The Mysterious Fog

January 28th

My white silk gown turned crimson red as I ran through the dark, moonless woods frantically searching for a way out. In the distance I could see a warm and inviting light, I ran toward it. I could see a man kneeled on the ground within the warmth, somehow, I knew that he was waiting there for me. I knew that I was dying and only this stranger could save me. As I approached the glimmering light, I reached for him as I fell helplessly to the cool, numbing ground. “Help me” I whispered with my last and final breath. He vanished before me, the light faded and the warmth eluded me. I sank deeper and deeper into the twilight shadows until there was only darkness.

I began writing down the details of the dream before they evaded my memory. As I peered from the window, I could see that the dense fog had still not lifted. It had been like this for weeks, day and night the sweeping fog lingered. I could see no further than the window sill in front of me. A shiver made its way down my spine. I had felt ill and unwell ever since the fog arrived.

As I walked through the somber, quiet house I wondered where my family had gone. I feared that they were lost in the fog, unable to find their way. I placed candles in each window in hopes that the light would guide them home.

March 29th

Months have now passed and the fog still surrounds me. I have lost all sense of time as I am unable to tell if it is day or night. I mark the days off on the calendar as it is my only direction. I tried to go outside but the fog was overwhelming. The dense mist sent shards of ice through my veins, the sensation was painful and agonizing. I am trapped within the walls of this house.

I am unable to go outside and search for my loved ones. It feels as if the fog has life within it, a force that is holding me inside of this house. I decided to search the pantry for supplies, I cannot remember the last time that I ate a warm meal. I have no appetite, yet surely, I am sustaining myself somehow. Is my memory failing? Why can’t I remember yesterday? I flip through the pages of my journal; I see the written words yet they are foreign to me. I fear that my loved ones are dead, consumed by the fog.

I found a suspicious package wrapped in brown paper. The wrapping is brittle and frail, it appears to be old and long-lived. It is sealed with tape and dried flowers. Where did it come from? I can’t remember ever seeing it before. I felt as if the package was calling to me in an unexplainable, haunting way that I was unable to comprehend.

As I traced my fingers across the delicate string wrapped around it, an ominous feeling of dread swept through my body. I slowly tore away the frangible paper revealing a photograph. It was a photograph of me. My body was submerged in water, just beneath the surface. I appear peaceful and serene beneath the tranquil water. I am dead. I struggle to catch my breath as reality sinks in. I stare at the image in my trembling hand. My loved ones are not lost within the fog, I am the one who is misplaced and missing.

I fixate on the rolling fog which is my tomb. I am forever trapped within this house, lost, cold, and alone. I wait here for the day when my family joins me in the hazy mist. Will there be light? Will there be warmth? I mournfully extinguish the candles waiting hopefully in the window sills. I know now that their incandescent light will not lead them home to me; only time can bring about their destiny. I wait.