Enjoy- Arcane

Below is an excerpt of one of my short stories. I’ll post these morsels every other Wednesday.

The wind was violent, invading. Its hands, it had so many abrasive hands, slipped beneath clothes to scrap bare skin. No privacy existed between me and it. The wooden bridge was empty but I wasn’t alone. The wind walked beside me, holding my hands.

Opaque trees blocked my view of the city. Tall and unmovable, they stood as a barrier between me and the poison this city bled. I sank into imaginations. I was safe, at peace. My fingers were numb but I didn’t shove them in my pockets. I didn’t want to sever my connection with my only companion.The wind left me anyway.

I wanted to run, to seek the shelter of my apartment away from this forsaken world but something had led me here. It called me a name I no longer used. I was sure it wasn’t the Secret luring me out. Those odious beasts didn’t resort to those types of tactics.

The river was such a sordid sight, filled with rotting animal carcasses and human waste. I let the pernicious odor climb up my nose with taloned fingers and assail my skull. The ebb and flow of the waves stirred the death stew and brought to the surface new horrors. A pale humans hand reached through the muck, begging me to save it. I stared at the desperate appendage as stronger and bigger carcasses crowded it and pushed it back down into darkness. This death was a reminder I didn’t like.

The intimate breeze slipped into my ears. The question was simple. The voice was glorious as it eased away all fear and pain. I stood above my emotions and watched the battle of the filth in the water. Always the bigger creatures won over the smaller ones. I wanted to save all of them but it was too late for us all.