#14 – castle
I'm surrounded by fog. Thick, blinding, suffocating fog. I turn in every direction but I can't escape it. It envelops me and I wonder, will I be lost in confusion forever? Will I remain here, day after day, night after night…shrouded in this fog until it erases me completely? Will I ever escape it?
But then I hear it…it begins as a whisper, so quiet, calling out from the distance. A voice; her voice. She's weakened, she needs help; I have to get to her. I try in vain to find my way through the fog, but it's too thick to see anything. All I can do is try to follow her voice. She calls out to me, she needs me, and I…I need her too. So much. I feel as though she's the only one who can give me what I've been longing for. The only one who can vanquish this fog.
I run to her, following her calls, and just when I think I will never find her the fog begins to lift and I am there. A stone castle looms before me, but there are no doors. I look up, up, up…yes, there she is. High up, leaning over the parapet. The sight of her silhouette soothes me, but I wish I could see all of her. Just like everything else in my world, she is shrouded in fog.
She wants me to help her; she wants me to find the ginzuishou for her. Then she can tell me who I am. But I don't know how. Frustration sets in. Why can't I see her? Why won't she tell me who she is? Why am I trapped in all of this damnable fog!
I know my time here will end soon, and once again I will be left without answers. Unable to offer her anything, I look on as she pleads, doing my utmost to glean any small detail that might reveal her identity. The glint of a white dress…a tendril of blond hair. The curve of a…bun? Two buns? Wait, this is familiar. What is this memory? Where do I know that hair –
And I wake up.
My cheeks suffuse with rosy hues
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