Story: The Fence
Okay, so this is sort of an expansion of the last story I posted, Existence. It's a little different from the original, but nevertheless, still the same plot.
Title: The Fence
Word Count: 2,064
Summary: In his search for a way out of the nightmare he's gotten himself into, Daniel discovers that somewhere, paradise exists--even in the worst of times.
"Daniel--run, just run! Go on without me! Ru--"
That was the last Daniel heard from him before he heard a loud, poignant bang that made his heart leapt. He knew what had happened--and he knew it could as well happen to him. And he knew exactly what to do--run.
--------------------------------
Out of the heat, and into the fire--this was how Daniel described the current sequence of events. He was in deep waters--out of the familiar sights of the concentration camps. Thoughts raced into his mind: How will this all end? What will happen to me? Where do I go next? Suggestions, questions, violent reactions--all raced inside his head. He didn't care right now where he was going--all he knew now was he had to go.
The blaring sirens continued their sorrowful lament as he could hear the cries and angry voices that reverberated with the sirens. It made him wonder--was running away worth leaving his loved ones and countrymen behind? And if it was, how many of them could actually make it out alive? It was just another question he just had no time to answer.
At that point, he stopped running, trying to figure where he had ran off to. He looked around. Behind him, the chaos ensued, the noise ringing in the winter night. He looked around some more. Treetops enshrouded the night sky; rays of moonlight falling onto the forest floor like raindrops. The cold winter breeze blew through the forest ever so slowly it actually felt--comforting. He looked around some more. Blue forget-me-nots bunched up at the base of the trees, swaying lazily with the breeze. Somewhere in the distance he could barely see the moon peer through the trees, seemingly eyeing him, as if he was staring into eternity's eye there and then. And for the first time in a long while, he felt--happy.
But then it dawned on him--he was still on the run. So he proceeded to what else, but run some more.
Dashing through the trees, he searched for one that would serve as his hideout for an indefinite number of days. So far, all the trees he saw looked uninviting. To him, it was like the trees were sneering at him and saying, "There is nothing for you here. Leave." Everything looked seemingly hopeless, until he saw that tree.
He stopped at the foot of the tree, looking up. The tree's trunk seemed to bend up in a way that it looked like a steep staircase. Looking above, he figured that the branches were strong enough to support him--but it's anyone's guess how long it would hold him. But right now, it's not his to judge--he slowly climbed up the tree.
Hours have passed. But to Daniel, it was like he lived a whole dozen lifetimes in waiting. Just lying up there in those branches, waiting for some kind of sign to dawn on him, or at least for things to die down--enough for him to run free. The suspense felt like a crawling pain that never seemed to go away--it just kept crawling and writhing within him, building a stronghold of fear within his mind. It paralyzed him--it scared him.
He rolled a leaf between his fingers. It slipped through them, falling slowly to the ground. The cool breeze seemed to lull him and the hostile feelings he harbored within him. Within him, he could feel the wind singing a melancholic lullaby that pierced the very workings of his soul. The heartrending tones it sang--the beautiful words it whispered to him…
He never felt so calm and composed.
He drifted off ever so slowly into a dream, forgetting that everything was wrong with the world. It was that one single moment, that one simple moment--it was that moment he felt like everything could just go on without him--where he could just drift away into a paradise he had been in before…
It was the same dream every night--but with different people. He woke up abruptly, making him wish at first that he didn't. Sleeping was his only way of forgetting that he was in despair. He wakes up, but realizes that the he just might not wanna wake up at all, where he was in his dreams.
He woke up in some sort of pasture, where everything seemed eerily perfect. The sun was hung up into the sky at the very center of the pasture, smiling down at him. Stars gathered around it, dancing across the sky like meteors would at night. Trees lined up to his left and right, the end of the line disappearing into the horizon. Occasionally would winds blow so gently, Daniel felt like he would fall asleep again. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear wind chimes, a glockenspiel and voices singing in accord, like some twisted lullaby. He raised his head up and saw stars in bunches glinting against the blue sky.
He stood up, walking in a slow pace. He looked around, pondering why he was there, where he was, and who brought him there. He can't help but ask; there was so much right now he just circled around his mind. He looked back and saw how his footprints had left bald spots in the grass. He checked under his shoes and saw the damp mud clinging on to dear life.
His little walk was suddenly interrupted when a voice behind him said, "Who--are you?"
He turned around slowly and saw a man in a slightly faded green tunic. His faded blue eyes somehow gave away who he was--someone he knew so well…
"…Hugh?"
The man nodded. Hugh Amberton, a man he met from years ago and kept in touch with in letters. Although he had not heard from him ever since Daniel's imprisonment in the concentration camp, he still held on to the letters that he received from him--it served as a spark of hope for him.
Daniel embraced him like a brother, on the verge of tears. He didn't believe in crying as a way to express his emotions, but with cascading emotions inside him, he just couldn't cage it all in.
"How did you--get here?" Daniel asked, still shaking with excitement and awe.
"Ah," Hugh said in a misty voice, "That I cannot tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because you must find out for yourself," Hugh's voice became a lot more hushed. "This place is seen by anyone in despair, but only those who have crossed that fence lives here."
He pointed to a whitewashed fence behind him. It separated the pasture from what looks like a desolate field of rolling tumbleweed and grass patches.
"But I don't understand," Daniel murmured, "I woke up on this side of the fence. Why?"
"Everyone wakes up on this side of the fence, Daniel," Hugh explained, "But when you wake up on that side--where the sun doesn't shine as bright as it does here--and you go over that fence--you'll know that this is your home now."
He looked at that other side. It didn't look like somewhere he'd want to be. It didn't even look hospitable to anyone or anything. Why cross over from there?
But as he opened his mouth to ask Hugh another question, he faded away into dust before his eyes in a blink. Daniel was mildly shocked, but what happened next plunged him back into the state of fear that he harbored within him each day.
Everything around him seemed to slowly dissolve into nothing; Daniel could feel the air all over him picking up. He was slowly losing the feeling of being on solid ground as the grass beneath him faded away. The sun above him, like some streetlight reflected by water, rippled away into nothingness. Soon, he could only see darkness. Until…
…He opened his eyes. The dark forest shone with the moonlight falling in bits and pieces all around him. At first he didn't remember where he was, but soon it all came back to him: He was still in danger.
In fact, he always was.
He sat up, looking up for answers. What would he do now? He couldn't just wait up there for some miracle to happen, even more wait for the turmoil to end. He didn't know where to run as well--everywhere he thought he could run to couldn't completely shelter him from the growing threat that ensued. Nowhere seemed safe. Nothing seemed sure.
Yet--something spoke to him within his heart. A feeling of hope and surety still glowed hopefully inside him. Something within him gave him hope again, when things didn't seem so hopeful. He searched himself to find that spark--and hopefully magnify it to an extent that he never needed to worry again. But then he remembered…
"…Cross the fence…"
He jumped down the tree, running again. But this time, he knew where to go. That place--that very place where he hoped he could somehow find a way out of all this. Trees and leaves whizzed past him, the wind picking up, until--
He had reached it. The forest ended behind him. Before him was a field that looked like it was meant to be farmed, but never got around to being used. The dead plants were crushed underneath his feet as he neared it. That long, whitewashed fence. The one he knew he had to cross. He didn't look back to see if anyone saw him, he just knew he had to cross. Lifting one foot, he crossed the fence with one leg, then the other…
…Those voices were back.
His heart pounded as he heard the shouts of one soldier who apparently saw him crossing that fence. Soon, he gained momentum and ran again, but he would be stopped by a bear trap snapping greedily on his feet.
He fell down to the ground, mud clinging to his body and half his face. He writhed and yelled in pain as the trap tightened on his leg, causing more blood to drip away from his leg. He tried crawling, but to no avail; they were gaining on him.
He felt helpless. This wasn't how things were supposed to end. He didn't want to go this way, squirming and yelping in pain from a bear trap caught in his leg. He looked up and saw the moon, watching him wriggling in the ground in excruciating agony. He only wondered how this could all end.
And instantly he knew it was going to end with the barrel of a gun blowing his head off.
Laughing coldly in his demise, the soldier kicked him hard on his ribs, making him lie flat on his back, the pain now emanating from both his ribs and leg. The soldier looked at him with contempt, then brandished a gun and pointed it at him. Even though he couldn't feel it, the bullet was just waiting to be fired.
"Any last words, vermin?" The soldier said in a harsh, biting tone.
Daniel looked up at the night sky again. He looked up to it, hoping for a miracle. For someone to fall from the sky to save him--just like what Hugh would do his mentality, which would always threaten to break apart. But he wasn't there to save him now. But then he remembered…
…Hugh died a few years ago! That's why he never heard from him afterwards!
Everything seemed to fall into place: The dream, the fields, the fence, Hugh, his idea of crossing the fence, the desolate fields on the other side…
…He knew now what it all meant.
"I'm going home," He said weakly, pain still circulating within him, intensifying with every moment.
The soldier laughed again, this time his laugh colder and frightening. He pulled the trigger, and…
…Daniel opened his eyes. He sat up and saw himself back again in that dream, but this time, he found himself on the other side of that fence--where the barren field was. And before him was that fence. And that beautiful field.
Soon it all became clear.
He ran to that fence, leaping over it, and rolling in the green grass happily. It was all over. It was finally done.
He had found peace once again.
Title: The Fence
Word Count: 2,064
Summary: In his search for a way out of the nightmare he's gotten himself into, Daniel discovers that somewhere, paradise exists--even in the worst of times.
"Daniel--run, just run! Go on without me! Ru--"
That was the last Daniel heard from him before he heard a loud, poignant bang that made his heart leapt. He knew what had happened--and he knew it could as well happen to him. And he knew exactly what to do--run.
--------------------------------
Out of the heat, and into the fire--this was how Daniel described the current sequence of events. He was in deep waters--out of the familiar sights of the concentration camps. Thoughts raced into his mind: How will this all end? What will happen to me? Where do I go next? Suggestions, questions, violent reactions--all raced inside his head. He didn't care right now where he was going--all he knew now was he had to go.
The blaring sirens continued their sorrowful lament as he could hear the cries and angry voices that reverberated with the sirens. It made him wonder--was running away worth leaving his loved ones and countrymen behind? And if it was, how many of them could actually make it out alive? It was just another question he just had no time to answer.
At that point, he stopped running, trying to figure where he had ran off to. He looked around. Behind him, the chaos ensued, the noise ringing in the winter night. He looked around some more. Treetops enshrouded the night sky; rays of moonlight falling onto the forest floor like raindrops. The cold winter breeze blew through the forest ever so slowly it actually felt--comforting. He looked around some more. Blue forget-me-nots bunched up at the base of the trees, swaying lazily with the breeze. Somewhere in the distance he could barely see the moon peer through the trees, seemingly eyeing him, as if he was staring into eternity's eye there and then. And for the first time in a long while, he felt--happy.
But then it dawned on him--he was still on the run. So he proceeded to what else, but run some more.
Dashing through the trees, he searched for one that would serve as his hideout for an indefinite number of days. So far, all the trees he saw looked uninviting. To him, it was like the trees were sneering at him and saying, "There is nothing for you here. Leave." Everything looked seemingly hopeless, until he saw that tree.
He stopped at the foot of the tree, looking up. The tree's trunk seemed to bend up in a way that it looked like a steep staircase. Looking above, he figured that the branches were strong enough to support him--but it's anyone's guess how long it would hold him. But right now, it's not his to judge--he slowly climbed up the tree.
Hours have passed. But to Daniel, it was like he lived a whole dozen lifetimes in waiting. Just lying up there in those branches, waiting for some kind of sign to dawn on him, or at least for things to die down--enough for him to run free. The suspense felt like a crawling pain that never seemed to go away--it just kept crawling and writhing within him, building a stronghold of fear within his mind. It paralyzed him--it scared him.
He rolled a leaf between his fingers. It slipped through them, falling slowly to the ground. The cool breeze seemed to lull him and the hostile feelings he harbored within him. Within him, he could feel the wind singing a melancholic lullaby that pierced the very workings of his soul. The heartrending tones it sang--the beautiful words it whispered to him…
He never felt so calm and composed.
He drifted off ever so slowly into a dream, forgetting that everything was wrong with the world. It was that one single moment, that one simple moment--it was that moment he felt like everything could just go on without him--where he could just drift away into a paradise he had been in before…
It was the same dream every night--but with different people. He woke up abruptly, making him wish at first that he didn't. Sleeping was his only way of forgetting that he was in despair. He wakes up, but realizes that the he just might not wanna wake up at all, where he was in his dreams.
He woke up in some sort of pasture, where everything seemed eerily perfect. The sun was hung up into the sky at the very center of the pasture, smiling down at him. Stars gathered around it, dancing across the sky like meteors would at night. Trees lined up to his left and right, the end of the line disappearing into the horizon. Occasionally would winds blow so gently, Daniel felt like he would fall asleep again. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear wind chimes, a glockenspiel and voices singing in accord, like some twisted lullaby. He raised his head up and saw stars in bunches glinting against the blue sky.
He stood up, walking in a slow pace. He looked around, pondering why he was there, where he was, and who brought him there. He can't help but ask; there was so much right now he just circled around his mind. He looked back and saw how his footprints had left bald spots in the grass. He checked under his shoes and saw the damp mud clinging on to dear life.
His little walk was suddenly interrupted when a voice behind him said, "Who--are you?"
He turned around slowly and saw a man in a slightly faded green tunic. His faded blue eyes somehow gave away who he was--someone he knew so well…
"…Hugh?"
The man nodded. Hugh Amberton, a man he met from years ago and kept in touch with in letters. Although he had not heard from him ever since Daniel's imprisonment in the concentration camp, he still held on to the letters that he received from him--it served as a spark of hope for him.
Daniel embraced him like a brother, on the verge of tears. He didn't believe in crying as a way to express his emotions, but with cascading emotions inside him, he just couldn't cage it all in.
"How did you--get here?" Daniel asked, still shaking with excitement and awe.
"Ah," Hugh said in a misty voice, "That I cannot tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because you must find out for yourself," Hugh's voice became a lot more hushed. "This place is seen by anyone in despair, but only those who have crossed that fence lives here."
He pointed to a whitewashed fence behind him. It separated the pasture from what looks like a desolate field of rolling tumbleweed and grass patches.
"But I don't understand," Daniel murmured, "I woke up on this side of the fence. Why?"
"Everyone wakes up on this side of the fence, Daniel," Hugh explained, "But when you wake up on that side--where the sun doesn't shine as bright as it does here--and you go over that fence--you'll know that this is your home now."
He looked at that other side. It didn't look like somewhere he'd want to be. It didn't even look hospitable to anyone or anything. Why cross over from there?
But as he opened his mouth to ask Hugh another question, he faded away into dust before his eyes in a blink. Daniel was mildly shocked, but what happened next plunged him back into the state of fear that he harbored within him each day.
Everything around him seemed to slowly dissolve into nothing; Daniel could feel the air all over him picking up. He was slowly losing the feeling of being on solid ground as the grass beneath him faded away. The sun above him, like some streetlight reflected by water, rippled away into nothingness. Soon, he could only see darkness. Until…
…He opened his eyes. The dark forest shone with the moonlight falling in bits and pieces all around him. At first he didn't remember where he was, but soon it all came back to him: He was still in danger.
In fact, he always was.
He sat up, looking up for answers. What would he do now? He couldn't just wait up there for some miracle to happen, even more wait for the turmoil to end. He didn't know where to run as well--everywhere he thought he could run to couldn't completely shelter him from the growing threat that ensued. Nowhere seemed safe. Nothing seemed sure.
Yet--something spoke to him within his heart. A feeling of hope and surety still glowed hopefully inside him. Something within him gave him hope again, when things didn't seem so hopeful. He searched himself to find that spark--and hopefully magnify it to an extent that he never needed to worry again. But then he remembered…
"…Cross the fence…"
He jumped down the tree, running again. But this time, he knew where to go. That place--that very place where he hoped he could somehow find a way out of all this. Trees and leaves whizzed past him, the wind picking up, until--
He had reached it. The forest ended behind him. Before him was a field that looked like it was meant to be farmed, but never got around to being used. The dead plants were crushed underneath his feet as he neared it. That long, whitewashed fence. The one he knew he had to cross. He didn't look back to see if anyone saw him, he just knew he had to cross. Lifting one foot, he crossed the fence with one leg, then the other…
…Those voices were back.
His heart pounded as he heard the shouts of one soldier who apparently saw him crossing that fence. Soon, he gained momentum and ran again, but he would be stopped by a bear trap snapping greedily on his feet.
He fell down to the ground, mud clinging to his body and half his face. He writhed and yelled in pain as the trap tightened on his leg, causing more blood to drip away from his leg. He tried crawling, but to no avail; they were gaining on him.
He felt helpless. This wasn't how things were supposed to end. He didn't want to go this way, squirming and yelping in pain from a bear trap caught in his leg. He looked up and saw the moon, watching him wriggling in the ground in excruciating agony. He only wondered how this could all end.
And instantly he knew it was going to end with the barrel of a gun blowing his head off.
Laughing coldly in his demise, the soldier kicked him hard on his ribs, making him lie flat on his back, the pain now emanating from both his ribs and leg. The soldier looked at him with contempt, then brandished a gun and pointed it at him. Even though he couldn't feel it, the bullet was just waiting to be fired.
"Any last words, vermin?" The soldier said in a harsh, biting tone.
Daniel looked up at the night sky again. He looked up to it, hoping for a miracle. For someone to fall from the sky to save him--just like what Hugh would do his mentality, which would always threaten to break apart. But he wasn't there to save him now. But then he remembered…
…Hugh died a few years ago! That's why he never heard from him afterwards!
Everything seemed to fall into place: The dream, the fields, the fence, Hugh, his idea of crossing the fence, the desolate fields on the other side…
…He knew now what it all meant.
"I'm going home," He said weakly, pain still circulating within him, intensifying with every moment.
The soldier laughed again, this time his laugh colder and frightening. He pulled the trigger, and…
…Daniel opened his eyes. He sat up and saw himself back again in that dream, but this time, he found himself on the other side of that fence--where the barren field was. And before him was that fence. And that beautiful field.
Soon it all became clear.
He ran to that fence, leaping over it, and rolling in the green grass happily. It was all over. It was finally done.
He had found peace once again.