Worship

Melissa was on a mission—a mission to find herself in her new found religion. She cringed as she stepped on a sharp rock not fifty feet from where she had left her shoes by the car. Twigs and leaves crunched together as she carefully found her footing amongst it all.

Yosemite National Park was large, and Melissa felt comfortable knowing that she was far enough in that no one would see her. She had chosen a Monday evening on purpose. That purpose was that there were less people in her retreat from Monday night to Thursday night.

The sky was beginning to reach the blue hour and Melissa felt herself hurrying along an unseen path. She didn’t want to use her flashlight until she absolutely had to.

Dusk had fallen quickly and she could barely make out the landmarks around her. She set out candles and lit them creating a circle of light amongst the trees. Reverently, Melissa undressed herself as if to take care to impress a lover.

Praying to unknown Gods, Melissa could hear a faint whisper of music dancing in the light breeze. Her body began to sway with the rhythm only she could hear. Her soul began to sing words in the language of the gods and soon Melissa was lost in her worship.

Melissa began to snap out of her trance as the light from the last candle sputtered then went dark.

Covered in sweat and shivering from the cold, she quickly dressed. Turning on the flashlight from her bag, she gathered up the candles taking care not to burn herself with the hot wax.

She picked her way through the trees back to where she had parked her car and for a moment her vision blurred. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she continued on.

Throwing her shoes onto the passenger seat, Melissa turned on the car and prepared to drive home barefoot. As she cranked up the radio and began to sing to The Rolling Stones, she was unaware that one of the Gods she had been worshiping had settled comfortably within her; ready to take over at any possession at any moment.