Short Stories

Wasteland

Prompt: Wasteland by Against The Current

The first thing you realised, before anything else, was the eerie feeling, the temperature, just too cold to be comfortable, the sense of impending doom. You blinked, trying to clear your head from the drowsiness that followed waking up. Although waking up implied that you had previously been sleeping; something that didn't fit. Standing between trees, fully clothed, shoes and even had your ring around you finger, the one you always took off before bed. You told yourself you were dreaming, albeit very realistically, ignoring your gut feelings and the shivers running down your spine.

The trees surrounding you were higher than you could ever have imagined them to be, standing tall, swaying softly in the wind. You couldn't see the sky clearly, and your eyes must have deceived you, as it almost seemed like the sky had turned a purple colour.

Carefully, you placed a foot on the stony path that crawled through the sense forest. You were standing in something that had once must have been a beautiful, cultivated garden; but now, it was more like a wasteland. The bench standing a few feet away had turned green, branches curling around the timber, and the path you were standing on was barely recognisable as such. Nature had completely taken over, and you felt like an intruder. The garden was still beautiful; but it was the kind of beautiful that felt like it wasn't made for eyes to see. There were a few flowers, in dark purple and black, with big hearts and long petals. They looked beautiful but reminded you of flesh eating plants, and you didn't dare to touch them.

You shivered and looked over your shoulder; searching for a presence that you felt, but didn'tsee. You opened your mouth to ask if anyone was there; but then you closed it again. Silence seemed to be the more sensible option. Carefully, you followed the path, trying not to make a sound. The garden was unnaturally quiet; you could see the wind rustling between the leaves, but you couldn't hear it. It was unnerving, and you found yourself wondering once more how you had ended up here. It was ridiculous, and you knew it, but no matter how often you pinched your arm, you wouldn't wake up. So instead you kept following the path, although it became increasingly harder to do so; the trees grew closer to each other and the stone was more often replaced by soft patches of grass. Going back wasn't an option; you knew that in your bones. Carefully, you looked over your shoulder only to see the trees closing in behind you, like there was never a space between them. So you kept moving on, ignoring the poisonous flowers that suddenly started to appear next to you. They looked tempting; but would invoke a painful death. You didn't question how you knew all this and focused on moving forward. You tried to ignore how the grass didn't bend at all beneath your weight, or how you felt the wind blowing harder, but the world remained utterly silent. You tried to ignore your worries, but as you moved on, they were impossible to ignore. You gradually lost control of your actions and emotions until you surprised yourself by suddenly halting, head tilted, listening for a sound in the complete silence. Your pause didn't last long as you the wind forced you to keep going. You continued hurriedly, almost tripping over your own feet. The fear was there, strongly but subdued, like you were perhaps still asleep, after all. You didn't panic; you just kept moving.

Until you looked back.

And where before you had been aware that the forest was closing behind you, and that you could only follow the path, it now closed around you as you watched. And not just behind you. Suddenly, leaves were tickling your armed, your hair got caught in branches and everything grew dark. You managed to look back at where the path had been seconds ago. It had been replaced by trees, the exquisite purple flowers laughing at you from the ground.

The wind became stronger, and a flash lit the forest up for seconds, but there was still no sound. Only your own spreading breath was heard; as you finally gave in to the panic.

Branches no longer tickled your skin, but penetrated it. Your hair was pulled back by the trees. You opened your mouth to scream, but a branch slid in and you were silenced.

Silence had returned to the wasteland once more.