The Fog

A thick fog surrounded the valley. It hovered near the tops of the mountains and clung to the body of stone. It was impossible to see anything below the canyons or above. It was breath taking. Beautiful and chillingly terrifying. In all that awe of beauty and terror, in the mountains around that made the wind whistle and howl, deep within the gorge swayed a small green tram, suspended in the air. It did not move but hovered above the nothingness between sky and earth. All was still within the air tram. Silent. Still. Quiet.

            A boy sat near the window within the air tram. He was content in his seat but had a deep unsettling feeling within his breastbone. He was confused, and stared out at the clouds obscuring his view in bewilderment. The youth's gaze searched for something. He did not know his name or what he had been doing previously, and the emptiness inside him filled him with fear. He rubbed his arms, unconsciously trying to bring warmth into his memories, and sighed in exhaustion. He soon gave up trying to remember and stared out solemnly, watching the fog's vapor and specks curl and twist delicately around. He was caught up in their rhythmic dance, observing closely those vapors as some hit the glass of his window and turned into water droplets. It was damp in the tramcar. He soon looked around him soberly as a gentle current of air swayed the tram once more, rocking it side to side.

            There was no light except from a single lamp at the head of the aisle above the tram door. It wasn't very useful, since the outside was neither light nor dark, just a dull grey. Yet, the lamp aberrantly flickered, casting shadows to play on the metal walls and floors. Then the shadows seemed to take a life for themselves and whispered around him. The boy grew cold as the voices became recognizable. A particular shadow, more formed than the rest, lingered near him and hissed by his ear.

            "Sheep. Little one, hast thou forgotten thy way?" Whispered the unrecognizable form. The boy shrunk away from the shadow, having felt a cold whips of air brush against his face. The shadow drew away and faced him.

            "If thou has lost all memory of thy being, then come, come join our kin," said the shadow darkly, chuckling a little. A shiver ran through the boy, not from the cold, but from the feeling of death around him. This creature was death. So he shook his head, not wanting to reply. The shadow grinned, if ever a shadow could, and said nothing after that, but it did not exit. Instead it lingered about the tram as if waiting for the boy to change his mind.

            The boy felt a deep emptiness with him, the cold seeping in. He continued to stare out of the tram, in a trance as he watched the fog curl and swirl like waves. And just like waves on a beached shore, it never left, but returned and eventually marked the sand. Longing for the sun and its warmth, he pressed his face and hands against the cold glass and stared up towards the sky. He wished the fog would subside so that he could see the blue sky, but the glass soon fogged up and he drew back in disappointment. Almost instantaneously, the fog thinned enough for a single ray of sunlight to stream into the tram, then it clouded once more, but the light still illuminated within the tram. It warmed the inside just a fraction. The boy squinted at the light, as if the amorphous being stood and seemed to stretch a hand towards him.

            "Thou hast a heart of gold. Kind and just, boy, do not stray off the path. Take the hand of light," it said and the warmth of its voice was comforting and reassuring. Even still, the boy did not take its ethereal hand, since the impression of death still remained in the air. He looked from the Shadow to the Light and did not go or respond to either of them. Their longing was not what he wanted, he knew deep down that he was not ready to go with either of them, not to the Shadow or Light. In despair, the boy placed his head in his hands, "Why am I here? I'm scared... who am I?" He would ponder on such questions without answers. And throughout this time of his quandary, the Shadow and Light argued about his fate. So, the boy tried his best to push away the pain within his heart, he would rather not feel anything at all, than this.