A little piece of fiction that became the seed of my first novel.
Magic exists everywhere. Bursting up from deep within the earth, layers of rock rise up stepping into majestic peaks. Seas teem with every kind of creature, unique in both form and function. Rivers flow over hill and dale, moving with an effervescent, inexorable pulse. Skies glow in rainbow colors, displaying light in resplendent hues human eyes only imagine through the dark lens of mortality.
Magic pulses life. Plants, flowers, herbs, and trees grow from deep, immense root to delicate petal, bursting forth with palpable force. Shimmering leaves and the wind that blows them, both filled with a power unseen, dance to a tune only they perceive.
Magic envelopes mystery. Incomprehensible spirits walk the earth in corporeal form, harboring hidden power. Hungering for knowledge, yet blazing with emotions at times out of control, they seek to find Truth, discerning it through the shadowed mirror of the world.
In the twilight realm between heaven and earth, hidden from the eyes of men, a war rages among ethereal beings of pure magic. In the fight for preeminence and immortality, the King of Valkyrie discovered an advantage, not realizing he would awaken a mage who could prove to be his undoing.
Then you heard the voice again. That voice! Always crowding in to push the darkness back, the sweet darkness that hid and sustained you. “Shut UP!” you screamed in your head. Still it came, relentless.
“Mr. Peabody, please come back to bed,” the nurse said with quiet authority.
Your head snapped up in sudden recognition. “Where am I?” you mumbled groggily.
“Sleepwalking again, Dearie. At least this time you brought your flashlight,” the nurse crooned. “Bad dream tonight?”
“Uh, yeah,” was all you could muster in reply.
“Well, walking up and down this parking lot isn’t going to clean the mess off the walls of your room. At least you finally got rid of that rat for us! Ready to go back inside now?” Then you noticed the bucket and rags she carried.
Looking up at the stone walls you caught a glimpse of the light shining from your window on the third floor. “Sure,” you said softly. Taking your arm in hers, the nurse gently led you back inside the asylum. “Home at last,” you thought.