Prologue
The horizon seemed to be stitched with a line of silver. Violent waves crashed against the shore trying to be heard in the noisy and crowded world. A silver of moonlight spilled on the sand signifying a cloudless night.
A young lady stood barefooted on the beach along with her daughter who looked no more than 9. They admired the creation of nature with fire in their eyes
“Mama, where is Dada?” the innocent ginger-haired kid had asked her mother that night. Her mother had merely chuckled and replied. “He’s one of the angels, living in the sky. ”
The kid gave her a confused look trying to find an explanation in her mother’s words. Her nose scrunched up in awe as she stared at the never-ending sky longingly “Then why do we not live there with him?”
“You will know once you are older.”
It didn’t take me years to figure it out. Two days after that night my Mom died from an unknown disease. When the morning had arrived her body was covered in small red blisters. The doctors shrugged it off as smallpox but doubt and fear were evident in their eyes too.
My Aunt repeated my mom’s words to me that day, but in a different way. “Don’t worry Honey. Your Ma is with your dad now. He’ll take care of her, ”
I was naive in those days. I believed that she left because I made her miss Dad. Every night I started crying myself to sleep. I regretted ever mentioning him that night, but I got over it slowly.
It’s been 7 years now.......
The air moved like cool water and the aroma of my aunt’s scented candles infused me far more deeply than they did in the light of day. My room was shrouded in the darkness that stole my own form too.
There was something in the colors of the night that was like a promise. It was a room as a canvas rather than a finished work of art. The whispering shadows were a part of the beauty. Their angelic voices calm and soothing, asking me about my day. I ignored them as usual, my old blanket clutched tightly in my sweaty palms as a form of comfort.
At first, I had liked them. There was something intriguing about them, but I slowly grew to fear them. Initially, when they had engaged me in conversations strange things started happening. I always woke up with cuts and blisters on my heels.
It only got worse later. Hand marks started appearing on my neck, severe burns on my arms and one day I woke up totally submerged underwater in my bathtub while I was pretty sure my Aunt had tucked me in the bed.
I thought Mama was calling me to become an angel along with her, but something made me think otherwise. This was unlike the warmth and comfort that Mama radiated. As the days passed, I started ignoring the whispering shadows. The near-death experiences started decreasing gradually but the sweet words of the dark didn’t.
Days turned to months, Months turned into years. I no longer cared about foolish fantasies. I convinced myself to ignore the unusual and move ahead.
And then it happened..... An event out of time. One that I had always dreaded
“It’s what darkness is for, it’s to bring out the beauty of light, but even though I appreciate the darkness it’s not my favorite either”
