Fated

• Erica Soun, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2015

My life was coming to an end. Fear and desperation, washed my pride away by a dark cloud that was shadowing my every step. It hummed in my ears like television static, but existed as something I have never seen before. It was fierce, reaching out towards me with its distorted limbs. Ever since I had entered into this world, I became lost, as this world was far from what I had expected.
Before this abomination was chasing me, I had travelled beyond time, to the past, present and future to embark on my mission. I was sent to fix a certain time I had entered, which was infected by an unknown abnormality. In the revolving portal, the voices ghostly whispered, ‘Everything is fated, everything is fated…’ Upon stepping forth, into this desecrated world, I was surrounded by the sheer cries of those facing death. I knew that everything is fated.
Immediately, I was suffocated by a sense that my soul was being sucked right out of me, from the overwhelming stench of toxic fumes. My eyes widened in horror when looking upon the buildings that burned before my eyes. The coldness of the night was dominated by a searing heat of a wild hound breathing its rancid breath onto my face. I could hear the wails of a banshee, in human bodies that contortedly danced to beat off the flames. They desperately outstretched their blackened, crisped nails towards me. However, it was too late to save them. I wandered in solitude, trying to seek those past memories of a puzzle I cannot put together. They said that the reaper led them to a path that was full of mystery, or misery. There they said, ‘Everything is fated.’
The evil beings sought to get rid me at the moment when I had trespassed. To them, I was a disease. Thus at that moment, I ran, finding a way to liberate this wicked existence. I tripped over my feet and sprawled onto the corroded ground. I felt the shadows clinging onto my russet boots; scraping its way further up my legs like a ravenous man craving for sustenance. This evil power devoured me, driving me mad. I clutched my throat, seeing if I could strangle the devil right out of me. Instead, I cried out in mortal agony. At that moment, I had forgotten the reason why I was here.
I was supposed to free them, but I could not. It was difficult to look away as I watched the world scorched in auburn flames, which reminded me of my mother’s hair. Yet, the sinister coils of smoke concealed my memories away. I realised that my life had become fated. However, I breathed heavily of a mother's soul and I have inherited a father's mind. Beyond the darkness that had corrupted me, I continued to reach out to that valiant mortal being within me. My father said that, ‘a man has a way in life. It is strong but fragile’.