my last ficlet of 2011...
...and it has no title.
or indeed, even a header.
also i have been playing way too many creepy hidden object games
~*~
Hyo was exhausted.
He had been too long trapped in this place. Too long solving the little puzzles the spirit had laid, too long hearing the spirit's whispers and promises.
The outside world seemed further and further away all the time.
He'd been warned about this, hadn't he? The old man just inside, who had been trapped in the mirror -- or was it Hyo who was trapped in the mirror now? He'd travelled so many times between them he was no longer sure of what was real and what was reflection.
"Have you given any more thought to my offer?"
It really was odd, Hyo thought tiredly, how the spirit never manifested in the same way twice. This time, he stepped from the curtains like a living man might enter a room.
He said nothing.
The spirit sighed. "You are a most vexing man. I have offered you power, a place at my side. Why do you persist in defying me?"
Why did he? Hyo wondered. His reasons for doing so had been so clear when all this had begun. What had they been again?
A face came to his mind -- his wife? No. Mi-Sun was dead, and this face was far too young. His daughter.
Mi-Cha.
Hyo looked up into the spirit's eyes, and startled when he realised that the spirit had his daughter's eyes. Or perhaps she had his eyes?
"My daughter," he whispered.
The spirit smiled. "You need not worry. The child will be well cared-for. My powers are not confined to this building." His hand gripped Hyo's shoulder; this time, he could feel the spirit's touch. "And you are growing closer to me."
Hyo stared into those pale green eyes, and then closed his own. "I accept."
The protective charm around his neck shattered.
or indeed, even a header.
also i have been playing way too many creepy hidden object games
~*~
Hyo was exhausted.
He had been too long trapped in this place. Too long solving the little puzzles the spirit had laid, too long hearing the spirit's whispers and promises.
The outside world seemed further and further away all the time.
He'd been warned about this, hadn't he? The old man just inside, who had been trapped in the mirror -- or was it Hyo who was trapped in the mirror now? He'd travelled so many times between them he was no longer sure of what was real and what was reflection.
"Have you given any more thought to my offer?"
It really was odd, Hyo thought tiredly, how the spirit never manifested in the same way twice. This time, he stepped from the curtains like a living man might enter a room.
He said nothing.
The spirit sighed. "You are a most vexing man. I have offered you power, a place at my side. Why do you persist in defying me?"
Why did he? Hyo wondered. His reasons for doing so had been so clear when all this had begun. What had they been again?
A face came to his mind -- his wife? No. Mi-Sun was dead, and this face was far too young. His daughter.
Mi-Cha.
Hyo looked up into the spirit's eyes, and startled when he realised that the spirit had his daughter's eyes. Or perhaps she had his eyes?
"My daughter," he whispered.
The spirit smiled. "You need not worry. The child will be well cared-for. My powers are not confined to this building." His hand gripped Hyo's shoulder; this time, he could feel the spirit's touch. "And you are growing closer to me."
Hyo stared into those pale green eyes, and then closed his own. "I accept."
The protective charm around his neck shattered.