The Awakening

An icy discovery

Photo by vadim.nefedov

Greenland that vast expanse,  
where the wind howls like
a mournful ghost, sees
Jane, the intrepid explorer,  
plunge into the icy jaws of a hidden cave,  
heart pounding with the thrill of the unknown,  
a pickaxe clutched tightly,  
the air thick with silence,  
broken only by the crunch of 
snow beneath her boots.

She ventures deeper,  
her headlamp beam flickering,  
casting shadows that dance like lost souls,  
each step pulling her into an ancient embrace;
the chill wrapping around her,  
a lover's grasp, cold to the bone.

And there, amid the glistening walls of ice,  
she finds it—a body entombed;
a man, perfectly preserved,  
clad in intact animal skins,  
frozen in a tableau of eternity;
hollow eyes gazing into the void,  
whispers of a forgotten era 
echoing in the stillness.

Who were you? she breathes,  
her voice a fragile thread,  
seeking connection in the silence,  
an urge to unravel the mystery,  
to thaw the secrets held within.

With determination, she strikes the ice,  
each blow a heartbeat in the void,  
a desperate rhythm of curiosity,  
amid thoughts of notoriety.

Hours melt away like sun-warmed snow,  
and fatigue creeps in;
until at last, exhaustion pulls her under,  
and she surrenders to sleep’s icy embrace.

But in the darkness,  
the air changes,  
a stirring of ancient power;
the ice trembles,  
responding to a call long buried;
the body within shifts;
the mummified man rouses,  
eyes ablaze with an otherworldly light,  
piercing through the veil of reality.

Jane awakens,  
heart racing, breath caught in her throat;
before her stands the past unshackled,  
a specter clad in frost and shadow,  
the air thick with a palpable dread.

I am the keeper of secrets, he rasps,  
his voice a chilling echo,  
the cave thrumming with a dark energy.

Shadows twist and writhe along the walls,  
murmuring of lives lost,  
of ambition swallowed by the cold.

Why me? Jane pleads,  
her voice trembling.

But the keeper only smiles,  
a chilling grin that promises 
knowledge  
and despair entwined.

You sought the past,  
but the past demands its due.

The shadows converge,  
the cave tightens its grip,  
the ice alive, swallowing, reclaiming,  
the explorer now a pawn  
in a battle with primal terror.

A price paid for pursuing fame, 
one that awakens a darkness,
a warning for those who dare  
to seek what should remain buried  
beneath the unforgiving ice.

Author’s Note

My new book, The Edges, is now available in digital and paperback formats

Upcoming…

• A ghost story:

  Forbidden Love, 5 October 2024

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