/ddlc/

Oh how I used to laugh at them
Used to pity those fools
Who’d shun the world
And bide their time alone
Like some pathetic introvert
Afraid of what
Or who
Was outside

I can’t remember how it started
Why I slowly, step by step, made my way into the cave, exploring
How they came to reel me in, like the pied piper of old
Curiosity? An inquisitiveness? A more carnal desire to explore
The unknown?
Or maybe those are just excuses
For what I’ve become
Or what you’ve turned me to

I drunk from your fountains
Spoke in your tongue
Admired your sights and scenery
I took in and observed all that your kind had to offer
But somewhere along the line
Lost the string that guided me out of this Labyrinth
But found myself in the dark

Have I given up on escape?
I’ve certainly stopped looking for exits, they all slammed behind me
As soon as the world realised where I was
But why am I so calm?
Why am I content?
Why does it feel warmer the less I shield myself?
The less I hide?

Overtime I accustomed to the dark, and my eyes adjusted
I began to see again
And the enveloping black gave way to a world I’d never imagined
Could exist

None had faces
None had names
None had a place where they could meet and shake one-another by the hand
But yet
And yet…
They were a family, together for better and worse

Granted they fought
Of course they disagreed and bickered
Isn’t that natural?
But they always shouted one another’s praise
They’d always recognise their faceless friends
They’d critique and share their works, created for one another
With never a fear of dedication or faith in audience.

And here I was
Blending quietly with the faceless crowd
Occasionally piping up
To try my hand at sharing my creations, as rudimentary as they were
And yet the praise I received meant more than I believed they could know
I felt something
I feared I’d lost to time

I didn’t despair at how lost I’d become
I didn’t weep for the places I’d left behind outside
Because while I may have forgotten them
And myself
To a degree
I’d been found
And not only by the others down here