Glimmers of Reality: The Hope of a Goddess

Chapter One – A Beckoning Light

The door opened and there was life. All ragged and torn. All withered and dying. Surrounded by death and the darkness that came with it, William lay, battered and broken and watched with fading eyes as Hannah leant out from the belly of the Firefly above him. Its sleek metallic structure had sliced silently through the dimmed sky, carried once again, by its monstrous balloon. It flew like the breeze all around him, over the colossus of corpses that lay strewn about, as if Haidreal itself had been entirely emptied of them. Now within feet of him, Hannah watched helplessly, as the smallest spark of light that was still within his eyes strained softly in the darkness. She had only been at his side for a miniscule amount of time, but in that single instant she longed to be there more than ever before. Time had all but stopped, as every beat of her heart saw him slip further and further away. He was only fourteen, but in this world, he was a man.

A 3024 Challenger boomed unforgivingly through the sleeping street, almost shattering William’s bedroom window. Its six souped-up engines raged like the krakens of hell as it raced demonically over the glistening cobblestones. Tremendous rain had been pouring all night and had kept him from his much needed sleep once again. Silently and in near darkness, he stumbled half-aware to find his bedroom door and with a yawn and a heavy hand, he slowly turned its handle. Instantly and without holding back, the door flung itself wide open as though a great vacuum had caught it from the other side. Absolute darkness filled the space before him before a tiny speck of light, off in the distance, flickered quickly into life and fought so bravely for its existence. As he watched it – almost in a daze - a strange feeling of belonging overcame him and with utter serenity and without even a second thought, he walked boldly toward it.

Bam! – slammed the door behind him, making him spin around in a panic as he tried relentlessly to pull it back open. Complete darkness had always been a problem for him and he had grown to fear it, but without even the smallest hint of success, he scrunched his eyes tightly shut and with a deep breath, he turned slowly back around.

The continual drips of water into thankless puddles around him came quickly into existence, as did the sweet scent of flowers that vigorously filled his senses. A brilliant light that shocked him suddenly flicked into life as he quickly opened his eyes to take in the glorious sunshine that had raced so dramatically in to greet him. Astounded and speechless, he found himself stood in a stagnant puddle of water within a huge cave of some character. Stalactites hung overhead like great elongated bats that had made permanent roost as they nurtured their stalagmites that grew slowly up to greet them. The blue welcoming sky filled the view-point before him and made him feel quite at ease, whilst a tiny little creature scurried frantically from puddle to puddle beneath his gaze. As he watched it, almost loosing himself entirely in its frenzy, a fuzzy, green haze quickly blew itself up to great proportions from absolutely nothing at all, quickly sapping all of the sunlight from around it. In the near darkness once more, it condensed quickly to take the form of a withered old man that had long since died. William now trembled before this apparition as it gazed at him so inquisitively.

“Who are you?” It asked eerily as it narrowed its eyes to slits.

“I …” William stuttered, “am William.”

“No!” panicked the spirit suddenly, “Not yet!” he rasped, bursting into dissipation as all of the warming sunlight raced forcefully back in.

Slowly and quite unsure of himself, William glanced around from the spot that he was now glued to, bracing himself for a second encounter. The loving sun lit the cave around him once more from the peaceful blue sky ahead, the many musical drips still fell tirelessly into oblivion and that strange little creature still scurried madly around like nothing in the whole world would ever bother it.