Darkness. All around me. The forest was quiet, apart from the low moan of the crickets singing nearby. The frequent owl hoots reminded me that there were other living creatures that dwelled in the forest. What I was doing here though, I had absolutely no idea. There was a distant thundering, warning me of the lurking storm. Me, I couldn't see a thing. Well almost… My surroundings were drenched in pitch black darkness. All the trees that stood around me, rose from the grounds to the infinite skies above, shrouding the grounds with an unmistakable thick foliage. Did they shield the moon from the lands, or was it a new moon? I couldn't guess. I slumped on the slightly damp ground and shut my eyes tight. Alone. Lost. The thought of survival hadn't kicked in as yet. I traced a finger across my arm. I couldn't feel a thing.
I woke up with a sharp intake of breath. A storm was at its peak outside my window. Another sudden thunder. I shot my eyes wide open as the sound reverberated around my room. Wrapping my blanket around me, I crawled over to the window beside my bed, pulling the curtain away as I greeted the violent clattering of the rain drops across the glass. I wiped the glass with my sleeve, peering out as I tried to take in the surroundings. I peeked below, towards the foot of the building, the road, the shore, and the massive ocean that lay beyond it. The sea was violent, the waves crashing on the rocky shore, its waters struggling to hold back. The buildings that lay along the crescent of the road, the shore, were grey, moaning quietly as they stood firmly against the storm. The city lights twinkled under the rain. Not a single car drove past on the road that lay painfully still between the building and the shore. The infamous Marine drive, lay helpless, and exposed to the nature's exasperation. I looked up towards the sky. A mass of silver and white emerged behind the grey clouds now and again, which were shortly followed by a roaring thunder. The noise was deafening, cracking across the impatient heavens.
A soft thud on my bed pulled back my attention to the room. I dragged the curtains back to their initial position and turned back. Kitty, the stray kitten, lay huddled against my feet, curled up in a small trembling ball. I leaned forward and picked him up, holding him close against my chest as I pulled the blanket over us and laid back on the bed. Another blaring thunder. Kitty twitched his tail and clinged closer to me. "Hush now," I whispered, "Let's just hope the lightening's not near us, yes?" I stroked the kitten across his tiny neck. It must have been around 2AM, a Monday morning. "A blaring welcome to the new week," I sighed, "Well hopefully, for you and me, they'll cancel the school tomorrow. I could bake you some cookies, perhaps sleep some more.." Kitty replied with a soft comforting purr, I wondered if he understood what I had meant.
I shut my eyes close and heaved another sigh. I was too tired. Too tired to remain awake, too tired to fall back into that lonely dream. I wanted to escape. To somewhere peaceful, to somewhere in between. Minutes passed by. I kept brushing my fingertips across Kitty's soft fur. His rhythmic purring, my slow breathing, the roaring of the thundering - now distant, they were all luring me into a cold, unusual stance. I hummed under my breath, wanting all the more to escape into the coldness… The calmness. The peace. My surroundings seemed sad. My heart seemed to be in a state of deep distress, as if the invisible wires of flaming iron had wound themselves around the organ. A strange kind of numbness that began with my toes, rose up towards my shins, my legs, my abdomen, chest, arms, my head… Blankness.
I stopped moving. Suddenly. Too suddenly. I couldn't feel Kitty anymore. Nor could I feel the blanket. I opened my eyes and pulled my hand closer to my face, observing my skin under the soft grey light. Ivory. Pale. Silver. I narrowed my eyes before rubbing my palms against my eyes. A relaxed, yet painful throbbing resonated inside my head. I hauled myself up against the wall, before bending my torso and stepping down on the floor. I walked around aimlessly, the woollen carpet doing almost nothing to soothe my bare feet. My room should have been drowned in darkness, but no. I could see everything clearly. Too clearly. I shifted my gaze upon the clock. The hour hand stood before the minute needle - both pointing towards the number three. Too early for sunlight to sneak in my room. But the rain, had it stopped? I couldn't hear the thundering anymore, just the low wail of the dying winds. I turned back to reach across the bed and pull back the curtains, but my hand froze still before it could touch the cloth. I curled up my fingers slightly as I observed my hand, my knees suddenly felt weak. My skin was a pure silver. Translucent. I widened my eyes in horror and shifted my eyes towards the bed. Under the mass of blanket that lay huddled upon it, her head peeked out. Holding the kitten, between her long thin arms, her eyes were shut. Her pale lips slightly parted, my body remained immobile under the veil.
Dead.
