I am the storm as it walks across the desert. I am power uncontained. Unstoppable. Inexorable. Irresistible. I will roll over your home and your city and your body like the apocalypse, burning and pillaging, a great horde of destruction. I am a mass of muscle all tensing at once and lunging forward. I will snatch you by the throat and swallow you. Whole.
I will find you in your darkest hour, while you dangle from the edge of some nightmarish place, neither whimpering or screaming for help. Perhaps you're much too proud. Perhaps you don't know that you need it. Perhaps, you prefer the fall. But I like to wander those vile places, and the pale skin against the ink black depths excite me. I know a way out of here, for you at least. Come, let me show you the way.
Try as you might, there is no escape from me. Struggle, yes! Fight, kick, scream as I engulf you. Punch me in the larynx while I devour you. What's a few bruises to a full belly? Inside me is a world the likes of which you have never seen, and whether it is your tomb or your playground, there will be pleasure and pain beyond your reasoning. I will lash your body to a stone in the storm and I crash over you. Thunder and light. Wind and rain. Whips and ball gags. We're locked in a contest, you and I, and only one of us walks away.
Your hands are shaking. That's normal, rest assured. You've been clinging to the cliffs for so long, that your fingers have forgotten how to stretch. Go ahead, open them, show me your palms. You've a few cuts and bruises, a deep gash that runs along your forearm, some burns littered across your abdomen. Don't worry, we'll fix that. I'll fix everything. Just follow me. It's uphill, I know, and you're tired, but if it gets too steep I'll carry you. Just relax now, you're safe.
You thought you were inside me, until I penetrated you. What gave me away? The snarl? The bared teeth? The sudden fear is such a rush. The widening eyes, the way your hands, bound and scraped and bloody, suddenly turn to claws. The way you fight me anew, rolling and roiling like the boiling sea in hell. Your body heaves into me, thrashing and beating, but I'm so much stronger. You're already so weak from fighting that this is no challenge for me. I've done this for ages and you, poor thing, are no match. The storm crashes down around you and floodwaters rise, threatening to drown you and, at last, submission. Resign yourself to me, and you may yet survive.
There it is, just as I promised. The mouth of a cave. I told you I knew the way out. It wasn't so hard, not when you had help. From here on, you'll have to go alone. My part is to lead you from the dark place, but this is where I stay. You go on, the sun is out and the air is clean. There are dangers out there, but you'll be safe to navigate them now. Just cross the desert and you'll find a sprawling forest full of game and cool, clear water, and people that will take you in. Beware the storms in the desert. Take shelter when they come. Remember me, and what we shared, and you will thrive.
Uncertainly Yours,
-S.R.
