The Dark
They say the dark is oppressive, that it carries fear and danger.
Not when the dark is your friend, I say. Not when the dark hides the dangers. The dark has been my friend since the day I was born.
The sound of feet and we all moved, we all pushed and crawled deeper into the dark. The sound of a voice and that crawl became a sprinting brawl — the dark was about to end.
A heaving body next to me, all breath and sweat and fear. There were no words. There could be no words, the dark was about to end.
An iron rattle, and a creaking, and the dark was shattered by that demon we all feared, by the light. The world disappeared behind that light, behind that which made us blind and helpless.
Words, then, from that body next to me, “No! Not me!”
I cracked an eye and saw the shape we all so feared, saw the huge silhouette with reaching hands.
That body next to me continued to scream, even as it was pulled away by those hands. I don’t know why, but I stood. I stood and kicked at the silhouette. I came only to its waist, but still I kicked. Still I tried to stop the disappearance of yet one more of us from the dark.
One of those hated hands lashed out, sent me reeling. I stumbled and fell. I don’t know if my tears were for the screaming voice I had not been able to save, or for myself. All I knew was that I would be next. All I knew was that, after eight years in the dark, I would be next.
{The basic concept was 300 words, based on the line “the kids in the dark”}
Finding My Way Out 