Falling.

I was at the edge of the cliff. I was at the edge of the cliff and I stood there, overlooking the scenery of the cliff in silence.

But then, I fell.

I did not know who it was. Whether I was pushed down, whether I slipped, whether I jumped or not-- or whether it was the waters that pulled me down into their welcoming embrace as the tips of the waves licked at the soles of my feet.

But it did not matter. I had already fallen, and I was falling. But it was odd, as the ground that I had seen before was gone, replaced with a darkness that extended endlessly, as I continued to fall.

I remembered my parents. My parents, as they had tried to catch me when I fell. But there was no ground for them to stand on. No where to stand, to catch me.

I remembered my friends. They, who tried to catch me, but never did manage to see where I was falling. They could not see where I was. No one to catch, no one who was falling, in their eyes. 

And so, I continued falling.

It seemed as thought the darkness was reaching up to embrace me, welcoming me into their domain as I fell in deeper into the abyssal darkness, all lights beginning to flicker away as I fell, fell, fell.

I saw hands reaching out from above, and reached out to grab them, but I was falling far too fast. Ropes flew down from above, but as I took them, they would snap, giving me but a false hope of escaping this perpetual darkness.

I stopped.

A rope gave a tug, and I stopped falling. A rope around me, like a safety harness that saved me from harm, keeping me from falling any further.

I looked up to see complete darkness. Even if they had stopped me from falling, would they be able to bring me back up? I sighed, wondering if it would have been better if I had continued falling.

" I've always had this rope around you. "

Echoing words float down from above, and I looked up once more. There was a small speck, though insignificant, evident in the complete darkness. Like a candle lit in the midst of the dark night.

The rope pulled again, and I rose upwards, slowly but steadily. It did not roughly pull me back up, but gently like small tugs. I could only stare up in wonder, wondering who it was at the end of the rope.

" And you've fallen many a time now. 
         But I will always keep that rope I have held onto around you. "

And slowly, I rose upwards once more, the small tugs though seemingly insignificant, bringing me closer towards the speck of light that I had seen.

I finally saw a face. A face of a friend. Smiling, with tears in her eyes, a rope in her hands. I smiled, and tears rolled down my cheeks as she finally brought me back onto the edge of the cliff, holding me in her warm embrace as we cried tears that had not been cried for years.

" I will never let go of that rope. "

And people say that sticks and stone may hurt bones, but words will never hurt.

But words have hurt me, just as they have healed me.