Bitter End. A dream story again. Quite bland, don’t really like it. Still, the feeling of peace the dream had instilled upon me was unlike anything else, I just had to write it down. It may be the earliest story I’ve posted yet. It had about four different titles and this one isn’t any good either, but what the hell.
Bitter End
I live underground. There is nothing of interest over the surface. I’m here since I remember. I don’t, however, remember how long. I have no acquaintances.
A middle-aged woman came up to me some hours ago and said that it’s my fault we have to live here. I brushed it off. I don’t know what she had on her mind. I don’t remember. But she was so ardent in her statement. I think she hates me.
After getting some rest, I meet another person.
It’s a girl. Slightly older than me. I recognise her, seemingly from beyond the barrier of no memories. I have a strong feeling she is here specifically for me. And I feel that she knows exactly who I am, despite not recalling seeing me.
We talk a bit. I know who she is, but I don’t remember ever seeing her. So I don’t have to ask her who she is. She says she wants to run away from this underground community with me, but I have the impression that she is doing it for me. I have made up my mind before she even asked. Subconsciously.
She wants to run all the way across the four lands that are known to our community. We don’t know if other humans exist outside of our tunnels. She doesn’t have a reason. And I feel the biggest sincerity as she speaks I have ever felt. Every next land is seperated by a human-height wall of cobbled stone. Each of them have crumbled in a specific spot. These holes align in a perfectly straight line.
She then tells me of a house where her father lived. On the surface.
We set out without delay. Past the small wooden door. We are outside and the sun is shining. And we are running.
And we don’t stop running.
The ground is covered in grass and the tall bushes make it hard to run in a straight line.
I feel so at place with that girl.
Ahead of us is the first wall. We hop through no problem and we are in another land.
Here, the grass is shorter and there are no plants higher than that. In places, the greenery gives to the light brownish soil. I was suspecting to meet humans outside of our community, despite not a single person from underground ever seeing traces of outsiders.
The sun is starting to set as we keep running and the sky is becoming yellowish.
When we see the next wall and hop on through to the third land the sky has become a red colour.
Here, there are no plants at all. The earth here is barren and white. With a tint of yellow. Once in a while a tall rock crops up.
The sun has set and the moon is shining now and covering half the sky. It’s still quite bright, but it is going to disappear as well soon.
Ahead of us appears a pile of rocks in the same colour as the earth. She says this is where we’ll wait out the night. We start climbing and she says something about finding the softest spot in the pile to lay down on. Only a small sliver of the moon is lit up now. Soon, it will be completely dark and impossible to do anything.
And I find it. Underneath the stones and pebbles peeps out a bed.
I lay down and despite the darkness and being so far from home I feel so safe.
I am hit with the realisation that this must be what remains of her father’s house.
Now, complete darkness has enveloped us as we lay.
And I feel content.
Jan. Summer 2018.