The Valley of Shadows

The valley of shadows

After walking through a thick piney forest I discovered a rock wall with two doors. They were both enormous, the biggest doors I had ever seen. The door on the right was an oak wood door with flower vines and a green grass pathway. I loved this door it was so beautiful and made me very happy. The second door had a dirty and broken brick pathway. The door was a dark wood, almost black with a huge door knocker in the middle. It had big thorn vines grown around the door. This door made me feel sad and afraid. I stepped back and looked at the two doors and thought about which one I wanted to enter. As I debated I thought of something, what if there was something truly wonderful behind this door that frightened me? And someone just didn't want me to find it. I debated a while longer and finally I decided.

I slowly walked down the dirty brick path and up to the door. I was hesitant at first and even thought of going back. Without thinking I reached up and knocked on the door using the door knocker. The door slowly opened, creaking and almost moaning as it did. I very slowly walked in and when I had cleared the door it slammed shut and locked behind me. I was now trapped and had no choice but to follow the path. No matter how long, there was no other way. I turned from the door and looked around, the sky was dark. The darkest sky I had ever seen. Along the broken path there was nothing but dead trees and thorns upon thorns. The thick fog made the lifeless trees and thorns look so terrifying. My only choice was to begin my journey down the path through the fog. As I walked I kept seeing shadows moving on both sides of me, I felt as though I was being followed or watched. Every so often the thorns and trees would creak and crack and I would jump in fear. As I continued down the path it seemed as though the thorns would reach out and grab me. One got caught on my dress and as I tried to get away it tore my sleeve. The longer I walked the darker the sky seemed to get and the fog became very dense. I began feeling discouraged and thought I would never get out; the path kept going on and on. It felt like hours had gone by and I was so thirsty I began looking for water. I finally saw a well in the middle of the thorns. I stepped off the path and tried to work through the trees and thorns to reach the water. The thorns all reached out at once and grabbed hold of me so I couldn't get out. There vines wrapped around my arms and legs almost as if I was there prisoner. I thought I would die for sure; there was no way I could get out of this. It was truly impossible. Feeling hopeless and weary, I hung my head and accepted my defeat. A few small tears ran down my cheeks "I shouldn't have left the path." I whispered.

Suddenly the thorn vines began breaking from my arms and legs. I floated through the air and gently landed on my feet on the broken path. "Do not stray from the path." A deep strong voice called out. I looked around for the person who saved me but I saw no one. Grateful my life had been saved I continued down the path. I was careful from then on not to leave the path. I was still thirsty and I was beginning to feel very tired. I had no way to know what time it was, and it felt as though I had been walking forever. I had walked until I could walk no more; I was so tired I couldn't stay awake any longer. I just had to lie down; I decided to lie down in the middle of the path. So the thorns could not reach me. As I laid on my back looking up at the sky, I deeply wished I had chosen the door with beautiful flowers and soft green grass. It was hard to fall asleep with the scary noises I heard on both sides of me.

I woke up to my leg being pulled on by a thorn. I must have fallen asleep and somehow my leg got to close to the edge of the path. I quickly sat up and tried to pull away but it pulled harder. I saw a shadow moving behind the vine. "No!" I screamed. I looked around for something to break free but couldn't find anything. Suddenly I saw a rock laying on the path right above from where I was laying. I reached my arm out to grab it but could not. I stretched as far as I could and every time I came close the thorn pulled me closer. The thorns were now digging into my skin but I didn’t have time to notice that. I got frustrated and screamed as I pulled myself towards the rock. At last I had it in my hand and I quickly sat up and began pounding the rock on the thorn. The thorns hissed and creaked and finally it broke. Just as soon as it did I stood up and moved back from the other thorns reaching out to grab me. I started walking again for I was wide awake now. The pathway went up a hill and for a moment I thought maybe I had come to the end. I ran up the hill only to find a sight so disheartening. It was not the end of the path but the pathway led into a murky, gloomy, foggy lake that looked as if it went on forever. I walked down the path to the edge of the lake. "I have to go through this?" I said aloud to myself. I looked on both sides of the lake, maybe it was possible that I could go around. To my dismay the pathway only lead right into the water. I took off my shoes and took a deep breath and stepped into the water. I could not see the path before me so I had to feel for it as I very slowly walked through the water. I had to wade through dead trees and driftwood all while trying to stay on the path. Many times I almost fell from tripping over whatever lurked in the water.

After what seemed like days of walking through the water I finally reached the edge on the other side. I turned back and looked at the water I was so grateful I had made it to the other side. I turned around and began walking again; I was feeling proud of myself for making it through the water. Feeling less sad and more courageous I almost pranced down the pathway. "Maybe this isn't so terrible." I said to myself. Suddenly I heard this awful, loud growling noise. Instantly my heart began pounding as I stood still and listened. Followed by the growling was this loud thumping that made the whole ground rattle. I happened to notice in the dirt beside the path was a skeleton with armor on and a sword in its hand. The thumping got louder and as it did trees began to fall in a path leading to me; I knew something bad was going to happen. There was nowhere for me to hide, so I just stood there. Finally, I saw what was coming towards me. It was…a dragon! It was now standing before me looking straight at me, towering above me, with its huge wings and gigantic feet. It growled so loud I had to cover my ears. I had no idea what to do. Then I looked over and saw the sword, I suddenly felt brave and I ran over and picked it up. I held it up in front of me and the dragon laughed. "You think you can win in a fight with me?" He growled. I felt as though my bravery was being drained out of me by what he said. Who was I to fight this dragon? I was just a seventeen year old girl who had entered a door she shouldn't have. I closed my eyes as I tried to gather back my courage, "Run along little girl. You cannot defeat me." He said laughing. I opened my eyes and stood in a fighting stance and looked up at him "You think you can win a fight with me? Come and try", I said boldly. He growled in anger and began walking towards me. I had to think fast. I ran towards him and under his belly, as I did I ran the sword along both back legs. I ran under his tail but he swung it before I could move, and hit my stomach. Knocking me to the ground and taking my breath away. I laid on the ground gasping for air; meanwhile he turned to face me and laughed at me. "You are just a child. You're nothing!" He growled. I slowly stood up holding my stomach with one hand "That's what you think." I said weakly. I saw the shield behind him. I had to figure out how to get it. I ran towards him, as I did his neck turned orange and I knew he was going to try and kill me where I stood. I ran as fast as I could under him just as he breathed fire at where I was standing. I grabbed the shield as quick as I could and turned to face him. As he turned around he swung his tail and I ducked down. "You think you can out smart me?" He asked growling. I smiled "I am doing a good job of it so far." I answered. I looked down at the pathway and four rocks formed like steps leading up to the dragon. I took a deep breath dropped the shield and ran towards him with my sword pointed up. I ran up the steps and felt as though I was running in slow motion towards him. His neck slowly turned orange as I ran up the second step, third step, I took a deep breath as I stepped on the forth step. I stepped up and jumped towards him screaming as I got closer. One of us was going to die or maybe both. I forced the sword into his chest and he growled out in pain. I let go of the sword, fell to the ground and quickly rolled out of the way. I stood up and ran to stand in front of him, hoping I had killed him. He growled and hissed then fell to the ground. I fell to the ground as well and took several deep breaths as I tried to catch my breath.

I stood up amazed at the sight I was seeing; I heard the dragon take his last breath. When this happened, the clouds began moving revealing a blue sky. The fog lifted and the sun came out. Birds began singing; the thorns disappeared and were replaced with flowers and green grass. The trees came back to life and bloomed green leaves and flowers. I turned around behind me and I could see the water I had walked through. It was a beautiful clear blue with green grass all around it. I turned back around to see that the dragon was gone; the path had turned into a beautiful red brick path with no broken places. I could finally see the end of the path, it led to a castle. I looked down and I was in a new dress. It was a beautiful white dress with long sleeves that went to the ground.

I began walking down the path towards the castle and as I entered all of the town's people were clapping and cheering for me. A guard came up to me in the crowd "This way madam." He said smiling. "Where am I going?" I asked. He smiled and said, "Follow me".                                                      So I followed him through the crowd to the castle. I took a deep breath as we walked into the throne room. The king and I assumed the prince, were sitting on their thrones, as I was led closer they both stood up. I did not know what else to do accept bow, I had never met a king or prince before. "Rise up Rose", the prince said. I rose up and stood still in front of them. "Well done my daughter. You did well and did not stray from the path", the king said is a deep voice. I knew as soon as he began speaking that was the voice I heard before. I hung my head and remembered being trapped in the thorns. "I did leave the path once", I said sadly. The king smiled and said, "All have fallen short at times. You were sorry for leaving the path and so I helped you get back."

He spoke with such wisdom I had never seen before. "Thank you your majesty for helping me", I said smiling. "I want you to see something." He said. "You thought many times along the path that you should have chosen the other door, here is what your path would have been", he continued. A big circle showed up in front of me and I could see a person standing in front of the two doors. He chose the beautiful door, knocked on it and walked in. Once inside he kept almost falling as he walked the green grass path. Finally he began falling through the grass, screaming as he did until he was completely gone. "What happened to him?" I asked. The king hung his head, "Easy paths are not always what are best for my people. He chose the easy path with beautiful green grass. But it is shallow and weak with no roots or strong ground. What is beautiful is not always the right path", he calmly explained. "I understand. I almost chose that path." I said. "Yes but you didn't. You chose the path that is very difficult to walk through with constant challenges but a great reward at the end." The king answered. I smiled for I did not know what to say. Suddenly, a beautiful chair like theirs appeared on the other side of the king "Come to me dear Rose", the king said. So I walked closer to him until I was standing at his feet. He turned to his son and took a crown from his hands. "I crown you my daughter, princess of the kingdom of light." I turned around to face the people in the room and everyone was clapping and cheering. I sat down in my chair as the king and prince sat in there's. He looked at me and smiled and I smiled at him. For an instance I remembered why I was in the forest that day and what I had run from. Because of the valley of shadows, I found the kingdom of light.