I like Mira's COME IN CHARACTER blog - I think almost as much about my response for her page as I do about my own writing - I know the journey for my book so I rarely flounder.
I take a deep breath before opening the new writing challenge for the day on the CIC blog.
I never know where I'll be sent.
Often when I take that first look I 'do the Flower' - take one look at the new reality and go hide until I can bear to face it.
Unlike Flower I bounce back quickly.
I'm proud of today's response - give or take the missing letter 's' - perhaps every work of art needs one little flaw to remind us that .............. (no I pinched that philosophy)!!
WHAT AM I AFRAID OF?
I’m afraid of the darkness.
The safe sky turns from bright to grey.
The grey sky turns from grey to black.
When it gets closer to the black of night it unleashes the darkness that loiters out of sight all day and lets it slink back.
I keep an eye on dark all day. I watch shadows nervously because I know darkness starts in insignificant little patches of shade.
I stay indoors and keep turning on lights. First the ones near where I’m sitting and then the main ones that light the room; but it’s a pointless exercise. I sit near the downlights, uplights, desklights, nightlights but what is the point when the darkness is relentless and determined and it always comes back anyway?
It starts off outside – but I watch it come. Then no matter what I do the darkness outside creeps inside too.
I feel it first like there’s a billowing cloud roiling and churning behind and beside me.
I can feel it but I dare not turn to see it.
I turn my eyes to the lights around the room counting how many points of light are acting as weak defenders against the encroaching darkness. I watch the numbers tick over and around every clock and wait for the dark hours to pass back to the light ones so I can eventually sleep.
But with the arrival of the day I know that the dark will just retreat a little until it seems again to hover just behind me not quite out of sight – I know it’s still there and it knows I know.
It will bide its time because it has enveloped me before and it know it will again – it is only a matter of time.
And you did a lovely job. You should be proud. Sometimes I have a hard time getting detailed in there. Sometimes, people who get detailed sound like they're trying to hard. But you did well. At least that's what I thought. I don't mean to sound condescending.
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