Embered Coal

A Story by Shadow25

We often find ourselves in a space of darkness within our lives. What most of us fail to realize is that we need to be our own light at the end of the tunnel.

My veins pulsate violently with every struggling breath. The chilling sensation of liquid trickling down my cheeks sent throbbing vibrations throughout my body. A cold damp mass presses up against my back. Frozen by fear I cannot move. Thoughts run wildly as I stare out into the dark abyss that surrounds me.

The air is thick and heavy. With every breath, my lungs want to cave in. There is something familiar about the air- the taste. It was the fond childhood memory of the taste of wet grass, on the tip of my tongue, after a rainy day. Mama used to take me outside and we would sit on the cold concrete stoop, sipping cups of hot cocoa, trying to find the rainbow. “After every storm comes the beauty of a rainbow, Lila,” I can hear her sweet calming voice as if she were beside me.

I call out to the darkness in the hopes of receiving a reply, but all that is returned is the echoes of my cries. The damp solid mass slides down my back until my knees are crouched up into my chest. The darkness enfolds around me like a heavy blanket. Tears press up behind my eyes with stinging pain, wanting to be released, demanding to be freed.

An aching pain wraps around my lower abdomen. It was hunger, but this is the least of my worries. Was my knight in shining armor on his way to save me? Has anyone noticed that I’m gone? My survival instincts want to take over, but my head and heart are at war. All humanity will be lost if I give over to the predatory side, but holding onto hope keeps me weak and vulnerable against the predators lurking in the dark waiting for me to break.

My eyes are heavy from the exhaustive fight against the darkness at every waking moment. The tears that were once stinging behind my eyes are now rolling down my face and soaking the collar of my shirt. All barriers against the darkness have crumbled down into nothing but dust. It sends out its predators to consume me and leaves me paralyzed- unable to move, unable to think, unable to feel.

The muscles in my legs relax as a sense of relief overcomes me. All fear and pain are swept away and like an embered coal, the darkness that I once feared ignites my soul. The predators of the dark retreat as they see the sparks of life from my eyes. Air rushes into my lungs with a renewed sense of life and with every breath, my strength returns to me. With every step, the ground beneath me aches. There is no need for my knight in shining armor to rescue me because I’m exactly where I’m meant to be- the light in the abyss of darkness.