Fiction Friday

The Darkness Within

I hear crying.

Where is it coming from? It is so dark all I can see are the dim outlines of tall buildings. The street I am on is wide and empty. Strange that there are no cars, it must be very late. The crying is coming from an alley. I'm afraid to go in there.

The crying is louder now and I can tell it is a child. I go in, the alley deadends at a brickwall. She is there against the wall, small and dirty. "Let me take you out of here" I tell her.

" I can't leave, this is where I belong." She looks up at me with a tearstreaked face, oddly familiar.

"Why do you belong here?"

"Because this is where he put me. He told me to stay here and never leave."

"Who is he? Why can't you leave here?"

She doesn't answer, only looks behind me. I turn to see what she is looking at. The buildings that were once behind me are gone. In their place there is only desert broken here and there by large rocky hills. On the closest and largest hill he sits. Staring at us with cold yellow eyes. I should be shocked to see a black leathery dragon, but for some reason he looks familiar too.

"You should not be here. These are things you do not want to see." his voice is deep and raspy.

"Why must she stay here? And why are you two so familiar to me?"

He laughs a deep rusty laugh. "Why are we familiar to you? Because we are you. The child is your true self, the you who was open and trusting. The you who was hurt one too many times."

"I am your inner darkness. Your anger, your bitterness towards those who hurt you. Your loneliness now that you let no one in. I protect the child and keep her here, where she cannot be hurt."

I look at him for a long moment. Then back at the child. She is me, I see it now. The hopefulness I once had. The eyes only lack the pain I feel. She wants to leave. I look back towards the dragon. "She wants to leave. I want her to leave."

He shifts a little, looking closer at me. "So be it. But, I will be here always. Hidden within you."

I take the little girl's hand, and we walk away. The scenery changes again and we see houses and streets. It is light out now and I recognize this as my childhood neighborhood, only cleaner and nicer than it was in real life. The girl-me stops and looks at me. "I am where I belong now. It is time for you to wake up."

The next moment I am looking at my ceiling. I'm in bed, where I belong. As I drift back to sleep I hear the faint laughter of a little girl.