Synovia

"I'm so glad you are here"

My dear friend gives me a warm hug. I can feel the gratitude pouring out from her heart. She's gone through a great deal of pain in these recent times. I'm surprised to be here though. Where exactly am I? Oh right, we just moved to Ohio. We're staying with her parents until we manage to find an apartment. Right?

This doesn't quite look like Ohio. Does Ohio have mountains? I have the vague feeling I've been here before. Utah? But this isn't Utah. Why would I be in Utah?

"Where exactly am I, D?"

"This is Ohio, M. Don't you remember?"

"Oh right."

"We have to go"

We climb into my truck. At least I think it's my truck. Well I have the keys, so it must be mine.

The path into the woods is wide and long. The trees are tall and winding like vines. Spaces are carved out within their canopies as if designed to be the living quarters of some archaic entity within the forest. I even catch a glimpse of what seems to be a bed. Hmm. The trees are ancient. Their spirits permeate the air. The presence of the Gods of antiquity flows through my body sending a slight chill down the back of my spine. One could almost say the trees carry faces. That of laughter. That of sadness. Sadness for their lost brethren in the Amazonian jungle.

That one appears to have multiple beings within it crying out in anguish. Their faces and hands pushing out from the trunk as if to say "help me! Let me out!" The entrapped souls of human beings lured in by some force within the forest. The forest I travel so deep into. Am I being lured as well? Will I be trapped within one of those trees? My soul lost for eternity due to a yearning I can't subdue?

Well it's too late now. The sky grows dark and our new home shrinks behind me as I travel deeper into the woods, the past now but a shimmer in the distance. Fading with each step I take into the setting sun beyond the mountains. What awaits me there, I don't know. What I do know is that it is too late to turn back now.