Heaven and Hell #TheWritersCollection

My parents said Heaven could be found on Earth, but they were wrong. Earth is Hell with only occasional glimpses of Heaven. Every day people suffer. Homelessness, murder, starvation—these are some of this world’s problems, and there is no end in sight. Yet when my family travels to the tops of the mountains, hikes through the lush forests, and swims in the beautiful creeks and streams, a little piece of Heaven seems to slice through all the bad.

But I still miss Elysia.

We moved here because our planet could no longer sustain life. The war between Darkness and Light poisoned our waters, stole our sunshine, and killed our food sources. Our god told our people to pray to him, to beg him to stay in control of our world, but the people were afraid. Dughbal was the only god who’d ever tried to remain in control of a world longer than his term.

Mom and Dad didn’t want to stay to see the other gods’ reactions. My parents are familiar with magic, and they knew exactly what to do to open a portal into another land.

Now here we are, and I’m bored.

Sometimes I think we should have remained in Elysia. Sometimes I swear I’m going back. I want to swim with the sprites in waters so blue people here would probably think we’d colored them. I want the pink and white meadow flowers to make me laugh with their silly songs. I want the tall Oaks to hold me in their branches and tell me stories of generations from long ago.

My favorite story was of the god Griandor and how his light shined brighter than all others, and when he’d visit Elysia, every living creature would turn to him, almost reach for him. The trees described Griandor as life embodied.

Earth doesn’t have any of my favorite things. There are trees and meadows and fish and birds, but they aren’t intelligent, and they aren’t friendly. I’m not even sure which god controls this place.

I plan to find my way back to Elysia, but if I fail, I’ll find a way to wake up nature here on Earth, then I can tell my parents they were right after all.

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