The Sparrow, the Madman and the Blue Box
Chapter One
Sally Sparrow walked briskly through the early morning fog descending over the park, huddling into her jacket and shivering. It was the middle of October, and bitterly cold; there was already frost starting to creep onto the branches of the bare, skeletal trees, and it had snowed a few days beforehand. The weather forecast promised nothing other than grey skies and sleet and as Sally turned off from the main gravel path onto a narrow dirt track, she wondered how she would cope with these freezing winter months. The heating was on the verge of breaking and she didn't have a fire at her tiny apartment in the heart of London. Looks like extra jumpers for me this year, she thought, sighing.
She was almost at her destination; looking up from the leaves coating the ground beneath her, she saw the black gates of the graveyard, tall and melancholy, the trees at its entrance looking even larger and intimidating than the ones surrounding her now. The fog was thicker up ahead, shrouding most of the fence around the grim place, and the path behind the gates was completely obscured.
The sandy-haired young woman pushed on, although she could hardly feel her feet, and was soon standing outside the gates, wondering how on earth she could make her way through the impenetrable mist. She squinted at the endless void before her, trying to see. Nothing. Still, she was here for a reason and there was no point in giving up when she hadn't even tried yet. She wanted to visit Kathy's grave.
Venturing into the thick blanket of fog, Sally walked cautiously forward, wishing visibility wasn't so poor. She tripped several times over raised tree roots, but managed to keep upright. Her spirits lifted a little bit when the fog seemed to dissipate, and she could see tombstones silhouetted around her. I might actually get home without breaking my legs, she thought jokingly.
That was when she started to cough.
Sally wasn't fazed and assumed it was just a cold coming on. She walked a little further.
The coughing became more violent with every step and Sally stopped to cover her mouth, her eyes watering. Still she wasn't worried; it was only a cough, nothing to be worried about-
Sally's stomach turned over as her nostrils detected a sulphorous odour; the unpleasant stink invaded her mouth and nose, although they were both covered by her shaking hands, and her throat started to burn unbearably. She gasped for air and doubled over, trying to regulate her breathing- but to no avail. Her ears rang.
She noticed the fog starting to writhe towards her legs and stumbled away, panicked, retching as she did so, realization washing over her.
The fog. It's the fog.
The spindly tendrils followed and, as soon as they found her ankles, started to wrap around them and tighten, as if they were made of some sort of rope; Sally screamed in pain as they started to burn the flesh underneath her black jeans. She tried to run but fell hard on the concrete, pain exploding in her chest. More misty fingers enveloped her, tying her somewhat to the ground, and Sally found it hard to remain calm. She yelled and twisted on the floor, although it jarred her injured body agonizingly. The fog wrapped itself around her mouth, silencing her terrified screams, and the rest of it crushed her to the hard ground, cutting off her breathing almost completely. She turned her face towards the sky, and with her last breath screamed as loud as she could.
Before the darkness overcame her she could have sworn she heard the sound of the universe roaring in her ears- and then, there was nothing.