Within the GRAY

Chapter 1

Like a barren tree limb, Terra collapsed in the ashes. She was stuck in a loop of hallucinations that made her mind scream. At first, she thought she was dreaming, but knew it was something more. As smoke filled her lungs, Terra remembered that moment. That moment when everything changed. A life full of love, of hope... turned desolate and everything went black. The bustle of life was muted in an instant, replaced with deafening silence. Her thoughts, her breathing, and even her heart seemed to stop. Yet those words still echoed in her mind.

"I'm sorry, your husband has expired."

In that moment she fell into a chamber within her mind, collapsing within a place of echoing despair. Lost, within the Gray, of her mind. People that once surrounded her were now merely ashes that clung to her skin. Alive, in her death she arose. Smoke filled memories surrounded her hiding the engulfing flames of passion, expired. Searching across the Gray, the light of hope was absent from her horizon. Whispered words of the past swept through her hair like the calloused touch of his hands. A reminder of hope, now torn from the destruction of him. Her body wasted from that moment, she looked down at the emptiness that her diamond ring now represented and knew her young family would never be the same. Her skin cracked, dry as the bark on a tree from the memories that raked across her skin. There was no sound, no color, and no breath. It appeared there was nothing, but smoking embers. Gasping, Terra stood up. Reaching down she felt her gauze dress and seen the once snow-white fabric, turned gray, flakes of ash covering her naked feet. Her gaze wandered, searching, as the heated wind raked through her fiery hair. She was alone. Around her, she could see the sharp edges of Mountainous rocks. They were broken in black shards like a shattered mirror reflecting the darkness of day. The smoke swam around her pushing her forward towards the shoreline. The water oozed like black oil against the horizon and licked the shore like thick bubbles of misery.

Driven, her feet drug against the rocks. Terra reached down trying to stop moving but she only fell forward. She felt the heat of blood between her toes, but instead of a rich red, it was as black as a raven's feather. Against the shards her body seemed to echo like an eternal loop in tiny mirrors.

Forward, her body moved without her. Terra's heart raced, only able to see the black ocean cresting gray against the shore. She opened her mouth to cry out, to scream, but was only met with silence. The dark ocean was only a few feet away. Her body tensed trying to produce sound. Every muscle clenched, every ounce of breath within her escaped. Still, there was silence. Pulling against the smoke, she dug her feet into the ashy sand until finally, she collapsed. Terra could feel movement behind her. Turning, she saw them. Hundreds of gray figures walking blindly. Each haunted individual headed towards the black depths. Crouching against the black sands she watched as one by one, their feet touched the ocean. Continuously they walked into the depths until their heads vanished into the oily darkness. She felt tears streaming down her face, but they evaporated in a moment. Her eyes shot across the horizon, searching for a glimpse of hope. She kept looking for color, or a whisper of sunlight in the suffocating heat. Finally, she saw a square of light against the Gray.

Quickly she began crawling. Her knees scraped against the tiny shards tearing at her skin. Pain shot through her body like a thousand needles as she gasped for air. The pressure of the smoke pushed against her with suffocation. But Terra only forced herself harder along the shoreline to the window of light. After an eternity she finally reached it. A tiny square of color stood above her. Timidly her hand tried to reach forward to touch the window within the Gray only to discover that it was part of a door and collapsed from exhaustion. It was untouchable. Tears ran down her face like oil as she continued to search. Her screams echoed through her mind as she pounded against the Gray.