I wanna run into the sun. Just strip myself of skin and become one with all things. So I run. Dropping my groceries to the ground, I launch through the streets into the woods and then the nearby fields, moving as fast as my aching legs allow. It’s not pretty nor is it graceful, and soon enough I’m gasping for air regretting each and every cigarette, and yet I don’t stop, and as the trees and flowers reach out to touch me, the music of the moment spurs me on. At one point I lose a shoe, but it’s of no consequence, so I kick off the other and keep going. The tears come next. Turning to steam as they roll down my cheeks, laughter rattles from my chest as blood soaks my socks from where I trip and kick the stones that stick out beneath my feet, and although I fall several times, I scramble up and keep going. Stumbling across a couple walking their dog, I skip past them and the dog breaks free of its lead and joins my side, and further along, another breaks its lead too. Before I know it, several of the bushy-tailed mutts have joined me, so have a group of curious foxes, and back in the houses of the town I left behind, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits have escaped from their cages and have travelled to meet me, and when they do, they follow in my footsteps like a trailing cape, and in my giddy state, I feel like Superman, flying through the sky, finally free of what ails me. The petals of the flowers, they open on my approach and sing my name. The branches of the trees, they reach out and slap me on the back, willing me to carry on, and although I keep falling and snot streams from my nose down my face, I dance through a meadow and spin as fast as I can. My body’s held together by nothing more than sticky tape, and my heart’s as worn and as crushed as a soda can by the side of a road, but as the dogs to my side bark and howl at the sky and the foxes screech with excitement, it feels like life is a wonderful thing, so I spin even faster, and as my feet leave the ground and the birds swoop down from above and lift me up by their beaks, I find God not only in nature but in myself, and in an instant, I’m not poor or misguided or lazy or crazy, but a shining soul on its way to something more. Looking behind me, the animals leap into the air, and they too float upwards, and together we soar into the clouds, and as the skin slips from our bones, we taste life and we taste freedom, and it feels as beautiful as you could imagine.
A Journal for Damned Lovers UK
A Journal for Damned Lovers US
Categories: Lucid
Author S. K. Nicholas 
“…and back in the houses of the town I left behind, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits have escaped from their cages and have travelled to meet me, and when they do, they follow in my footsteps like a trailing cape, and in my giddy state, I feel like Superman, flying through the sky, finally free of what ails me.”
I see this as a music video, where everything is in slow motion. I have the sound turned down.
This is sublime, Stephen. x
Thank you so much, Allane. I wrote this piece in my head while on a three-hour walk in the countryside earlier today. A few photos may go up on Instagram over the weekend.
The whole experience was quite liberating. Beyond liberating x
I’m glad it was that way for you. Were you barefoot? (Looking forward to seeing the pictures x)
Alas, I wasn’t. Would’ve ripped my feet to shreds! Was lovely though. Very picturesque x
Wow. ❤
🙂 ❤
Reblogged this on SPO_OKY and commented:
I felt myself carried away.
Sublime writing.
Thank you ever so much, Allane 🙂 x
Sometimes, we just, need a good run, to see things clearly, and allow ourselves, to get out of breath, to feel like, we’re, completely, out of air and dying, then, we come back, to life, become, more alive than we were from before…
Most definitely. To escape into nature can transform a man’s life. To get lost in the woods can transform his soul.
This is fucking amazing. I am, once again, transported. I am there, followed by furry brethren and I shed my clothes and drop down and join them and the wind dances across my pale skin as we run and run and run.
Thank you! What a wonderful image that is to have you there with them. To lose oneself and to shed skin and be at one with nature- nothing else comes close. It owns my soul x
Yes, absolutely. I am of the earth and ocean so I understand and agree completely. Cover me in mud and cleanse my soul to become who I truly am.
To be covered in mud then to come out clean. I like that x
Thank you! x
Beautiful! I really love the image you’ve painted with words here.
Thank you! That’s very kind of you. So pleased you enjoyed it 🙂
Jeez!! ❤️
🙂 ❤ x
This is gorgeous!
Thank you, my friend. So delighted you enjoyed it 🙂
Very much! 😊
Nothing like running to make the soul shine. Loved the images and the pace of it!
Thank you! When a soul shines, it’s a beautiful thing indeed. Nothing quite like it x
Reblogged this on My Screaming Twenties and commented:
S.K’s writing is stunning 💛
Thank you ever so much, K! ❤ x
Absolutely loved this! Read it without breathing and it also made me laugh. So cute and amazing. 😀
I’m overjoyed by your response. Thank you!
So pleased you enjoyed it 🙂