Urban Fantasy / Science Fiction
Sometime before dawn you slip on a housecoat and walk to the deck over the lake. The sky is deep indigo and you watch stars as they twinkle out of sight, one by one. It’s chilly, and you’re shaking. You laugh aloud and shock yourself. Why are you laughing? You should go inside but you don’t.
Babe it’s freezing.
Justin is standing behind you with a blanket. He sits and wraps it around you, placing one hand on your chest. You shiver and lean into him, feeling your body tense, legs shifting back and forth. Everything’s too tight and too buzzy and it’s all wrong at the edges. Your breath comes ragged. You grip his hands tight.
They’re warm.
You want to tell him things. Or ask him things, but the words feel jumbled up and you let out a wail. A puff of smoke falls from your mouth.
Ssshhh. It’ll be ok.
What if it isn’t? What if there isn’t something next? What if that’s all I ever was?
Suburban Wittchraft Magazine, issue 5, May 2024
This story was the first I had written in many years. It's a tale of transformation and change and the fear we feel when we must step into something new, and perhaps let other things go. Perhaps letting everything go. Career. Family. Friends. Love. Ambition. Identity.
The song for this story is Amman, by one of my favourite artists, Emmit Fenn. This is a song that I'll often listen to when feeling stressed or anxious. The simple message Just Breathe resonated. Whenever something feels overhwleming or intense, you can help your body, mind and spirit by breathing.
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