Voices

FALLING

First came the voices
Hovering at the back of my mind
Fading in and out like phantoms
Whispering words that didn`t make sense
They were like memories just out of reach
And that`s what I thought they were
Just memories
But then they grew louder
They began to invade my every thought
Even in my sleep I heard them
It was constant
A garble of voices all talking at once
I began to make out certain words
Trapped....Darkness....Forever
However one stood out among the rest
Falling
It became a recurring dream
I would stand at the edge of an abyss
Looking down only to see darkness
A figure appears before me
I can`t see his face
His entire body is wreathed in shadow
He speaks to me in a gravelly voice
He tells me that he`s preparing me for the journey to come
Then I wake up
My family became worried
They wanted me to seek professional help
I wouldn`t have it
The dreams started coming to me while I was awake
I would fall into a trance and when I woke up I would start
screaming
My boss fired me
My wife left me
Even the kids were gone
All I had left was myself....
And the voices
One night I had the dream again
But this time it was different
The shadows fell from the man in black revealing......
Me

He tells me that it`s time and before I can do anything he grabs
me
Pulls me into the abyss
We fall for what seems like an eternity and then everything goes
black
The bad man`s gone now
I`m safe
Safe in my little black box
Four walls surround me
Black as ebony
They keep the bad things away
In one corner is a small window
Looking through it I see the world I once lived in
But it`s different somehow
There`s a crack in the glass that moves outward like a spiders`
web
My view of the world has fragmented
Changing everything
Everything`s okay now
I`m finally at peace
But then hands appeared from nowhere
Touching me
Grabbing me
Pulling me into the wall
And then the voices came

By David Opie
Aged 14