Short Stories →

Light

October 4, 2023

He could see light glowing on the horizon. How long had he been walking towards it? He wasn’t sure. There was no day or night here, no way to count the passing of the days… or years. There was nothing but darkness and the light on the horizon.

His body… though he sometimes wasn’t sure if he still had one… felt neither hot or cold, it never tired or felt hunger. With nothing else to do, he just kept walking in the general direction of the light.

Had he been walking like this forever? He couldn’t remember when he started, or where he came from. He was sure he came from somewhere… different. Sometimes he’d still get flashes of memories, like half remembered dreams. A face, the sharp sound of a gun, a passing smell, the sun shining off a piece of chrome, a glass of water on a table, a slow rotating ceiling fan… shards of something broken whose other pieces he could never again find.

But lately he had noticed something different, the light was brighter. He wasn’t really sure at first, but now he had no doubts, the glare was getting stronger with each step. Was he finally arriving? If so, where? Was there a purpose for this long walk? Would he now find it? Would he finally remember?

His steps got faster without him even noticing. He ran towards the bright glow. He had to know!

The light embraced him. It was warm and it was cold, it became a roaring whisper. A thousand colors burst into his eyes. His whole mind became joy, and pain, and sorrow at the same time. His new found lungs suddenly filled with air, a million smells raining down on him from everywhere at once. Overwhelmed, he opened his new found mouth and let out a sharp cry.

“Congratulations Mrs. Fergusson!” Said the doctor, handling the tiny crying body to the nurse waiting beside him. “She’s a beautiful and healthy baby girl.”

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