Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Wanderers in Frozen Mist

Jenn wasn't sure how they had arrived here, in this desolate frozen wilderness, but she was certain that there was a way out. There must be a way back home, back to their lives.

The four of them had been at a cafe, enjoying cocktails before their food arrived, when it started. A strange dense fog bank suddenly rolled in around them, they could hear people around them crying out in confusion and alarm, but their cries became quieter and quieter. Soon they could hear nothing at all, except each other's breathing.
"What's happening?" Chris had demanded, but no one could really give an answer to him.



Jenn grabbed David's shoulder, drawing the big man's attention, "Stay put, don't let your feet move! The rest of us link hands, I'm going to try and reach out and see if I can find someone else. With how thick this fog is, I can't trust myself to find my way back."
A moment later, Jenn found herself pressed in by the oppressive fog. It was cold, freezing cold, she could feel ice crystals forming in her nostrils as she struggled to get a breath. Her free hand was out in front of her, feeling for anything she might run into, while the other was clasped firmly in Chris'. Despite her best efforts, she could find nothing, see nothing, hear nothing. Behind her, the voices of the others were already muffled. Her eyes began to hurt, the cold affecting them too, she rubbed her hands against them, struggling to keep them open. She slowly realized with growing horror that both of her hands were in front of her face. She had somehow lost her grip on Chris' hand and had no idea how. She called into the mist, screamed as loud as she could, but there was no answering sound. She turned around completely, and walked back towards where she should have come from, but after ten paces she knew she could not have gone that far. A growing knot of fear began to clench inside her, but she fought it down. If I just keep walking, I know I'll find something! Niggling in the back of her mind was the fact that she had not run into a single table, chair, or anything else that had been in front of the crowded cafe. The knot of fear began to grow and bite. Desperation began to settle into her limbs with the cold, and she nearly ran forward calling to her friends. Instead of her friends however, she found a smooth, cold surface. "Ice?" she reached out to feel it more carefully, and leaned close to see. It was ice, perfectly crystallized ice, and as she looked, she imagined the mist began to thin. She could see now that she had found a wall of it blocking her path. Now she was certain that the fog was receding, for she could see the floor, and now the ceiling where the wall curved to meet it. She heard muddled voices coming from somewhere behind her, and whirled around to see her friends emerging from the fog, relief etched on their faces as they saw her.
They were talking to her, but Jenn wasn't listening. She was looking behind them where the mist had finally pulled away to reveal their surroundings. They were enclosed in a cave of ice that opened in a small doorway sized opening; through that opening she could see only blowing snow and blue ice, no sign of the street they had been on, no sign of the cafe, of civilization, or even of other people.

"Where are we..."

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