Having walked back to the mountain I came down from I took a moment to fit the fabric He gave me. From my pocket I pulled the needle and thread, then sowed the piece of my heart onto my chest. I looked back to where the boy should be still be asleep and smiled when I saw he was gone.
I knew gone was not the right word but maybe it would be more accurate to say he is now home.
I turned back to the mountain of cloth I had made to get to the child in me.
It took some doing but I finally found the seam to open at the base of the mountain, I could feel the hot air other side the cloth and once I had opened it completely a giant cave entrance greeted me.
The heat was almost unbearable, but I knew it would be ok or the next piece of my heart could never be found.
I stalked down the cave deeper and deeper, I still held the tip of the mountain base in my hand , tugging at it as I went deeper creating a trail of clothing, dishrags and linen following me into the unknown.
As I got in deeper a feint light could be seen in the distance, it grew brighter as I approached and the heat grew more intense, I reached the edge of the walkway and saw it overlooking a giant lava pool. At the far end on the lava's shore was another tunnel and I knew that is where I should be.
Fortunately I had just come from a very large lake of water, so I began to fashion a tube from my trail marker of material. After hours of seaming everything together I reached the end of the entrance again. There I saw what can only be described as a giant Tipi made of all manner of fabrics that made it feel very quaint albeit gigantic. It was a mountain after all.
I took my eyes from the spectacle before me after a few moments and continued with my plan to flood the lava pool.
Dragging the pipe of cloth I made to the nearby lake I was pleased to find only a shallow ditch was required for the water to flow and fill my cloth tube.
I ran down the side following the the flow and smiled as the pressure built up enough to bellow and spill water down the length of the tube.
Then finally I looked over the lip where the cave tunnel ended and a few feet below the sheer face the lava pool began. I nudged myself into a nook created by nearby boulders, trying to not accidently be taken with the flood of water that had by then found equilibrium.
I watched as the steam rose from below, and wondered how much people would pay to visit the largest sauna on earth.
After a few minutes the steam evaporated into the entrance from where I had come, and the cave only had a slight glow on the furthest ends. The water had stopped but it was a success and I pulled the wet pipe down and laid it below me on top of the now hardened surface of the lava pool.
When the first sounds of singing faded and the cloth was not burnt to a crisp I climbed down and began the process of pulling the pipe down while also expanding my walkway across the pool to the shore.
Once I reached the shore I entered the next tunnel, this one an odd natural light coming from above yet I could not see any opening to the sky. I walked deeper and the light never changed, I kept walking and there He was.
The man bashed at the rocks with his fists , breaking off bits and pieces but none large enough to be used as a tool. I watched Him for a long time as He tirelessly just kept hitting the wall.
I don't know how long I stood there but eventually He took a step forward, and realised the tunnel had been expanded. He looked back at me and did not ask for help or acknowledge that something is different in His environment.
Instead He had turned back and started hitting even harder at the dead stone, it seemed rather to be out of spite.
I did not offer my help, because I knew it would not be accepted, instead I went back to the lava pool and fetched parts of the tube I had fashioned.
From that I sowed a door, and I took the door back to where the man was needlessly trying to make His own way.
Quite belligerently I shoved Him aside and placed the door on the wall then stepped back.
He had stepped back and watched me as I placed the door there, not able to ignore that something had changed anymore He sat down and just watched me.
I opened the door and went through, then I went back, I did that for over an hour before He got up and opened the door himself.
He did not look at the other side but instead just closed it again, and then opened the door again, seemingly observing that whatever light came from the other side had not changed.
Then He went to sit down, resting, His breathing slowed down and He started to flex His hands, staring at them almost as though He did not know they could be anything but fists.
Together we sat, patiently I waited for what I knew must come.
Finally He got up and stepped through the door as though He had done so many times before. I followed him and there we stood in a clear open field, nothing to contain Him anymore, and everything for Him to build as He wished.
That was when I noticed his hands were not covered in blood, He followed my gaze and unwrapped the red cloth from his fists. Handing them to me He smiled and then walked away, I watched Him a little longer, and found myself smiling as I recognized the gait.
I remembered that walk and for a moment reminisced on a time when how I walked seemed like the only thing I owned, my only defence against the world.
Then I took my needle and thread and seamed the two pieces of red rag He gave me together into a whole, and then placed the whole on my chest as a part.
I was almost done, with completing my heart. I stayed a bit longer and just enjoyed the fresh cool air, turning to look around I saw a giant crevice in the ground and peered down, there below my feet was the tunnel I had made over all those years.
