A Glass Darkly
When Simon woke up, his hospital room was dark and smelled bad. The air hung heavy, smelling of decay.
He stared through the dimness, his eyes open wide, struggling to see something, anything, in the oppressive darkness surrounding him.
“Hello?”
Simon’s voice trembled, his words swallowed by the silence.
The room absorbed his voice, leaving behind an echo that he found unsettling.
Fear clawed at his chest, constricting his breath, as he reached out with trembling fingers for a light switch that wasn’t there.
He attempted to recall why he was there and how he had arrived there.
He believed he saw creatures dancing and mocking him as he tried to banish them. They swirled and twirled, whispering secrets of forgotten horrors that caused him to shiver in fear.
Was he tripping on drugs “they” had given him? Who were “they”? Why was he here?
Simon’s heart pounded in his ears, a rhythm that echoed the growing dread in his soul.
“Is anyone there?” he called out, his voice quivering.
The darkness remained, its presence pressing against him like an invisible weight.
Simon noticed a glow coming from a cracked window in the room’s far corner.
He stumbled toward it, drawn to the sliver of light.
The pervasive smell intensified, overwhelming him with each step he took. It clung to his clothes, seeping into his pores, marking him as a prisoner in this macabre sanctuary.
The air grew thicker, suffocating him with each labored breath.
“Please, help me!”
Simon’s voice cracked, his plea echoing through the room.
The only response was the distant creaking of pipes, a haunting symphony that underscored his isolation.
He approached the window. With trembling hands, he cleared cobwebs away from it.
Light through the cracked glass cast a glow on his face, illuminating the fear etched in his eyes.
He glimpsed the outside world with a flicker of hope, quickly dashed.
The hospital grounds were barren. The garden, once thriving, was now lifeless. Gnarled trees stood, twisted sentinels offering no hope.
Tears welled in Simon’s eyes, reflecting the desolation that stretched before him.
The darkness in his room had spread to the world, casting despair over everything. His hospital room had become a portal to eternal torment.
Overwhelmed by this reality, he turned away from the window, feeling desperate and defeated.
The room seemed to tighten its grip, its walls closing in.
In the depths of his despair, a flicker of determination ignited within Simon. He would not succumb to the darkness that threatened to consume him.
With every breath, he gathered the strength to confront the horrors in the shadows. He became determined to escape this nightmare, determined to win the battle for his mind.
Simon’s fight to reclaim his freedom from the clutches of darkness had just begun.
Author’s Note
This is the beginning of a longer piece I hope to finish someday.
Inspiration for this flash fiction piece came from the
Fictionistas March prompt, which I didn’t finish in time. The prompt was:Continue the story.
When Simon woke up, his hospital room was dark and smelled bad…
Upcoming…
Daily poems for the NaPoWriMo 2024 challenge.
An essay about science and spirituality:
Transcendental, 23 April 2024
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Damn! An intriguing start!