“Swallowed By Shadows”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.” — Francis of Assisi

“Where is he?” she muttered, pursing her lips as she stared up into the sky. The clouds collected overhead, the occasional glimpse of lightning piercing the darkness. Slowly, the rain began to fall. She closed her eyes as the drops hit her face. Each felt like a punch, knocking the hope from her body.

“Where is he?” she repeated, her voice dropping to a whisper as she dropped to her knees. The rain turned the ground to mush around her. The mud clamped onto the thin fabric of her pants and held on tight. Then, it pulled. It puller her down, down into the darkness, its grasp growing stronger with each second.

Just before the ground covered her face, she opened her eyes again. She stared up at the sky as the last bit of hope drained from her heart.

“Where are you?”

The words left her lips in the faintest of breaths as the ground swallowed her whole.

As suddenly as it began, the rain stopped. Not even the lightning made an appearance anymore; the world was left in shadows.

But then, a crack in the clouds. A faint shimmer of light, feeble at first, then slowly growing stronger.

Fear grew among the clouds. They knew what was about to happen. Quickly, they dispersed, making way for the Sun.

Final Comments: The end felt a bit anticlimactic… I think it was a bit too fast and was missing some imagery. But otherwise, I really enjoyed writing it!

Overall Rating: 🤔