Darkness Of Mind

• Jayden Hladio, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2008

It is a gaze, one that would forever change the pinnacle of intuition. I alone capture the meaning of fortuity; a senseless penetration to of which a culminating difficulty had approached. I felt susceptible, yet there was something else; a fire skulking through a graveyard of tenuous minds and strained temptation. What is really happening in the darkness?
A black as night scene due to the cause of the chaos; wind lament in the distance creeps ever closer to the compound. Like P.O.W’s, we wait cautiously unto the atrocities that will unfold. Compromised to the sound of silence, we sit and listen; all gratefulness vanished. The manacle of life ticking away into our past; we only think about the future and not of our present.
The people are the living dead; drooping eyelids over bloodshot vision. Feet shuffle in unison, sounding of an attentive army, even though the unison is outspoken. While this blizzard of emotion foretells something of importance, there is still a nous eventually turning indifferent, spelling out tragedy; a bloody battlefield of ruined minds, twisted feelings and a Bolshevik of only one prevalence: shadows.
Time was sinking away faster than an exploded oil tanker. Apprehension prophesized the return of the reluctance and persistence and yet, my mind was clouded. Is there a possibility where the gratefulness that has vanished can creep back like the wind that has settled over?
Tension now grips the room. Eyes watch me from asunder; the darkness jumps out at me and wraps me up in its depths. I struggle to maintain; it feels as if the very cold has had a deep impact. I don’t feel happy anymore. I can see eyes, searching for solutions, eager to feast on any concerns that might arise if the opportunity presents itself. My mind becomes feeble; I have been blasted out of a cannon and missed my target. I soar through the air, cutting it with my immense speed. The darkness latches its sharp claws into my mind. It settles in and attacks my conscience; each fibre in my body suddenly appears to become a shadow. Shadow.
I give up, knowing that all is none but a failure. My last thoughts are of but why we struggle when we know that failure is a natural part of life. The co-prime of my existence is but a single word: life. What makes the moon peak over the crimson horizon? How does the wind stir in the morning? Why do contingencies pacify and deter while the mind continues to think?
Life is nothing but worth a million. Then, with suddenness like a tiger lunging out of the mist, the bell rang: class was in session and it was exam day.
Unbeknownst to the subtle and contradicted to the weary, the danger that would creep up and entwine against the heart was unspeakable. Vigilantly striving to stay away, I know I cannot miss out on the first exam.
It is a fate worse than the darkness itself…