It had been an illusion. The monster that haunted my dreams and plagued my waking hours had faded to dust before my very eyes. It had seemed so real in the shadows of this dark night through which I wandered. Under the glare of the moon it had danced in many guises, on the edge of my vision, always in pursuit when I ran.

But when I had turned upon it, when all had seemed lost and I had steeled myself to face my end, there I stood, made of glass. A reflecting reflection that crumbled into dancing shapes in the dust. All my hopes and fears projected outward onto a kaleidoscope of empty shadows. My refusal to face them had been their only power over me. I had been running from myself and the very moon that I had blessed for its guiding light had amplified my delusion.

I closed my eyes then, blotting out the stars and the moon. In the dark I saw it, a brightness within, and I knew that this whole dark night, like the moon, was as a mirror. As I opened my eyes dawn broke and the fire within me awakened. The hills were bathed in gold and I was overcome.

http://janiceduke.deviantart.com/art/Freedom-398950661
http://janiceduke.deviantart.com/art/Awakening-398951891