create something beautiful something that’s glory could not be matched.

The wildflowers would never grow round it again, the birds would never rest atop it again, and it would never again stand tall, but it had found itself again. It did not need any of that, it had found itself, and it would never be broken again, its journey was far from over, it would face many challenges and hardships still, it would reach low points again, but it would never again be broken.

Weathered away, bit by bit, she lost herself. Broken by the world, the shattered pieces would not fit back together and all hope seemed lost. Each step she took she was haunted by her former self, wishing, longing for who she once was. that former self, the person she once was would never return, though yet still remained a sliver of hope, a tiny speck of hope barely the size of a grain of sand.

Something deep down inside her begged her to stay in this world, something told her that eventually all the pain and suffering, all the tears shed, all the sleepless nights, would eventually be worth it. That hope had lied, for countless months and years it had lied, there was no hope, there was no chance, no possibility she would return to the happy, smiling young girl she once was. That young girl she once was has been gone for a long time, dead, and she won’t ever come back.

Even though the grain of sand will never return to its former glory, there is still a place in this world where it fits in and through the help of all else on the beach becomes a hundredfold greater than it ever thought it could be.

She sat against the trunk of a tree on the edge of the clearing, tears streamed down her face, and fell to the ground splashing against the moss growing on the tangles roots of the tree sticking out of the ground. She has no clue why she is crying. All she has wished for, for years on end, was this moment, but now it seemed so difficult, she willed herself to move but her body would not move, she was stuck, crying against a tree.

Pathetic, that is what she thought of herself, weak, a coward. Minutes away, she was minutes away from reaching her freedom, mere moments away before taking the leap into the great beyond but she was frozen, she knows not whether out of fear or some other emotion but it paralyzed her body regardless.

Weak, she, for some reason could not escape this world, something bound her to this earth and she was too weak to break the bonds so she stayed here for years suffering without end, in constant pain and misery. She would wake up in the morning dreading the day, wishing something would happen to her and she would be put out of her misery, at night when she laid down to sleep she wished for death to take her, so she would not have to carry on any longer. Now, when she has received the chance to escape for some reason something inside her compels her not to, and for that she is weak.

A coward she could not escape the hell that is her life, she was afraid of what lay waiting for her Afterwards. Uncertain of what lies after death she feared it, and when she thought she had overcome her fear of death had overtaken her once again and now, she sat here, her back against the tree, not able to move.

These three words rang out through her head endlessly, over and over, taunting her, tormenting her, no matter what these words haunted her throughout her life she could not escape them and when the opportunity arose for her to finally leave her misery behind, to finally be free from this torment, she froze.

Slowly she stood up, finally being able to move again, no longer completely overwhelmed with emotions. She took a few steps towards the center of the clearing but the bag on her back seemed to get heavier with each step like it was being filled with lead. With each step, she felt as if she would be halted by the ever-growing weight on her back.

She took off the backpack and tossed it to the side and she gained back the ability to continue moving forward. She stopped just in front of the small tree and stared into its many branches twisting together.

She turned away from the young tree and began walking the way she came from, out of the clearing, and out of the forest as heavy rain clouds began to roll in, covering the sky, promising to herself that one day she will return when she has found where she is meant to be in the world, when she learns to love herself once again, knowing that the confident young girl she once was will never be found again, she has been weathered away by the world, but she will move forward. Even if all that remains of that little girl is just a speck, she will learn to love it, and along with it the person she has become.

As she walked out of the forest, rain began to pour down. And in the clearing, her bag lay in a slowly growing puddle of mud. Long ago, a large boulder stood proudly on this ground but it lost itself to the cruel elements of this world, but eventually, it found its place and became greater than it could have ever imagined. The story of this girl isn’t too different even though the hardship will not end here, even though she would face countless more challenges and would reach many low points still, she would never be broken again.