...Of Sharp Edges and Pain

My item has been submitted for consideration in "Inspiration Station--August 2010"

Prompt #2

Awareness returned but slowly, bringing with it sharp edges and pain.  The climb out of nothingness seemed endless.

After an eternity, panic set in. Moaning in fear, he rolled onto his side and thrust out his hand. He opened his eyes when he touched cold damp stone.

The flagstone wall in front of him was covered in splotchy patches of yellow and green lichen. A sharp pain in his left shoulder told him he was lying on some sort of stair. Sitting up slowly, he turned to survey his surroundings. He was perched on an old, walled stairway. The cracked stone steps beneath him were bounded by rough flagstone walls. Not far below him, the steps ended at an old cobblestone path that veered down and to the right through a copse thick with old growth Oak and Poplar trees.

It felt like Fall, but the leaves on the trees were green. The cool, moist air smelled sweet, as if some fragrant shrub or herb was growing nearby. No wind whispered through the trees, no woodland noise broke the silence. The effect was eerily unnatural.

Rising slowly against the pain, he turned to look behind him. The walls were of nearly chest height, topped with a pillowy carpet of thick green moss.  At the top of the stairs, yards above him, stood a landing backed by a bright stone wall, pierced by an arch leading to another area he could not quite see. Curious, he placed his hand upon the top of the nearest wall and took a step up toward the landing at the top of the stairs.

Stopping suddenly, he whispered “James, my name is James.” 

The name felt right on his tongue, but it held little meaning beyond this ‘rightness.’

Another step.

“Why am I…,” Stopping again, he knew he should be here. There was purpose, important and… dangerous. That he did not know why bothered him. His confusion was unsettling. Looking up at the landing, he started again, taking the steps slowly.

The Landing… his answers were there. Compelled to reach it, he must pass through the arch; but, he feared to do so.

Not far from the top now.

Music, hauntingly soft… strangely familiar.

Then he remembers. She is on the other side. Memories flood his senses - blond and bright, harsh and beautiful… and yet, she is not like the others. This is the source of the danger.

“Ann, I’m coming!” Surging forward he covers the last few steps quickly.  The music, no longer soft, picks up in tempo. On the landing now, he fleetingly wonders why the wall and archway are so bright and clean, the stairs so old and dark. Turning, he senses movement beyond. Someone is shouting. Heart pounding, James moves toward the archway and Ann.

Sound and time compress – James stumbles, feeling as if the air has been pushed from his lungs, a crushing weight pressing him from all sides.

Falling to his knees just inside, the pressure is gone. Drawing air in ragged gasps, James looks up and searches for Ann. He finds her not far away, arguing with two men. They are strange, so pale - and what is it about their ears? Standing slowly, he is determined to save her this time.

She sees him. Eyes widening in disbelief, Ann’s face turns ashen. The man closest to James turns and scowls.

“Not you again,” he growls.

Raising her hand, she reaches toward him. “James, you cannot be here. You must leave.”

Moving quickly, the man thrusts out his arm, his hand held in an odd claw-like gesture.

“Osric, No!” Ann cries.

The ball of lightning hits James in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The pain is excruciating.

Ann is there. Falling into blackness, the last thing he sees is her face.
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Awareness returned but slowly, bringing with it sharp edges and pain.  The climb out of nothingness seemed endless.

After an eternity, panic set in. Moaning in fear, he rolled onto his side and thrust out his hand. He opened his eyes when he touched cold damp stone…

Word count: 701