Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Day 53 - Whispered Spirits Whisper

 Whispered Spirits Whisper 
Matthew Ryan Fischer

 
“The daimons whisper and tell me secrets. I cannot tell you what they say, for then it would not come true.”
 
 
The shadows began to move again, and Max had another nightmare. He had been told there was nothing to fear. Young people were often scared in the dark. The shadows had come before. They wouldn’t leave him alone. He had slept with the light on as his only reprieve, but had been told he was much too old for that. So the lights went off and the shadows returned.
The shadows whispered their secrets and they told him not to tell.
The winds rose and the windows rattled and the house did begin to creek. The branches of a great tree brushed against the walls and the windows and it make his room into a nightmare cacophony.  The low howl of a far-off beast and the rustling of leaves and then the rain did begin to fall.
Max saw spirits in his dreams and he spoke to the specters of another age and answered their questions as to what the world had become. The winds brought visitors and the winds told their secrets and asked Max not to tell.
His parents believed Max had a brilliant imagination but that someday he would grow up.
The owls came and the ravens flew. They called and screamed and chattered in a way that Max could not understand. They were not afraid. Not when he turned on the light. Not when he opened the window. Not when he screamed for them to leave him be. They squawked and fluttered their wings, staring at him, as if he would somehow suddenly learn to understand their secrets. Max could not tell their secrets even if he wanted to.
The whispers grew and grew.
That which could not be heard. That which could not be spoken.
Louder and louder.
The shadows came to life. They spoke with one great voice, telling Max the divine. Futures that hadn’t happened. Pasts that could be undone. They told him a lie or two but promised that he could change that too if he wanted. They filled his head, but he was never clear on why or what they wanted in return.
Max could not tell a soul. No one would believe him. No one would understand. But he didn’t need them. He didn’t want them. He wanted the secrets. He wanted to futures he wanted to come true. He couldn’t tell a soul and risk these impossible possibilities.
Shadows surrounded Max, and in their darkness, he found salvation.

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