Shadows

Based on the game, "LIMBO", by Playdead Studios

Michael Morgan

My eyes fluttered open. Light filtered through the dense forest. I stared toward the sky, dreamily taking in the weak sunlight, the cold breeze rolled across my skin in waves causing goose bumps to ripple across my forearms. I rose slowly to my feet, brushing off dead, dried leaves from the front of my shirt and my dusty jeans. As the world of darkness swirled around my meager existence in the expanse of forest, the cool wind continued to blow, and then there was silence, not just a normal silence, no- an evil, ominous silence. Cold fear shot through me as I tried to recall where I was and why I was there. No answer came.

I began trotting forward in a hopeless attempt to escape the darkness that swallowed my entire being, whispering around me with cold jests, silently promising, "You'll never escape me." I looked ahead, noticing a shimmering patch of golden liquid beckoning toward me, spilling into the darkness. The shadows pulled and tugged at me begging me to stay, but I shoved them off of me, jumping into the sunlight. The orange fireball in the sky burned bright onto the tiny clearing that I was now upon, creating an oasis of immunity that beat the cold back into the forest.

I sat down on a rock to collect my thoughts. Flashes of memory became my existence, suddenly I was elsewhere. There was a young girl, whom I knew somehow. She was playing on the ground, shrouded in shadow, her teeth beamed a mischievous smile, cutting through the darkness, becoming brighter, and more intense until I was back in the clearing again. I squinted up at the sun drifting lazily through the air, and I knew what I was going to do. I was going to find out who she was.

I stood up briskly, breathing the cold air in heavily, and took off into the forest, the darkness welcoming me back, glad of my return. I raced quickly through the forest, not wanting to overstay my welcome, glancing nervously from side to side, not knowing what to expect from the ever changing consistency of the mysterious amoeba. I came to a steep slope, from which at the bottom, an accumulation of water had collected in a miniature lake. I couldn't swim, and I wasn't about to find out how deep the lake was. I quickly spied a rotted tree hanging over the side of the body of water. A swift kick to its base brought it crashing down into the water, landing with a great eruption of black water. I slid down the slope on my side, quickly reaching the water's surface. I took a tentative step onto my makeshift raft; it wobbled a bit, but overall seemed sturdy. After a moment's consideration, I took a leap of faith onto the log. I landed firmly, hearing the sounds of creaking and splintering wood, but it held. I drifted forward toward the opposite bank of the water source, letting my momentum carry me. Upon reaching the other side, I quickly scampered to solid ground, welcoming the earth beneath my feet.

The darkness was scarcer now that the trees had thinned a bit, but its presence was always there, like a symbiote, clinging to me to survive. I walked a slow jaunt, taking in everything around me in the cool air. The trees craned their necks to get a better look at me, whispering gossip about me; I looked at them with suspicious glances while not noticing the intensely black sphere waiting, watching me from above. I observed the ground next, taking note of the scattered leaves and branches from the overhead canopy, planting one foot not a centimeter away from a large bear trap. Tripping sideways with surprise I crashed headlong into the underbrush. Hefting a large branch from out of the dried leaves, I drove it into the trigger mechanism of the trap. It snapped shut with such a force that shuddered through my entire body, breaking off the thick stick at the point of impact. I was glad it hadn't been my foot.

I continued onward, still observing my surroundings, still not aware of the lithe specter that was tailing me, swiftly warping from tree to tree befriending the darkness. I came to a large lake, this time the name fit quite well and made the previous "lake" look like a puddle in comparison. I walked along the shore, the shadows whispering "Jump! Jump!" But I shook them off and ignored them. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a large mass close to the water's edge that was not part of the natural scenery. I swept my observation probes to bear upon it. I smiled wryly at the rowboat, complete with oars. I quickly shoved it into the water, pressing it down into the water with some weight to check for leaks. There were none that were visible, so I climbed aboard, leaving the shadows behind, who whined incessantly, but I ignored them.

I struck the water with the oars, scooping the water up and out, propelling myself through the dark water. The cold air rolled off the water, making me shiver, as I did so, I noticed a slight shift in the shadows, and a loud crunch emanated from within the tree cover, sending an even greater chill through my spine. I squeezed my eyes shut and began paddling quickly as to avoid the sound itself. I was rowing so vigorously that I had lost track of my position, and proceeded to crash into the bank on the other side of the lake, completely obliterating the rowboat.

I climbed shakily from the wreckage and fled into the forest, whose shadows cackled at my return. I ran, panting, not caring where I was going, just wanting to get away from that lake, and the sounds that terrified me to my bones. Perhaps I was being foolish or superstitious, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I slowed, resting upon a tree, panting, heart racing, and fear stricken. The darkness laughed heartily, brushing against my back, pushing me forward.

I came to a spot where two trees created a passage, the only way to continue forward, as the rest was thick with dense trees. I began treading toward it, walking cautiously as it was dark, and the darkness ushered me forward. Suddenly a dark blob dropped from the dark branches above. I took a step backward as it grew eight hairy legs. It hissed and spat at me with rage, stomping the ground, causing me to fall to one knee. The beast began charging at me, shaking my bones with each thundering strike upon the ground. My eyes darted from side to side, looking for any type of weapon or tool that I could use to defend myself. My eyes came to rest on a rusty looking bear trap not an arm's length away from me. I lunged for it, grasping the metal handles firmly and raising it to defend myself. The spider coiled up one of its limbs and struck, slamming right into the bear trap's trigger mechanism causing me to slide backwards a good length. The rusty trap released its metal jaws upon the limb, digging into it with a sickening snap, ripping and rending the hard exoskeleton of the arachnid. It screeched in pain and shot into the trees with a mighty leap of its 7 legs. A chunk of the sharp, pincer-like appendage landed in front of me. Testing the tip, I successfully drew blood. I shoved it quickly into my pocket, thinking that it could be of some use later. Dripping black fluid guided the spider's route up the trees. I quickly made a mad dash for it, sprinting quickly through the portal in the trees.

Not far from the clearing of trees was a slight hill. I began my ascent, running quickly, but doing my best to remain quiet. The incline was becoming harder and harder to maintain a constant pace. I was just getting more and more tired. My legs became sluggish and after a while completely unresponsive at all, I glanced at my feet and found the source of my lack of progress. The entire hill was a giant spider's web. I wiggled, and wriggled but couldn't pull myself free. Fear gripped me hard and my heart began to pound. Loud crunches and snaps from behind me signaled my guest's arrival and the darkness whispered excitedly. I craned my neck around to see a bloody limb come crashing down beside me. A loud screech engulfed the forest as I felt something sharp pierce through my shoulder. I glanced to the side, observing the large black knife-like leg that was lifting me into the air. I began rotating rapidly around in a circle as a sort of liquid was spread around me. Faster and faster I spun, until I was completely alone in darkness. I felt dizzy from blood loss. The girl entered the darkness. She lit up the blackness with her crooked evil smile; as it disappeared I realized who she was. Death had found me. The darkness laughed in triumph, as I fell deep into shadows. I heard the girl's melodic voice cut through them, asking sneeringly," Are you finished? Is that it then?"

I uttered, "No."

The response began echoing around inside my mind, growing in momentum, beating the shadows back. They wailed and screamed in horror and anger as they began to lose grip on me. A bright light broke through the silence filling the tiny expanse with intense light causing me to shelter my eyes.

My eyes finally adjusted to the glare. I was in a small room, four pasty white walls glared at me, reflecting the harsh white light of the overhead lights. I was lying in a small cot-like bed. Several needles that were hooked up to IV drips protruded from my arm. A heart-rate monitor beeped monotonously beside me, assuring me that I was indeed alive. I noticed a glass of water lying on the nightstand next to me, which caused me to notice my overwhelming thirst. As I gulped the water down, a doctor opened the door and strode in. Noticing my consciousness she rushed toward me, calling in other doctors to assist her. They all began bombarding me with questions all at once, "Are you okay?" they all screamed at me. I cautiously told them that I was completely fine. They explained to me that I had been pulled from the wreckage of a terrible car crash and that I had been caught in Limbo for several weeks, showing me where a large pole had pierced through my shoulder.

After all of the PhD's and MD's were done with their analysis of me, they told me to take everything slowly and to just get some rest. They flipped the switch on the wall, plunging the room into an eerie red glow due to the array of monitors and devices. I pulled the scratchy woolen blanket that had been given to me tight around myself. I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans, but quickly withdrew them as something sharp pricked my finger. Gazing at the oozing blood, my heart quickened as I pulled the sharp knife-like shell from my pocket. The shadows giggled menacingly.