My restless body sleeps, mind seeking.
Endless doorways. Some lead nowhere, others to places I cannot comprehend.
There’s just one I search for. Within, contains a source of darkness. I must eliminate it.
I wander twisting corridors, labyrinthine in nature, as all minds are.
There, ahead. The darkness, flickering and tremulous. I follow, my heart pounding within and without.
The next corner conceals it. I falter as I turn. Reach the final door. There’s no light. I proceed despite fear.
Within, darkness overwhelms, engulfs, devours me.
Fear.
I breathe.
I embrace.
Persist through.
Quiet.
Strengthened, mind and body remain.
© 2021 Rebecca Glaessner
August 5: Flash Fiction Challenge « Carrot Ranch Literary Community
In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about an open door. It can be literal or metaphorical. What is behind the door? Who is seeking and why? As the writer, how will you manage the discovery? Go where the prompt leads!
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Rebecca Glaessner Author 
I love the image your chose to support your story. Intriguing. It’s surprising sometimes where those dark corridors of the mind take us. You are brave to step into the darkness. You’ve created a lot of mood in this piece.
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Thanks Norah. There are many places we can choose to go, or choose not to. The mind is fascinating, still so stubbornly out of reach of our understanding and human desire for control. The mind has been likened to the universe, both a final frontier for science, and it’s turning out that the mind is just as complex as the universe itself. I love it.
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I think you’re right on all counts, Rebecca. We’re a universe to ourselves. I often think of one of the Men in Black movies where a cat was carrying a universe in a ball around its neck.
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Brilliant movies! I can imagine that many cats carry such a burden while us servants of theirs remain blissfully unaware.
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You could be right about that too.
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Inner strength at its finest.
I so dislike nightmares… but I push through them and try to figure out if there was something to learn.
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It’s hard to push through nightmares, they have a tendency to linger, unfortunately, thanks to our deep survival mechanics. I do enjoy the story fodder that can sometimes emerge, though.
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Brilliant!
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Thanks D!
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I felt every step of this procession. Great use of tension and internal conflict. What an outcome! To face the darkest room with strengthened body and mind.
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Thank you Charli. It’s great the tension came through. The darkness is in us all, and as you said on the prompt post, maintaining grace and authenticity allows us to embrace that part of ourselves, and grow stronger through it.
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It reveals inner strengthening well.
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