The Path

As dangerous as it is, I am posting a story I have been working on for the past couple months. It isn't nearly done, but I can't finish it on my own, so I come to you for your advice.

Walking in the darkness, letting the cool night air wash over her, she felt almost free of the sorrows that had been following her for so long. It began to rain and she felt as if the universe was trying to help her. Almost as if someone or something had taken pity on her, giving her an opportunity to wash away her pain. She began to cry, her tears mixing with the raindrops that slid across her skin.
“You haven’t known sadness until you’ve felt what I have. I’ve felt the kind of sorrow that spreads throughout your entire body and aches like a cut that insists on reminding you it’s there. I’ve felt sadness that intrudes upon you like a stab wound. I’ve had my heart split open in my chest and the breath sucked out of my lungs,” she whispered to the night.
“But I’ve also been in love. I’ve felt the kind of love that most people spend their entire life waiting for. I’ve known love that can lift you to your feet when you’re down. Love so all-encompassing that it drives away every fear, every doubt, every misgiving and leaves you with a warm glow. I’ve experienced love ‘till death do us part, in sickness and in health’. The kind of thing you only read about in romance novels or see in movies,” she breathed as the memories came flooding back.
She came to a fork in the road and turned left, following something innate. After a few feet, the path changed from asphalt to a deeply rutted dirt road. She moved to the narrow path between the ruts. A cloud drifted across the moon causing strange shadows to flit across the ground in front of her.
“ And I’ve seen demons. Demons so horrible that, at the sight of them, you cannot look away no matter how much you might want to. I’ve met demons that reach inside you and claw away at your soul until there is nothing left of you but despair. Demons that follow but a half-step behind you and breathe their fear down your neck. Demons that seek to destroy the last shred of strength within you, that take away all you have ever held dear,” she said.
She stopped, her path blocked by a ditch. Long grasses covered the hole and she wasn’t able to judge how deep it was. She realized, however, that sometimes life requires small leaps of faith, so she jumped. And fell. To anyone watching, it looked like the ditch swallowed her. She pulled herself out, hand over hand, laughing as she went. She was covered with smelly, muddy water but she couldn’t care less. She had somewhere to be. Her trip wasn’t over just yet. Her wet jeans dragged at her legs, making it hard to walk, but she wouldn’t give up. She found her path once more and trudged on. She could see the lights of her destination ahead and was filled with a new strength.
“I tried to shut off my emotions. I tried to protect my heart by refusing to feel anymore. But it’s no way to live. You lock yourself away inside yourself and try to ignore the pain, but it’s still there. It knocks at the door of your heart. Claws and eats away at you. It will kill you, however slowly. The heart was made to feel. To remind us that we are alive and why we are here. You must always listen to your heart, always leave it open to the world and allow yourself to experience everything.”
Before she knew it, she was standing outside the building she had walked so far to find. She took a deep breath and knocked three times. A small window at eye level opened and a gruff voice demanded to know her business.
“I have an appointment,” she replied.
“Are you sure you want to go in?” the voice asked, “Are you aware of what lies behind here?”
“Yes,” she said, “I know very well. That is why I am here. I need to go in”
The window shut and the door swung open to a room with no light at all. She took one last glance at the road behind her then stepped across the threshold. The door slammed shut behind her and the darkness closed in around her.
“The truth lies in here,” she whispered, “This place holds all the things most people do not wish to know. But I would rather know these things than not. The truth can teach you more than any other amount of knowledge could ever hope to. The truth will set you free, and that is why I am here, to be set free.”
She heard voices speaking a million secrets in a million languages and understood each one. She saw every memory of every moment of every life. She re-lived all her happiness and forgot all of her regrets. And as she reveled in the emotions and sensations that engulfed her, she heard music so beautiful, most human ears could not comprehend it. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it ended, the girl disappeared and the room was black and empty once more.