-A short story I wrote quite a bit ago. smile Critique and comments are welcome! I do realize that this isn't that great of a story, and the ending is abrupt, but please keep in mind that I had been 12 or so when I wrote this.-
She woke up, drenched in sweat. Had it been a dream? It took her a moment to get accustom to her surroundings, the room that she was in told her everything. It had been no dream, and no matter how many times she told herself that, it would always happen. She would wake up in the night, having that dream, and try to pretend that her reality was part of that nightmare. But it wasn’t. She fumbled around on the table next to her for a pen and removed her journal from the drawer.
8th day, 14th month
Year 3000
Same dream. Always is. Always seems real.
That was it. She felt no need to write more, and for almost a thousand years that was all she had put.
“One thousand years” She mumbled to the darkness “I should have died one thousand years ago”
It was the dream that had made it all so vivid. Every night, she would remember that ‘blessing’ so given to her by Death. It was no blessing, not anymore. It was a curse, a curse bestowed upon her for her own selfishness.
“Why? Why did I do this? What did I do to deserve this?” She whispered into the dark. It was too much, far too much. She had seen too many of her loved ones die. All of them, no matter what she did, would leave her. So many of them had promised that they would never go, but they couldn’t help it, it was just a promise that was impossible to keep.
Sometimes voices still lingered in her ears, calling out to her, so distinctive that she was sure that they were real, only to turn around and see nothing. The voices would haunt her, whispering in such sweet tones that begged her to come to them. “Closer Aislin… come closer!” they would call, using such sad voices. “I can’t see you… where are you? Have you run away from me?” They reached out to her with their mellow tones, and almost seemed to blame her for abandoning them.
“I’m sorry!” Aislin yelled into the dark room. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want this…” She paused, as if she was waiting for a reply. “Please…… please believe me…” She whimpered and dissolved into tears.
Silent sobs escaped her as she continued to call out to the ghosts of her past. It had been a long time since she had cried like this. To really genuinely cry made her feel different…. special… and almost fully human again. She wasn’t used to that feeling. Ever since the deal with Death she had been different.
Death. To die… what was that? Does the soul leave to body, never to come again? Or is the body the only thing that dies a short vessel for the soul itself? Is there even such a thing as a soul?
Death is portrayed as a skeleton, a black cape, and a scythe. The real Death is nothing like this. He is in reality, very different. He is handsome, but terrifyingly so. He smiles like the Cheshire cat, a wide and frightening grin. His teeth are perfectly aligned and luminescent white. When he laughs, that maniacal sound vibrates inside your skull for the rest of eternity. His voice is in your head, like velvet covering nails, whispers and screams at the same time.
That deal with Death. The day that she should have died. The day that part of her had died. Perhaps, then, on that day, she did pass. As her soul ripped in two, she must have died. Or, perhaps not. Half of her soul gone, so, where was she? Did she lie between the boundaries of space and time? Did the other half of her soul live? Or did it perish, as she thought it well may have? Questions like these were all left unanswered, and all they did was linger in the silence.
Despite it all, she had fallen asleep. Into deep, forgiving, comforting sleep, which brought her no dreams.
She woke, suddenly, her dark eyes flying open. The earth quaked beneath her, rumbling like a god. What’s happening? She thought, but then, it all became apparent.
It had been a concern for all of the late second century. The earth, the third rock from the sun, was moving. Of course, this was already known, but, what had previously been unknown was that little by little, the earth was changing its rotation around the sun. It was becoming closer. And now, the final lurch.
It would all be over in a matter of hours. Life on earth would be gone before it ever reached the sun. There would still be air left, so maybe, somebody would be left until the impact, but with the tremendous heat, it was, unlikely. Aislin swallowed hard.
Death would come, but, not for her. Somehow, this was a relief. She alone would live on, unless there were others like her out there. But it seemed too bizarre, to have more then one person to be cursed, or gifted, in this way.
A cold presence alerted Aislin of his coming. Death. He was there, yet, he couldn’t have come to collect her. No, there was another purpose for this visit. She turned to face him, ever so slightly. Her memory had not done him justice. For true, he was handsome, no, far beyond that. He was beautiful. He advanced toward her, and Aislin’s heart skipped a beat.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…” he whispered seductively into her ear. “What comes from ashes goes back to ashes… but you’re not like that. You are different, like me.” He turned her head to face him, pulling his fingers through her long black hair. “The world is full of dust and ashes already, and fires still are burning inside the hearts of mortals… yet soon, they will be consumed in their own flame! Come with me, and I will make it so that you never see ashes again! Come with me, and the world will be but dust on the wind.”
She smiled at this. Softly, but enough for him to see.
“I’d like that.” She whispered. She embraced him, and they disappeared. One person was gone from the world. Never to be seen again.
