SHATTER

Clarah stared at the elderly woman laying still. This did not make any sense.

The nurses had just checked in on the woman, and she had been laughing so loud her laugh could be heard from down the hall of the living space for the lost souls.

Some of her silver hair was covering part of her face. As soon as Clarah tried to reach out to move it in the right place, the part that she touched split & fell to the side onto the floor.

Clarah placed one hand over her mouth. Her heart started to beat so fast as if it would burst out of her chest. She stormed out of the room and rushed to the bathroom.

Once there she tried to calm herself down. Then the lights began to flicker. She closed her eyes in a flash…waiting for the lights to get back to working in a normal way.. but they continued to misbehave like a giant flame that was being put out with a burst of water from a magical gourd.

Clarah opened her eyes the minute the lights were functioning properly. She stared in the mirror & froze. Her eyes landed on what she saw in the clear glass.

‘You know I know that you are watching me!’ She bellowed and walked away from her reflection.

She took a deep breath and started to chant:

From the crowing

To the mooring

Souls aligning

Vessels mourning

All come forth

Bring on the mirth

Waves rising

Time bending

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a piece of thread. It swirled around & started to spin itself around her body, tightening its hold on Clarah.

She felt the room getting smaller and crashed onto the floor. After a while, she opened her eyes and found herself back in a familiar place.

‘Hello, there!’ The old lady smiled at her young friend. Clarah tried to get up and bow her head, but she could not move.

‘Now don’t you worry dear. You need your rest. The work has only began. Go tell the others to get ready, too.’

Clarah gave a slight nod and found herself already out of the room, in the hallway on her way to inform the rest of the crew.

What was she going to say to them? Who was this woman anyway? How in the world did she end up in this strange place?

Clarah stopped in the hallway and looked back. All the doors in the corridor had vanished. She began to run and the passage only became longer, and longer.

All of a sudden she heard something begin to crack. She looked down, and the floor beneath her was not there anymore.

‘Ahhhh!’ She screamed as she fell down… to her demise.

#SHATTER (c) 10/06/2022.