Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Standing in the middle of a field, I feel alone. Among hundreds of others, I still feel alone. Shouting, but no one answers. Reaching to touch, but no one feels my hand. They pass by me, unaware that I am even there. Fear begins to run through me. Spinning around, I look at their blank faces. None of them noticed me. How could they? Their eyes are gone. 

I look up. The cloudless sky is bright blue, and the sun is directly overhead. I feel warmth on my face, but the rest of me shivers from the cool air. There is silence everywhere. There are no birds,  animals, or noise, just hundreds of expressionless people wandering in every direction. 

I wonder where I am. Suddenly, in unison, the crowd stops moving, as if something is commanding them. Their dingy gray attire slightly sways from a gentle breeze. I think I hear a voice call out, “Begin,” and the crowd again begins to move without purpose. Bumping into one another without any concern.  

Intensely staring through the crowd of strangers, I notice a man standing motionless across the field. His long white robe glistens in the sunlight. His wavy dark brown hair hangs over his shoulders. I cannot see his face, but I know he is different from the others. I say to myself, “I am not the only one alone.” I begin to walk toward him. The crowd of people packs tighter around me with every step I take. They reach out for me to prevent my movement, grasping my body with their cold hands. “Let me through,” I say as the man in the white robe turns and begins to move into the trees. I shout, “Wait, don’t leave! I can see you!” 

He stops momentarily, then continues along a narrow path. I force myself free from the clutches of the crowd, pushing them aside as I struggle my way through the wall of people. I run to the edge of the forest. My heart is pounding harder. My breathing is irregular, as fear begins to overwhelm me. I can barely see him now. He stops once again and, without turning, motions for me to follow. I turn; in amazement, the field is empty. I speak aloud, “Where have all the people gone?”

I look up; the sky is darkening, and the sun has vanished. The clearing is being consumed by a dark fog as raspy breaths echo in the air. I turn back, and the man is also gone. Again, I feel alone. Quickly, but cautiously, I step into the trees. Hearing faint footsteps in front of me, I run forward. As I turn a corner along the narrow path, I once again see the same man walking slowly ahead of me. I hurry to catch up with him. Keeping pace, I follow him closely. The fear has almost vanished from me. The sky becomes brighter. Sunlight returns and leaks through the leaves. The closer I am to the stranger, the brighter the surroundings. 

The narrow trail twists and turns among the dense growth. Vines entangle the trees that are lining the path. It seems like we are walking forever. Still following him closely, we begin to ascend a knoll. The path rises slowly, but still twists and turns through the trees. Up and up, we begin to climb. Steeper and steeper the trail rises. Then the path begins to narrow, into what seems like no path at all. I struggle through the forest bursting with brilliant foliage. Still keeping the man within my sight, I force my way through the thick vegetation that covers the ground. 

The tree branches reach out for me as I push my way through. Walking is getting harder now. My feet are dragging, and I am slowly losing sight of the stranger. Again, the sky becomes darker, and the forest behind me turns into an unnatural blackness. Then he disappears. Fear once again fills me. Again I am alone as the darkness surrounds me. Screaming, “Where have you gone?” I ran towards the last place I saw him. I could see a dim light ahead. Running towards the light with every ounce of strength I have left, I enter another clearing. The stranger is on the other side of the clearing with his hands reaching for the sky. There is a light descending on him from above. His body is consumed in a bright glow. Suddenly the descending beam of light vanishes, and his body consumes the glow. He lowers his hands and, without turning, motions for me to follow. 

Stepping into the trees, he immediately vanishes into the dense growth. I try to run, but a force I cannot see is pulling at me, stopping me from moving. Darkness once again begins to form around me. “Wait!” I shout. With a desperate surge forward, the unseen force releases me. I race to the edge of the clearing. The stranger is barely visible as he is moving, almost gliding up a steep grade. 

As I hustle along the narrow path, leaf-filled branches swat at my arms. I am once again behind him. His white robe sparkles brightly from the sun's rays peeking through the leaves. I notice welts on my arms from the branches. My clothes have small tears on them. The blackness is swallowing everything behind us. However, the area around the stranger is brightly lit.

Finally, we crest the hill and stand on a small plateau. Never turning so I can see his face, the stranger walks towards a single tree that is growing in the distance. Behind us, darkness conceals the forest. I wonder how we ever made it through. On each side of us are cliffs so high that they vanish into the cloudless sky. In front of us is the lonely tree. The man walks over and stands beside it. Again, he motions for me to follow.

Cautiously, I approach where the tree overlooks a ledge. I look down. As far as my eyes could see, there was no bottom. Roots from the tree grew downward and clung to the rocks of the endless ravine. To my right, the man is standing on another path, maybe two feet wide. Along the right side of the path is a wall of rock rising toward the sky. To the left, it is infinitely down. 

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake. I begin to run back toward the trees from where we came. They disappear, and darkness replaces them. A cold breeze begins to blow, causing me to shiver as it swirls by. I turn back and run to the tree that stands alone. Wrapping my arms around it, I hold it tightly. While the ground continues to tremble, I close my eyes. 

A voice sounds, “Come, come with me. You must follow me. Trust me, come with me.”

Opening my eyes, I see the man standing with his hand out. His face was glowing, hiding his features. “I am frightened,” I answer.

He replies, “Trust me; you must trust me.”

Tightening my grip, I close my eyes and shake my head. I speak, “I can’t let go. I will fall.” Then silence, except for the rumble of the ground below me. Moments later, the ground beneath me begins to shake more violently. I open my eyes and notice a doorway in the cliff slowly open, and the stranger disappears into it. 

Staring at the doorway, I notice a smaller person peek their head out and motion for me to come. Then I hear a soft voice, “Hurry before the door closes!”

I glance behind me. The ground was disappearing. Releasing my grip, I bolt toward the path. Slowly, the door is closing. I sprint down the trembling path. The closer I get to the door, the more intensely the path is shaking, almost forcing me over the edge. Behind me, the path is crumbling and falling into the bottomless ravine. Fear is filling my soul, but I could not stop. 

With every step down the slender cliffside path, the earth was crumbling at my heels. Glancing back to see how close it is to me, the darkness fills the air, rolling like a fog, only inches from me. I think I see an evil face hiding within the blackness, but the fear inside me may be causing this hallucination. Looking back to the doorway that is ever so slowly closing, I run harder. 

The path beneath me is not only crumbling under my feet; it begins to sway back and forth. Beads of sweat are rolling down my cheek. I feel a cold hand grasp my shoulder tightly, but no one is there. The unknown presence is trying to force me over the edge. Jerking my shoulder away, the cold hand releases its grip. A loud, raspy voice explodes in my ear, “I will have you!” 

I am running even harder now, but the doorway seems to be beyond reach. Only a slim crack of light can now be seen from the cliffside entrance. “Don’t shut the door!” I yell as a shadow blocks the light exiting the small opening. I see a hand grasping the door’s edge, holding it from closing. 

“Hurry, before the door closes completely,” the soft voice speaks. 

I am only a few feet from the doorway when the shadow vanishes. Heavy, evil breaths sound, and a chilling gust of wind causes me to shiver. Finally, I reach the doorway. Maybe there is just enough room for me to squeeze through. I give a tremendous shove against the door, but simultaneously, the path below gives way, and I fall. As the door becomes smaller, I scream, “I trust you!” Then everything is black. 

When the light reenters my eyes, I am in a room. How did I get here, I wonder? There are two, what appear to be angels, standing beside a doorway. They too are dressed in white robes. Their bodies glimmer with the same glow as the stranger. Smiles fill their faces as they speak together, “We’re glad you made it.