An Unexpected Journey

Short Story: Lost

Up,

Up,

Up.

That's where my unconscious mind went as I laid there, still by the riverside. I was surrounded by nothing but the wet stones, fresh air, and droplets that splashed onto me from the waters stream.

The last thing I remember touching was the water breathing past my hand and hydrating the dried-up skin that covered it. As my mind wavered and travelled further from within my own body, my previous thoughts and life whisked away from me like a hot flash blur by.

My drying eyes fell shut. My body now lays there limply, an empty vessel, on the damp grass by the riverside.

My mind awakened in unknown territory; a vast emptiness now enveloped me. An all-encompassing abyss grabbed a hold of me, gently caressing my new form of existence. In this strange new plane of existence, I seemed to be moving, floating, slowly forward, to a new destination. A fuzzy sensation enveloped me as I moved forward, suddenly it felt as if I no longer had any memories...

Memories of what?

A light glistened in the distance, calling out to me. As I drifted by closer, the brighter and brighter it appeared to be. Entranced by its warmth, I reached out to touch it, capture it with my fingertips. It spread across me, encasing my body entirely. Its presence was warm at first, a comforting sensation like that of a warm hug. But then it shifted. In an instance, it became an eerie and hostile freezing bite of cold. Along with it came the feeling of being watched.

Slowly, it filled up my new body. Suffocating, it began to squeeze; squeeze so hard that it shattered my bones into shards of pieces. As temperatures increased, burns and boils birthed across my skin, sizzling, and bursting repeatedly. My flesh started melting, melting off into clumps until there was nothing left. During this process, the stench of burning flesh was so overwhelming to the point where it filled up what was left of my sense of smell, I wanted to throw up, but I couldn't. The stinging sensation still lingered on what remained of my flesh, coldness spread across my body.

An indescribable pain washed over me, a sense of relief that this torture was over. It felt eternal, until finally the pain faded away into a dull ache, and then to nothing.

As if none of the previous events occurred, my body had morphed back into its original state, with no sign of damage. I was no longer paralyzed. It was just, me.

I began to move freely again when I noticed another shift in the atmosphere. All around me blue flames erupted from below, encasing me in their fierce flames. As I let out a bloodcurdling scream, my vocal cords broke, my open mouth exposing my throat and lungs to the ashes from the smokey air. That burning sensation again, only lasted for half a second before it went back to cold. My being faded into ashes and dust as distorted dots clouded my vision.

My mind raced as I tried to process what was happening again and again, my eyes felt as if they were open and yet I couldn't see a single thing. I tried blinking, and still there was nothing. Transparent liquid bled from my empty eye sockets, like a raging waterfall. All my feelings of sensation were gone, I could feel nothing, all I feel is empty. All that made me human in my prior life was gone, I was left with only two things: guilt and loneliness.

The cycle began again.

It stops

and

starts

again,

again,

and

again,

that was when I realized.

I was in hell.

A/N: I'm having a hard time finding the correct credit to the original owner of the image above. All copyright belongs to them and when I do figure that out I'll update this note to properly credit them. I'll state again that I do not own the image above and that I only own the writing that is on this page. If the original owner wants the image removed, I'll of course respect their wishes and do so.