‘When life is dark and cold, make your own sunshine.’ a distant hum buzzed in my ears.
A weak memory. Who was that? That voice……….. I knew it. And loved it.
Unnatural warmth filled my heart as I took courage and ventured forward into the darkness beyond. The words acted like fire coursing through my veins, infusing hope in me as now I could see everything around me. It felt as though I was radiating light and my eyes seemed to be replaced with flames.
The ground beneath me was grey and blackish. Nothing could grow on it. Hard as rock, it pained my heart with every step I took. The air was misty and my heavy breathing resonated as rasps in the damp air. Walking ahead, I could see two towering mountains. Every detail of it told me it was deathly dangerous. The sides were steep and shards of uneven rocks jutted out, tearing anyone who accidently even tripped. A blanket of mist swirled around it as if hiding something hideous. Between them was a shallow pool. Approaching it, I found it to be sickly green with ash colored moss floating on it.
What was this place?
I got my answer the very next second.
Terror coursed through my veins as my eyes beheld the sight beyond. More than a million faces stood staring at me. All of them, sickly pale. Their faces were as white as sheets and a hint of grey seemed to color their cold appearance. Unhappiness showed in each and every face. Pain, sorrow, grief, helplessness as though lost forever and despair. Shrouded in once white linen, they stood gaping at me. Some of them were maimed, crippled with hands and legs yet red with bleeding. Some were headless. And some seemed unharmed.
Suddenly one of them walked up close to me. Her head fell off her neck and hung from her shoulders. She reminded me of someone I knew.
“I know your face….” was all I could mumble to her.
“Yes, Sean. I’m Kathleen, your sister.”
“Where am I?” I asked the woman who called herself to be my sister.
“In the Abyss.”
“The Abyss?”
“A place between life and death”
I shuddered at her words. Realization dawned upon me. I was not dead.
“You will wait here until either of the fates has been decided for you.” she continued.
I winced as her fingers touched my face. I didn’t feel anything. No soft hands of a woman. My sister. Instead a sudden coldness welled inside me when her mist like ghostly fingers met my skin.
She turned and began to leave, taking away all the frigidity coldness and despair. Hope and warmth flushed my face instantly. But it was short lived.
A faint murmur rose amidst the dead that stood facing me like an army. They were whispering something.
“SEAN FARREL”
My name. I knew it after all.
The whispers got louder and louder.
“SEAN FARREL…. COME TO US AND DWELL IN PEACE”
Never.
Aaargh…………….
A searing pain tore through my heart. Clutching my chest, I lunged ground wards. My heart was being ripped apart by forces beyond my explanation. Every beat hurt and the chants of the dead rippled in extra pain. Suddenly the ground beneath me went limp. And I fell screaming with terror and pain into an endless pit. The suction in it wrenched my wretched heart. Then I was forced into a dreamless slumber.
“Daddy….you’re back!” a voice woke me from my sweet slumber.
A flash of luminescent heat greeted my eyes. The sun.
I glanced at my ring. It dazzled in the gleams of the July sun. I hardly heard the screams round me. I was alive. I’d escaped THE ABYSS.
“Sean………….. O my God! I love you, honey.”
The same voice.
A woman with hair like spun gold beamed at my, tears filling her soft brown eyes. Nora. My wife.
“Daddy…….” someone squealed.
Alex………..my daughter.
“Gosh….he’s back from coma!” a nurse gasped.
I sat up on my hospital bed, tears of realization and gratitude streaking my face.
And then the three of us hugged each other and cried. And then laughed.
“I love you” I whispered to both of them.
I vowed thereon that I’d never forget them. But yet I know one day I will have to go back there and then I can never escape.
THE END
