I was looking up,
gazing up at the stars
from a deep black pit, 
almost missing 
the rope that came
tumbling into the darkness.
I was startled by the sound
of frayed threads smacking against the wall.
I looked up again,
looking to the top of the hole
but couldn’t make out
the face at the top, silhouetted by the moon.
I wrapped my hands around the rope,
took a deep breath to calm my panicked heartbeat,
and began to climb
out of the maw of darkness.
I climbed up, and up,
my feet slipping on the smooth obsidian walls,
but finally
I reached the top.

I found myself face-to-face
with a pair of eyes, colored like mahogany wood,
like the most decadent chocolate,
and they sat above a sunshine smile that melted away
the icy demons that tried to follow me.
The moon and stars were suddenly swamped
by the bright warmth of the sun,
and color filled the world.
My heartbeat was faster than a mouse’s
as I gazed into those eyes
and I realized
that they belonged to my savior.
I found that I’d lost my voice
after sitting silently in that pit for so long,
so I took my pen from my pocket 
and wrote my gratitude on my hand,
“Thank you.”

The smile widened,
and the chocolate eyes were melting in the sunshine,
so beautiful, so captivating.
I suddenly found myself in a warm embrace,
and while I would have normally pulled away,
I stayed in those arms.
I didn’t want to leave,
and I was safe, protected, warm.
I sighed and sank into the warmth,
and my soul suddenly grew,
straining against the cage of my ribs.
I felt the hole in my chest,
I felt it as it was filled,
and then it was empty no more.

The songbirds twittered in my ear,
telling me,
“You found it, you found it! You found the other half of your soul.”
I looked up again, 
looked back into those eyes, 
and watched the sunshine smile lift again,
provoking a sunbeam to grow on my own lips.
Then the sun rays collided in a kiss,
and a fire sprang to life.
And I knew, I knew
I would never be cold again.