‘Hi!’
‘Hi?’
‘Are you lost?’ he asks, his silhouette coming into view as he strolls towards me.
I gaze around at unfamiliar surroundings. The soft squelch of sand beneath my feet, water flushing between my toes. Cirrus clouds swirling, mirrored reflections, then nothingness.
‘Where are we?’ I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.
‘In your subconscious!’ He replies.
I blink. And again. But his face remains hazy, like in a dream. ‘What? Who are you?’
‘I’m no-one. Just a figment of your imagination.’
I take a step closer to him. He is barefoot too, dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, the hem now saturated like litmus paper.
‘But why are you here? Why am I here?’
‘Because out there, you are lying in a hospital bed, on a ventilator.’
‘The cancer?’
He nods.
‘Is this the end?’
My voice echoes across the large expanse.
‘Are you ready?’ he asks, stretching out his hand to towards mine.
I have been fighting for months. I’ve already said goodbye to those I love, those I couldn’t bear to leave. But it was now out of my hands.
I reach out to take his hand and the fear in my heart dissipates. ‘I’m ready.’
He smiles and suddenly we are flying, above the sand and out over the sea. Then higher, through the clouds, into a deepening blue calm, towards the stars.
Copyright © 2019 Lottie McKnight. All rights reserved.
Inspired by a Creative Ink prompt – August 2019