Inktober 2022
Oct. 5: Flame

Somewhere, in a dark and cold place, a young woman lay on her back, unmoving. She breathed faintly, skin a bit pale, yet her expression perfectly serene.

Her mind felt hazy, as though separated from her body. She contemplated the feeling unhurriedly, thinking of what seem like a lot of things, yet actually nothing, listening to the echoing sounds around her, while slowly bringing her attention to herself and her body.

As she did so, she realized she could not move, nor did she particularly want to. There was a kind of numbness which threatened to turn into pain whenever she tried to do anything. But, she still drowsily cracked her eyes open.

She stared at the gray ceiling above her, her vision still strangely blurry. Then slowly turned her eyes to stare at the mesmerizing dance of the lights, recognizing flames from torches. The movement of the fires prompted her to move her body again, which seemed to weigh nothing, but could not be lifted.

She did however feel sensations against her skin which she hadn’t paid attention to. She had a thin sheet of white gauze on her face and wore a long gown of sorts, some heavy jewelry around her wrists and ankles, as well as her neck and waist. The surface beneath her felt cold and smooth characteristic of stone, a bit similar to the silk she was wearing.

In the meantime, the hushed ambient noises started coming through to her slowly but steadily, going from a distant buzzing to faint hums, and now to faded voices. She directed her gaze upwards, where the loudest of the noise seemed to be coming from, realizing a few seconds later as her view tilted that she had moved her head.

There was a dark figure gazing at her, somehow a smile visible even through the feathery gauze over her face. The person then raised their head and announced something which she could only understand the cheerful tone from. A multitude of voices from all around her joined into the tune, a reverent hymn.

A large flash of light appeared in her limited peripheral vision and she looked over slowly, seeing a much bigger flame in a colder hue. She watched as the flame bounced closer and the singing grew louder. When the flame came above her face, she realized the figure who stood over her had disappeared.

Suddenly, a rush of cool air wafted onto her face as her eyes narrowed when the gauze was removed. The slight wind caused by the movement gave her a short moment of sobriety, when she could almost clearly hear the heavy chanting as she looked into that large blue flame, before she squeezed her eyes shut again.