** The following took place in a realm beyond the physical, known to the community as the astral plain. The people depicted in this story are both members of the community which also runs this blog. **
I stood in the forest, back against a thin but strong tree, feeling the damp, chilly air against my face as it made my shirt sleeves feel a little wet. The sun shown down, and as I looked across the path I had been walking on just a moment ago, I tried to center myself again.
Memories had paused my steps, and, feeling like I might pass out, I had stopped and leaned against the tree. The dampness of the air only made me feel like these memories were the present, and for a second I wished that I hadn’t come out here alone. I was, after all, in a vulnerable state when compared to the rest of the community, and they had asked me if I wanted someone to come out here with me, but I had refused, thinking that I could do it on my own.
“That was a mistake,” I thought now, as the images continued to overwhelm my mind. I thought I heard footsteps coming in from my right, but payed them little attention, too distracted by internal pain to care much what they really were or what their reason for coming closer was. I only looked up when a face I knew well came into view.
“Arrora,” I said, feeling like I could hardly speak through the mental torrent that was rushing through me, “Please, come help, I should never have gone out here alone…”
She came toward me, arms reaching, and I dared to lean forward from where my back was resting on the tree. She hugged me, and I felt her warmth flowing into me and between the two of us.
“Breathe for me,” she murmured, and then she breathed deeply so that I knew without a doubt what she meant. I breathed soon after, letting her warmth wash over and through me, allowing myself to come back to her gentleness and the forest around us.
She let me go, then took my hand, and we began walking back to our home, the home of the community.
This is our way. This is how we help one another. This is our path to recovery.