"You brought me here," she said. It was not a question, nor a statement. It was somewhere in between a vague memory returning and hints of anger and fear. The religiosity behind K's demeanor now turned into incredulity; her mind could not fathom what stood in front of her.

But she could not get away from the power of his gaze. Something in his face pulled her closer. Yet, she stood still. She could not move away, neither could she move closer to the figure that now turned into something abhorrent.

"Why," was all she could say. Again, it was not a question, nor a statement. Something in between the two. She could only formulate the words in her mind; the coffee discussions turned into a spiritual moment; the drinking reminded her of her sister; the moon's beauty intoxicated her; the philosophical questions numbed her; and that was when she walked into the woods.

The enchantment of the woods and the possibility of answers lured her in. There was a force that brought her here, and that as K. She was sure about that. K's divinity shined like the moon and the stars in the night sky. In her drunkenness and intoxicated state, she found her way to this patch in the woods. K did not lift a finger to abduct her, but her mind was already his, locked up and taken hostage.

"In finding answers, we are blinded by what we already know."

The voice seemingly emerging from the woods itself hit her like a blow to the head. Why could she not understand the complexity hidden behind the relatively simple words?

"What," again, it seemed like a question and a statement.

"You cannot coax the answer from nothing. Nothing is already the place where you need to start your search."

The words made less sense than before. Where was he getting the words from? She looked in his direction, he was not looking at her. He was reading a book. He again turned into a religious pious figure. She felt the pull of his being tucked at her. He became forbidden fruit in the middle of the woods. An originary moment, biblical. The only two beings. The one instantiates knowledge, the other a body or a vessel in which to house this knowledge. Original sin. She closed her eyes and the images in her mind drew chaotic conclusions that did not make sense. She opened her eyes and K was still standing there reading from his book as if nothing has happened, as if she did not stand there.

And that was when she thought about it: was he even standing there?

Postscriptum, or The End is Nigh

The story is almost at the peak of the crescendo. I can feel it. I am already yearning to rewrite it.

But for now, I am almost on the concluding path. It will end soon.

For now, I hope you liked this part of the crescendo.

Happy reading, stay safe!

All of the writings are my own, albeit inspired by these forbidden fruit hanging from the trees. The photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300.