Gold was already falling when Rhea stepped between the trees.
It drifted from the canopy in slow,
Weightless strands,
Each thread turning gently as it descended.
Each strand settled into the moss without a sound.
Holding a low,
Steady glow that spread outward in soft circles.
She paused at the edge.
The forest behind her softened into distance.
The path she had followed.
Fold it gently back into the landscape.
As though it had completed its purpose.
Ahead the clearing opened wider.
More of the golden threads move through the air here.
Crossing and uncrossing in slow,
Calming patterns.
Some thinned into the air.
Others gathered.
Deepening the glow beneath her feet.
Rhea stepped forward.
The moth gave slightly beneath her weight.
Dense and cool at first.
Then gradually warmer as she moved further in.
The air shifted around her it feels softening with each step Each breath flowed with ease.
Another thread drifted down and brushed her wrist.
Warmth spread from that point,
Moving slowly along her arm.
It travelled in a steady line.
Easing past her elbow.
Than her shoulder.
Where it settled briefly before moving inward.
Her shoulders lower.
Her jaw loosened.
She exhaled slowly and deeply.
The next breath lengthening on its own.
She moved further into the clearing until the trees curved fully around her.
Their trunks forming a loose circle.
The golden light gathered thickly here.
Woven through the moss,
Rising slightly from the ground in faint,
Wavering strands.
At the center,
A low bed of moss had formed.
Rhea understood instinctively that this place was made for rest and for her and her alone.
She lowered herself down the moss yielded beneath her.
And supportive.
As her weight settles.
The warmth beneath her deepens spreading across her hips,
Her back and her shoulders.
Her legs released into the softness beneath her a heaviness move through them.
From her thighs to her calves into her feet.
The muscles softened one by one until they rested fully Her arms followed.
The warmth that had touched her wrist returned.
Moving through both arms now flowing into her palms where it gathered briefly before easing back up.
Settling into her shoulders.
And across her chest.
Her chest lifted with ease on her inhale.
Her belly softened on the exhale.
Above her,
The last blue of the sky deepened into night.
The golden threads continue to fall,
Slower now.
Healer.
Each one drifting in a gentle dance before coming to rest.
One settled lightly at the center of her chest.
The warmth there deepens.
Her breathing slowed around it Each inhale rose to meet that warmth.
Each exhale softened away from it.
The space between her breaths widens.
Her thoughts thinned.
They loosened their hold,
Drifting further apart like the threads above her.
The night garden held her fully her body rested in its stillness Her breath moved slowly and softly.
The golden glow beneath and above her lowered as though the whole clearing was settling with her.
Her eyelids grew heavier.
And heavier.
Until they closed with ease.
The last thing she felt was the steady warmth at her chest rising and falling with her breath.
Softening Soothing.
And sleep came quietly.
Like the gold,
Drifting down and gathering around her.
Until she rested fully within it
