Trapped

Author's Note: I had originally planned to post another piece that I had been working on all week, but I hit a very thick brick wall and couldn't break my way through it, so I looked through my archive and found this piece, and in doing so, the ideas just started flooding into me. It was originally called "God in a Box" and has been way too long since I touched it to understand exactly why I named it as such, but at this point it has morphed into something else. I think I will want to come back to it at some point and expand upon it (which is why I am having a hard time considering it as one of my weekly flash fiction goals that are usually just one-parters), but until then, enjoy what I have so far and let me know what you think in the comments.

The dark-haired man laid there, eyes shut, his body mostly still accept for his breathing, upon very moist, fertile ground which surrounded him and seem to spread into eternity. A pale woman, softly enchanted, was all that was in his mind's eye, begging, weeping, hoping he could hear her, then she faded. He awoke with a start, his breathing growing more heavily as he looked around and took in his surroundings. He wasn't sure what had just happened, he barely remembered anything, but he knew, deep down, that something dramatic had changed. He noticed the object in his hand then, perfect, black box, small enough that he could conceal most of it in his fist. He ran then, with all his remaining strength, towards a goal that he only vaguely remembered, the voices and footsteps behind him unnoticed. He does however notice the gun fire behind him, which only gives him more speed from untapped strength reserves he was unaware of before.

The forest was a maze of unidentifiable green as he ran though, but something else was guiding him, something within the box, for it would grow more intense in heat the closer he came to his goal. It was becoming almost unbearable now, which only prompted him to run harder, his pursuers still hard on his heels and unrelenting. His memories were slowly returning, but in jumbles. all he remembered was a woman, the most beautiful he had seen, trapped within a transparent prison. She had spoken to him in his mind, and he had remembered her from a time before, and what she wanted was freedom, that which they had stolen, the one and only thing that could free her. But it could only be given back by someone with strong emotions towards her and was willing to sacrifice all. that's when he remembered that she was a love from the past, and not just this life's past, but a life he had long since forgotten, despite that little fragment of it. That was the one piece that he had clung onto, that had given him strength in this life, and which was giving him the strength to reach his goal. He ran even faster, the forest just seemed to blur by him, until finally the box was welting the skin on his hand and smoke was emanating from it. He looked over to his right, and there it was, her prison, the thing that had kept her sealed off from the world all this time. Inside she looked so peaceful, but he knew better, knowing she was just in the opposite state, one of endless torment. He stopped running, his breath finally catching up to him, his pursuers still not too far behind. Clutching his side, he slowly walked to where her prison hovered above grown that was full of life.

Time was moving in slow motion for him now as he slowly raised his hand to touch the box to her prison. Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes passed into hours, until finally what seemed like a week had passed and he finally was able to touch the box to her prison. But nothing happened, except for more bullets being fired behind him and shouts to stop and get on the ground. He did neither and began to examine the box, all the while thinking to himself what he had forgotten. Nothing as coming to mind and the voices and bullets were getting closer and closer. He started to tear at the box, looking for a clasp or something to open it, but it was perfectly smooth and appeared to be all of one piece. Then the first bullet found its mark, one in his right shoulder, then another in his left leg. He toppled, but then quickly struggled to get back up, then another hit him in the back and came out the other side through his chest, and then another, his blood gushing and splattering all over the box. Time seemed to slow again and he examined the bloody box, his breathing was raspy and very slow, while he turned the box over and over in his blood soaked hands, when a realization hit him and he threw the box at the prison at the same time the last bullet found its mark and robbed him of his life. The box slowly spinning in the air, end over end, as he slowly fell to the ground.

Upon his final collapse, the box had hit the prison, and then was immediately absorbed into it, the box fading out of existence as a glow of pure blueish-white light illuminated the inside of the prison and several feet surrounding the outside of it. To the outside observer it closely resembled the shape of a star, at it floated to the woman's body and was immediately absorbed into her chest cavity where her heart would be. Following this interaction the prison shattered and the surrounding woods was illuminated with an intensity that demanded that all remain still and just watch the spectacle that was going on before them. The pursuers had lowered their guns, awe-struck, and were only a few feet away from the scene now. The woman slowly floated to the ground and took in long breath of air, as if she had been holding hers all this time, while her eyes came to life with the intensity and blueness of the ocean. She looked down upon the figure of her rescuer and noticed his still form, and then bent down and kissed him. The previous illumination was set ablaze and grew into a blinding intensity, and then both were gone, leaving all witnesses baffled as to what had just commenced. Their shoulders slumped and they slowly walked back to which they had came, looking of defeat.

The man was embraced with a light and a warmth on a level he had never felt. He seemed to be floating endlessly in pure light and smiled to himself, for he was ready again, and as he did so the warmth increased slightly, and he knew it was her surrounding him. His smile spread wider as he closed his eyes and rested, knowing that the trip was not a short one, and he was internally exhausted from his previous adventure.

Melting

I find myself in a very hot, black, pool of liquid. Sweating, slowly melting to the intense heat. Suddenly I see a branch land in the liquid pool next to me and my world begins to spin. Faster and faster I swirl about, desperately trying to grasp the branch to pull myself out of this personal hell. Despite my best efforts though I being to sweat even more profusely and am getting to the point where anxiety and my decreasing energy are overtaking me and causing me to slowly drown. I swim harder and faster towards the branch and am finally able to get a tiny grasp on it, still succumbing faster and faster to the black pool of darkness that I am trapped within. The spinning becomes even quicker though and I lose my grip and float out to the side of the pool, which seems to be bordered by an impenetrable wall of ceramic. I try to cling to it, but it is too smooth and I flounder about losing the last of my strength and succumb to the whirlpool that has taken me. I start to become with the liquid and watch as the last of me dissolves into it, fizzing the area around me. As I drown I remain conscious, but take on a new existence. I witness the branch leaving the pool, forced out by the powerful swirling of the whirlpool and hope for stillness soon. All starts to quiet slowly and eventually steadies and I welcome the ending of the storm and take in my new presence. It appears that I am now more than I was before and I seem to encompass all of the darkened, hot, pool of liquid that I once loathed. I bathe within with joy upon me and fret no loner for my future, for this new world seems full of all sorts of new adventures for me to undertake. But just as things go all quiet and I calm down from my fleeting rush from before, the ground begins to shake and things around me are moving again. I seem to be heading towards the sky, and not fearing the embrace of heaven I welcome it. Then my world begins to tilt and I see that I am not heading towards heaven, or at least the heaven that I am aware of, but instead am heading towards a small cavern that enlarges more the closer I approach it. My world tilts at an unnatural angle and I begin to slide towards the cavern opening. I cling for life as best as I can to my prison, but am unable to get a hold and am consumed by the cavernous maw. My existence changes again as I slide down a reddish, humid tunnel, and feel like I am starting to slowly lose consciousness. Through a long trek of what seemed to be endless tunnels, I finally land into a pit of what feels like acid and begin to break up even faster. My life slowly fades and I remember the good times before I encountered this hell of mine. Slower and slower I fade away until finally I give in and embrace my destiny. My life was short but it was a good life and I take the memories with me as the internal, immortal rest that takes all at some point snatches me and I go without a fight, uttering no words of remorse.