A Collection of the Broken

So Very, Very Dark

It was dark. So very, very dark.

Alone, and afraid, a small child crammed himself into a corner of the small room down the corridor. He was terrified. His breath was ragged and torn, and he tried hard to control it- to control himself. 

But he couldn't.

His eyes zoned in and out. And even though the very nature and look of darkness had always been undefined, un-sharp, soon the darkness was more of a fuzz, his eyes could barely make out any detail. 

He coughed, how long had it been?

He coughed again. Long enough, he answered himself. 

Suddenly, as if brought by the boy's fading spirits, a voice boomed from every direction. 

"Who are you?" It asked.

The little boy coughed in a fit, and he struggled to breathe. Fighting the cold creeping through his body, he managed to say, "A lost boy" in a tiny voice. 

A pause. "Lost?" It repeated.

"Yes," said the child, "Lost."

The boy was cold. So very, very cold. 

"Will... will you help me?" 

There was no reply.

"Please?" He sounded like he would beg.

Still no answer.

Shivering, the boy stood up, staring into the darkness. He could hear his own heartbeat, but it was slow. He even felt like his own blood was ice. 

"I... don't know where I am..." He limped forward. "I don't know what to do." He took another step but fell. With a choking sound, he looked up. To what he was looking up at- he didn't know. "Please..."

He coughed more and more. Trying to stand, he fell on his chest. 

No hope, no light, the boy felt a different sensation creep through his veins. Death? He couldn't be sure. Maybe it was the life within him faltering, slowly stepping back into deep shadows. 

"Help me...

And he closed his eyes. For how long, he didn't know. Time slipped through easily. 

But, maybe after an eternity (for the boy assumed so), he woke in sunlight.

He stirred. And thought. 

What a brilliant light.