The Journey of Innocence and Challenge

There once was a time of togetherness, when the girl, simply known as Innocence, and the boy, who shall be called Challenge, were bound to each other. They were encircled around common interests and jokes that at times they only understood. They were held together by one thin thread, one thin, but determined thread that stayed through absence and time. They shared friendly love, and perhaps feelings of closeness similar to that of siblings. Words were spoken every now and again, words that left a profound impact on the soul, shaping what Challenge meant to Innocence and leaving impressions like footsteps in the mud.

This slowly forming bond began to grow into something else, something different. Watching Challenge often left Innocence in a state of confusion, torn between what was known and what her mind was trying to insist. Feelings of something more than what that bond was originally, left her in disarray. Reality seemed harsh and cruel and no longer made sense. Agony coursed through her veins and threatened to develop into tears of longing, had it not been for her sense of strength and unwillingness to submit to such weakness. Nervousness that wasn't there before shone like the chrome on a new Cadillac, and a foreign fluttery sensation left her desperate for a way out of such misery, though she was convinced that Challenge still believed in the sprouting sibling bond. Innocence simply accepted the new world that had blossomed and decided the solution was silent solitude.

Then the unthinkable happened. Challenge started to share the same strange new feelings that Innocence did, and the two became linked in what was shocking, but intriguing. They became somewhat attached at the hip, and each learned something new about the other every time they conversed. Different discoveries were made during different situations, and the bond they started grew stronger and into something that Innocence was afraid to acknowledge to anyone but Challenge. A three-word-phrase was added to their vocabularies. Life seemed unreal but finally enjoyable. Innocence was afraid of who she had become, but embraced the change because change was no longer the enemy. Cloud Nine was far behind; she was flying higher.

Then slowly, the bond weakened. What seemed like a perfect world, a utopia for both Innocence and Challenge to bask in, started to slip away. Long absences could no longer be tolerated and were met with tired excuses and unfulfilled promises. Innocence was bombarded with questions, and confusion that was even more unbearable than before. Both became more sensitive; things that didn't bother them when the bond started now never ceased to annoy them. Meetings between the two didn't have the same effect, didn't hold the same lasting enchantment, and Innocence wondered what she did wrong to kill such a beautiful world of adoration and commitment. Things started to change, and change became the enemy.

Innocence felt the bond's slow decline before Challenge did, but tried to ignore the pesky premonitions. However, a particular interval of time passed without contact from him, and finally solidified what she was most afraid of, and her anger, which was fueled by frustration in herself and his ludicrous logic for why the bond should be exterminated altogether, left her in a land of skepticism.

Behind the anger that showed most, there was sadness. There was a desperateness to know why her happiness escaped her, and it never evaporated. A hunger for what used to be grew as the days went by, and every time there was a possible turning point and she felt ready to face the world alone, she got lost, shot off course and back to the starting point.

Now she feels that it was all a game, a hurtful game in which her heart was the ball that was tossed around from one emotion to the other. Happiness always started the game, dribbling the ball around skillfully and carefully. However, Happiness got too sure of itself and lost the ball to Fear. Fear didn't handle the ball too well; it was sloppy and careless. The ball was stolen then by Confusion. Confusion and Happiness matched up in skills, but Confusion was far more cunning than Happiness and managed to control the ball for a healthy amount of time. Then Sadness grabbed the ball and threw it around for a while, managed to sink some baskets and taunt the other players. But Frustration was more superior. Frustration had the ball out of Sadness' grasp before it had the time to react. Frustration threw it around, dribbled it, and bounced it high and low. Then the star of the team, the one who had the most skills by far grabbed it away from Frustration's showboating arms. This emotion was Anger. Anger was the ball-hog, the number one player. It had the most points for sure, and had possession for as long as it could. The only way to return the ball to the court was for some unforeseen force to break up the game. Nevertheless, it was a hard game to stop once Anger got the ball.

Challenge left an impact on Innocence's heart, shaped her thinking in many ways. He changed her for the better and for the worse. He caused such conflicting emotions and ideas inside her that it left her in a state of near insanity. It was to the point where she had to escape reality through a pen and paper for a while to get away from the effects he had on her mind, for the truth can be a far more hurtful thing that is expected.

Though the bond still lingers, it has been severed so much, that mending it is as possible and touching the sky and eating the clouds.

A love between friends was how it all started. Then it grew into a special kind of love, the love between two young people that seemed to conquer all. Then that love was lost for unknown reasons. And that was the journey of Innocence and Challenge.