The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
Awakening
by Tawny Kipphorn
My memory of her fades more each time the storm passes through, leaving her ghostly essence behind in its wake. Every day she would gaze into the flames while mumbling something about an endless darkness, and although she was right in front of me, it was clear she was many miles away, far beyond where I could ever go. It was as if there were an invisible veil cocooning her, and try as anyone might, no one could break through its ethereal armor. That night, she wandered out as the rain poured down, making her way deep into the woods. I followed behind her, making sure to keep my distance. As I knelt down deep into the darkness, I watched in horror as her body contorted at different angles. A beaming light materialized from above and moved quickly into her, and an agonizing scream escaped her lips into the dead of night as she slumped down onto the wet earth. I looked around the pitch black woods as if somehow I could make sense of what I’d just seen, but when I glanced back in her direction, she was gone. As I began to walk towards where I’d just seen her, I felt a violent vibration travel up through my feet and into the rest of my body. A strong surge that brought me to my knees, and I cried tears of pain and happiness. It was in that moment that I realized I had not only just witnessed death, but rebirth as well. I walked away from the memory of her, the death of my former self. I walked into the new me, the one with the gift of third You sight. As I continue to linger between the realms, she has disappeared from my mind, but I always remember the darkness that stared back at me through the flames.
Fiction © Copyright Tawny Kipphorn
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More from Author Tawny Kipphorn:
A Shadow of Autumn
Fall—a season as beautiful as it is foreboding. A Shadow of Autumn takes you back to childhood nostalgia while peeling away the mask to reveal things that haunt your worst nightmares. Within these pages, you’ll find the usual denizens of the holiday—demons, witches, ghosts, and bloodsuckers—along with strange and unknown creatures lurking everywhere from innocuous cornfields and pumpkin patches to basement hatches and high school dances. These fourteen tales of fall magic and Halloween horrors will keep you looking over your shoulder long after the last light of October has waned. Don’t say we didn’t warn you…
Spreading the Writer's Word 
Dark and excellent.
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