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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