The Dark Room

Nobody Behind the Door by Nicolas Gouny

You know exactly what they look like; black and shimmering, with big long jaws full of bright white teeth. They stretch their arms out, but never come closer than you allow them to.

You stand there and wait, using the light beyond the door to study every shiny scale. They growl and sniff and howl, restless in the dim.

You think they’re the reason you’re still here, that you can’t leave until they are gone. They know better.

Just Beyond

Grey World via Josiah Munsey on Flickr

“Think the sky is grey because we want it that way?” she asks.
Hell of a way to speak to someone on the other side of the line.
“Suits the mood, whatever the reason.”
She ain’t wrong, us facing each other in the misty quiet.

Above us it’s all spinning off, breaking up – reforming.
“Are you afraid of what comes next?”
She’s difficult to ignore but impossible to cut down.
“I’m not.”

Now that, I do believe.
They’ve the light of a million righteous souls behind them.
But us?
All we’ve got’s the guilt.

The Inventor

Painting with Light, via equivocality here.

On a barren road, and in the dark
I create.
With faded skies overhead, and a blank canvas
I invent.
Controlling light, and moving in time
I imagine.
Pieces of a world undiscovered, fall into place
I explore.

Waypoints

The Stronghold, by ethicallychallenged.

Clusters are collections,
A thousand worlds beneath the Stars.
These Worlds share connections,
Waypoints mark each one.
And at these points a Stronghold stands,
With a Torch that never needs tending,
And never goes out.

Strongholds are supposed to look like castles from the old world, safe havens for the Travellers that find themselves in a new place. Not where they once were and in need of explanation, the markings in the stone tell the story of how we’re all connected.

But as the ages came and went, on each of the worlds within all of the clusters, the lights began to flicker, and to fade.

The End

Lost in Space, by Take-The-Black. View it here.

In another time, being so utterly alone was the very worst thing I could imagine. Having to say goodbye as, one by one, everyone I’ve come to know on this journey smiles and steps back. They wait for me to join them again in the distance.

The Shadow Biosphere

Sixty Seconds by ph0enix

Now in the dusty places where the sun rarely strays and the people hasten to walk by is where you’ll find them, my little hunter. They’ll spin and circle, lazy and unvexed by your presence at first. But don’t mistake this disinterest for invitation, for they will swallow you whole and all memory of you as well.  

Distances Crossed

Digital art by marcocasalvieri on deviantArt, viewable here.

The last time I found myself here I was twelve. Just a child blinking up at the skyline and wondering why it was changing colours. I think you walked with me for a time and perhaps you tried to explain; but why would a child be interested in such knowledge when there was so much to see?

Interlude

Conceptual photograph by Cichutko, viewable here on deviantART

Fluorescent lights inside the bus don’t flicker as they should, fixed in the moment they last existed. He sighs ever so slightly and stuffs his hands into his pockets. The traffic outside should be moving, drivers pressing on their horns and leaning out to shout, but there is no noise here anymore. A small flicker towards the back of the bus and then…