The airport was filled with unseen faces, people were operating on autopilot, hustling and bustling with their luggage. Drowning in the crowd, being so used to getting attention, Kenny felt invisible, like he was just a shadow in the crowd, noone noticed him.
Amidst the flurry of travellers rushing to catch their flights, he stood at the check-in counter, the attendant barely glanced at him, her attention was already focused on the next customer in line who looked like they were moving with their whole life, judging from the number of bags they had.
Kenny couldn’t help but feel insignificant as he handed over his boarding pass. A pensive feeling of melancholy hung on him casting a shadow over everything he had planned for his trip. His ego was bruised, he couldn’t understand how people could not notice him considering his celebrity status. He was used to having attention from crowds asking for pictures.
Sitting next to him on the plane was one of his best friends, they spoke a little about the itinerary and shared some cashew nuts. Kenny had a close group of friends whom he loved dearly and spent most of his time with, everywhere he went, they went.
Raising a toast to their friendship, “Wherever I go, you go”, they took sips from their water bottles.
Separated by a thin veil that demarcates the living and the dead, Kenny fell into slumber mid flight. In the deep of the dark slumber, Kenny found himself in the middle of a graveyard, shrouded in mist, amidst white washed tombstones, each one bearing the weight of forgotten souls.
The eerie silence was broken by a distant howl of a lone wolf, it amplified the weight of his dread. He felt watched by the mausoleum a few meters from where he was standing. Its walls had a pulse, a dark malevolent energy that drew him in against his will.
Trying to find his way out through the maze of graves, each step felt like a descent into the depths of despair.
The ground beneath his feet felt alive as if the earth itself was bearing witness to the horrors that lied within. Strange whispers of the damned drifted through the air, adorned with faint echoes of forgotten souls longing to be heard.
A cold chill swept through the air, freezing him in place. He felt a presence, unseen yet undoubtedly malevolent, closing in on him from all sides. Suddenly a mystic beautiful woman emerged from the mist, a pale glow from the moon illuminated her face.
A beauty he had never seen before, unheard and untold, enchanted, he forgot he was amongst the dead. Her eyes were like a perennial river of shimmering silver, they held a melancholic longing, haunting yet captivating those who dare to meet her gaze.
A tragic love tale bound her to the earthly realm, a tale of heartbreak and loss, but despite the sorrow that lingered in her presence, there was an undeniable allure to her mystic figure.
She moved with a silent elegance, her spectral black gown trailing behind like black ducks in formation. Her body, though veiled in a mystical haze, she exuded a kind of serene beauty that transcends the boundaries of the living and the dead.
A beautiful ghost.
As she drew closer, her mystic beauty faded into a familiar face, someone he once loved, her death not only stole her youth but her joy too, a spectre of the past.
Terror stricken, he tried to scream but his screams were muffled back into his stomach. Her presence evoked a sense of wonder, terror and reverence, for in her, he saw not just a ghost, but a reflection of himself, for they once became one.
Ringing a funeral bell, heralding an impending doom, she smirked and whispered, “Wherever I go, you go”.
Her voice carried the echo of a forgotten melody, both haunting and achingly beautiful. Somewhere within her, crouched a malevolent creature of vengeance and wrath.
Immediately, the ground beneath Kenny turned into quicksand, trapping him in a deadly embrace, the viscous mud pulled him down with an unyielding grip.
Ominous figures and shadows began to emerge from the mud, taking on twisted forms , they insidiously reached out to Kenny with skeletal hands, as if they were pleading for release from their eternal torment. Their unearthly moans and unintelligible words took away every ounce of courage within him.
Just before the quicksand swallowed him, the mystic woman rang the funeral bell once more again and in a blinding flash of light, the nightmare shattered like glass, and he woke up to the comforting embrace of reality.
It took him a moment to realize it had all been just a dream, but the memory lingered, casting a shadow on him like shroud, a haunting reminder of the fragility of life and the inevitability of death.
Clearing his throat and wiping the remnants of the nightmare off his eyes, he woke up his best friend who had also been asleep. Subsequently, the flight attended approached them to fasten up their seat belts in preparation for landing.
The pick up vehicles were already on standby, pressing in the crowd, Kenny caught attention of a woman adorned in all black who was going the opposite direction.
Her intense searching eyes locked with his for a fleeting moment as she approached him. He was sure, she was not a fan but someone he personally knew but he couldn’t tell who she was or where he had met her.
She deliberately inclined her mouth closer to his ear and whispered, “Remember the quicksand, wherever I go, you go”.
Before Kenny could react, she melted back into the crowd, disappearing as quickly as she had appeared. The mystery woman’s fleeting visit left Kenny with more questions than answers, as he recalled the dream. Bothered and confused, he contemplated talking to his friends about it.
By the time Kenny checked in his hotel room, his mind was like a turbulent sea, its waves crashing against the shores of reason and calm. Caught up in the maze of his own thoughts, anxiety took residence at the edges of his consciousness, stirring up fragments of the nightmare, imagination and reality. His thoughts clashed and his emotions surged, leaving no refuge for peace.
Written by Rudo Muzondo
Rudo’s books are found on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rudo+muzondo&crid=2EWR9LZ8J3FFM&sprefix=rudo+muzondo+%2Caps%2C692&ref=nb_sb_noss
Or she can be reached on [email protected]
