Welcome to the WEP Bloghop. Today the featured prompt is Bridges...
Certainly leaves a lot to the imagination, don't you think? The possibilities are endless.
Leave it to my dear friends Denise Covey and Yolanda Renee to post Nilanjana Bose's wonderful idea.
As for the badge, isn't it simply beautiful... thank you Olga Godim for creating it for the challenge.
I am sure you will enjoy all the entries in the HOP today. As for mine, well, it's been a while since I wrote anything, but this prompt spoke to me.
As we all journey through life, there are many obstacles in our way and at some point we have to choose which "bridge" to cross. I hope you enjoy...
INVISIBLE BRIDGES
Many, if not all of our journeys in life, lead us to an invisible bridge.
A mist of silver haze clings to a sketchy outline. Moving shadows play hide and seek on the other side.
Do I cross?
Or—go back to the safety of the road just traveled?
Droplets of sweat leak down my face as I watch the images before me. Every fiber of my being screams, TURN BACK.
My throat constricts. I close my eyes, but only for a brief moment.
Breathe…just keep breathing.
Something fizzles.
I spin around. Swallowed by pitch, the road I had just traveled no longer exists.
Echoes of an eerie silence weave like delicate threads shrouding me.
A loud pop…
Pinpoints of light flicker, then ignite.
A network of lines brand the midnight canvas set before me. Within seconds another bridge appears. This one clear and glowing like hot embers. Somehow this one is more terrifying…
It leads nowhere.
A choice must be made, but to what avail?
Is my mind playing tricks on me? Is it real?
How could it not be?
This is my destiny. How often has this happened to me? Once, twice, a dozen? A hundred times?
Chills freeze and burn within me. I tear myself away from the bright lights and inhale as much as my lungs will allow. I cough out an acrid and unpleasant scent. One that I have never experienced before—not a hint of floral, grass, woods, or sea, but some type of chemical. The bile bites hard at the back of my throat and I cough again.
I strain to focus on the blurry lines of the invisible bridge. The mist lingers like a haunting ghostly shadow at the base. Now the swirls of silver are mixed with reflecting prisms of colors seducing me to make a move…
A warm, yet icy breeze, ruffles my hair. With my first step, a gust pushes me toward the edge. I loose my footing and plunge into the depths of the mist, stumbling onto what seems to be a clapboard bridge. A transparent railing breaks my fall as a splint of wood pierces my hand. Droplets of blood trickle and disappear into the billowing mist.
Can this be my payment for crossing?
Is this real or a fantasy?
A fog horn blares in the distance and echoes like a ghoul playing a musical saw.
I stand tall and take a few more steps. The mist clears as if an unseen hand swept it away. A dim phosphorescent light peeks over the low lying hill miles from the water’s edge. My boot heels thump on the clapboards as I continue along the bridge. Step after step the view remains the same. Hours later, I travel no further.
“What gives!,” I cry out and drop to my knees.
Over the deadly silence a whisper reaches my ears. I can’t comprehend the words. Another whisper, but this one is a fraction louder. Then another. And another…
I am breathing heavier now. With each new chant the words becomes clearer. It seems to go on forever.
Then, I hear the final whisper.
“The journey you take is a difficult one, my Son. This is but one of many bridges you will encounter. Take heart. Your inner strength will get you through them…
“Remember to always…keep your faith.”
I spring to life, my breath escapes me. “It was just a dream…it was just a dream,” I tell myself over and over.
I sink back down into the sweat soaked sheets.
Or was it?
Thank you for joining me today. I hope you get a chance to read some of the other entries. Just click on the WEP link. Have a wonderful day everyone!
