Crumbling Masks

She was stunned into silence and shook with fear
As she tripped and stumbled over the piles of bones
lying on the damp floor
The shadow in the corner beckoned her
It couldn't be, could it?
Very little light ever reached these parts
The air was stagnant, but yet she breathed a little deeper
and something had changed
A sweetness she thought she'd forgotten
permeated the heavy cloak of stale air
A ray of sunlight shone through a few cracks
The floor was drying in places from the change of atmosphere
And she stood in awe, still squinting at the shadows in the corner
She was afraid to look, afraid to know, afraid to cross the boundary
between fantasy and reality
All the years of longing came down to this one moment,
cross the threshold or don't
Squaring her shoulders, taking a deep breath,
holding her head high, she stepped forward
To find that a flower had grown and blossomed
In the darkest, most recessed catacombs of her soul
And then, she smiled, and the masks began to crumble.