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"The Seeker" - Short Story - Revised from 2017
Hello, friends!
I found this blog post from 2017 with this weird little free writing prompt. It ended up being some sort of sci-fi/fantasy thing. I've revamped it a smidge. Added a little more world-building. Maybe it's something I can flesh out a bit to a full story! I don't know. I guess we'll see.
Anywhere, I decided to do a read aloud of it and have posted that below, along with the text. Feel free to listen to it or read it or both!
It could be bad. It might be good. It's likely just mid. *cue MJF GIF*
Whatever it is, thanks for taking the time to check it out.
And I hope you enjoy!
(also, there's a surprise squirrel in the video...)
************
I stare into the endless void outside of my window. The darkness licks at the edges of the frame, hungry. Searching.
I should feel fear, but I don’t.
I should run, but I'm locked in place.
My pulse should not be this steady. My body should not be this calm. I desire a visceral reaction to this thing blotting out my world, but it doesn't come. I find instead an understanding, between it and me. This blackness is alive and holds a piece of me that I'd not realized was missing. Foreign energy courses through my veins and memories flood my consciousness. Visions that are not mine, but somehow are. Familiar in their unfamiliarity. I've been disconnected from this piece of my Self for far too long.
“It’s time to come home.” A voice -- not unlike mine -- beckons.
The sound slides over me, sweet and sticky like honey. A hand forms from the darkness and rests a palm against the glass. I match my hand to it. A perfect fit.
Eyes –- the same gray-violet as mine –- stare back at me from the void.
I suck in air as my vision blurs. My other hand now rests on the lock on the window, ready to fling it open wide and go. No questions asked.
“Come.” The voice calls again. My fingers snap the lock out of place.
A longing, deep within knocks at my consciousness. Against the wishes of the energy coursing through my veins, I channel my might and force one last glance around this place I've called home for so long.
A photo in a simple frame catches my eye. In the photo, I'm smiling. Content.
He looks happy beside me. Arms wrapped around my waist. Foreheads nuzzling against each other.
"I love him." I whisper.
My heart pounds against my chest. A lump forms in my throat. A single tear trickles down my cheek.
I look away from the memory and lock eyes with the form. Tongues of darkness lick around them, and reach towards me. Ready to consume.
“I want to stay.” My voice rolls out of me like thunder with a power I didn't know I possessed.
The dark mass quivers. Pulling back. Shocked by my defiance. They fight to say something that will change my mind, but only manage a garbled response, as if it is impossible to speak words against my wishes. Even now.
“If you do not go, others may come for you. They may not be as apt to follow your command." The voice is neutral, but I feel the sadness in the words.
It does not compare to mine.
The overwhelming knowledge of my old life, the world and people I left behind, the piece of me I shed to leave, the search that ensued after my fall finally ending here on this morning, all rush through my vision like a collage.
A last ploy by the Seeker to change my mind.
The bittersweetness of these visions cannot sway the grief I feel at the thought of him returning home to find me gone.
Whisked away like a wisp of smoke on the breeze.
No trace of my existence. No letter of my intention.
Just gone.
“It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Leave me.” I demand, clicking the lock back into place.
“So be it.” The Seeker has no choice but to obey what may be my last command. Not all my memories are intact after cutting myself off from the hive mind, but I know I am someone with power over this Seeker.
The darkness begins to recede. The hand on the glass lingering, keeping the connection with my fingertips as long as possible.
For a moment, the world outside my window is tinted in gray as the blackness slinks away towards a rift in the sky. My gaze lingers on the hand reaching out for me. A faint, final tug at my soul before it disappears completely. Like a funnel cloud retreating into the heavens.
I squint against the sudden return of the sun, blazing back into a clear, blue sky.
My legs give out, and I crash to the ground, grasping for a dirty shirt nearby. I clutch it against my chest.
His scent triggers the visceral reaction that I was looking for moments ago while staring into the Seeker's void.
I would not trade this for anything. Here. Now.
They may come, but they will fall.
He is the only one I'm powerless against.
************
Alright, so that's it! I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading/listening!
For now,
Rosie
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