There is this wall,
this vast, insurmountable thing
surrounding Her heart,
surrounding the deepest parts of Her soul.
And though they see its impossibility,
still they try,
one by one,
to scale it -
hand over hand on rope,
hand over hand on rungs,
unaware of the fatal danger.
They see only the One,
smiling and encouraging
truly wishing them success
as they climb unconsciously upwards,
eyes fixed on their prize.
None seem to see the Other,
lurking in the shadows,
waiting to cut the ropes
and push the ladders
and watch the would-be heroes fall away.
"It's no use!" the One tries to tell them,
but She can only watch and smile and wave
as, one after another, the ropes fray and ladders fail.
She wants to weep,
but tears, like her smile,
are frozen in place.
Still the would-be heroes come,
climbing as quickly as possible -
hoping to win the One,
winning only death
from the unseen Other's hands.

But then He comes.
He stands at the base of the wall,
contemplating the task before Him
with a quiet confidence
and a small smile.
He begins to climb -
not with rope or ladder,
but by His hands alone,
painstakingly pulling Himself up that cliff
slowly, so slowly...
But He doesn't stop.
And He doesn't fall,
for there is nothing the Other can do -
no ropes to cut
or ladders to push.
The One watches His slow ascent,
disbelief mingled with fervent hope.
The Other rages and screams,
flinging down rocks and stones and curses
that invariably fail to effect Him.
And for the first time,
there is fear in the Other's eyes.

But fear is soon overcome by feral rage
and with every section
of rough stone that He scales
and every foothold that He gains,
the Other seems to grow larger
its form darker,
its voice angrier,
its howls louder.
The One wants to cringe,
to hide from the growing darkness
and the thundering noise,
and still He climbs on,
oblivious to all but the rock beneath Him.

The Other watches Him near the top,
laboriously pulling himself up
the jagged cliff face with bloodied hands.
The howls play chord to malevolent laughter
as the Other picks up a boulder,
awaiting the moment when He
will pull Himself over the lip of the cliff,
straining and vulnerable -
and easily crushed.

He reaches the top,
ready to finally pull Himself to safety,
still unaware of the impending doom.
And the Other grows darker still
and the laughter louder
and the boulder is poised to fall
as His first hand grasps the lip.
The One stands frozen in horrified silence.
She can't watch,
closing Her eyes tight
and wishing with all of Her heart
for some miracle to make Him see,
for the terrible sight and sound
of His crushed body falling away
to never be.

Silence.
No scream, no thud,
no howling, no laughter.
Still She is afraid
to open Her eyes,
afraid to see Him,
Her love,
falling from the cliff,
afraid to see the Other,
bloodlust unsated with Him alone,
looming full of shadows and
poised to attack.

11/02/2001

Posted on 11/06/2001
Copyright © 2025 Amanda J Cobb