From a Corner of My Mind

  3. The Chasm Maxim staggered back from the pool of water. He reached a shaking hand and touched his face, ensuring himself that the flesh there was still warm and living. Even the warmth of his own skin could not break the image of the ghostly figure, its fingers reaching towards his as he bent over the water, the whispery voice echoing like all the ghosts in the woods.  He looked around desperately. The ghosts still lingered, waiting for him. Their cloudy eyes followed his movements. “Don’t worry,” the tri-tone voice wasn’t a surprise to him this time. “Everyone feels a bit jarred when they reach enlightenment.” The being no longer hid himself. The gray mist that lingered through the forest floor thickened into his form, tall and gnarled as the trees around them. Only its eyes, somehow lighter while still being black, seemed stable, the rest of his form shifting in the wind.  “Enlightenment?” Maxim echoed, then hated himself for it. “How can this be en...

  2.  The Woods Maxim stepped through a sheet of fog. The ice of it bit through his hat and coat, chilling his arms. He hesitated in the midst, almost looking back, but the tug of the girl’s hand in his pulled him forward. With a final heave he pulled free.  The girl’s hand slipped from his. Maxim waved his hands in front of him, freeing himself from the last vestiges of fog that still wavered next to his hat. “Hello?” he called, turning about. A wall of fog sat behind him, thick and pure white. The faint lights from the path managed to flicker through, a subtle warmth in the dark and cold of the forest. Darkness fell heavy between the trees here. The faint light of the moon spilled down over leaves that glinted in its light. Maxim pulled his shoulders up, hunching over himself for warmth. The wind bit his cheeks. “Hello?” He called again. “Hello?” His words echoed back at him from between the trees. Maxim started, searching in the darkness for the sourc...