Once in a while I believe that I have something worthwhile to say that doesn't quite fit in my profile feed or the forums. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen. But as everything needs to have a beginning, I will start by offering the beginning to a story that I am working on. It has no title so far and I don't think that it deserves a sneak peek forum entry just yet either. As the story progresses I will have more of an idea of what genre it belongs in and what tags to attache to it. When I have a better idea of the direction it is heading and I get more writing under my belt, I will go about soliciting a beta-reader and ultimately an editor as I should. It looks like something for publication next year and hopefully sometime in the first quarter but without definite deadlines, the writing will dictate the schedule. If a reader has any thoughts at the end, don't hesitate to let me know what the are.

So, on with the show...

“Long have I been trapped, separated and after so long I have been given another chance. Once again, to try for redemption.”

What began as a tickle at the back of his mind progressed into a slow deterioration of the darkness. As he floated, weightless and without direction, the blackness surrounding him shimmered and shimmered again. Light began to filter in and along with it came garbled noises. A voice, only fragmented, which sounded as if filtered through the depths of some primordial ocean breached his solitude. Time here had no meaning and so he continued to float for a minute, an hour, a day, he didn’t care but then things began to make gradual sense, and his eyes were opened as if against his will. The light was artificial, bright and painful, causing him to tear up and blink his eyes shut and open a few times too many to get his vision correct. Realizing he was in a hospital room the color of beach sand and alone was a surprise. The last thing he remembered was…

He panicked, he couldn’t remember anything from before waking up. His head felt pressurized and the machine connected to him sounded its klaxon call of beeps and other odd noises. Before he could pull off wires and yank intravenous tubes from his body, a trio of nurses ran into the room. Whether training or providence, the first person he made eye contact with headed straight for him giving assurances that everything was alright. The other two began to check the monitor and to ensure that no physical connections had been broken.

“Mr. Howson, everything is fine. You are in a hospital and you need to settle down before you damage yourself. I have paged Doctor Levinson, he should be here soon.”

Maxwell Howson’s eyes rolled up into his head and he fell limp to the bed before his doctor arrived.

“Maxwell.”

“Maxwell.”

“Time to wake up.”

He could hear the deep mellifluous voice calling him but it seemed so far away. Trying to answer was as navigating through thick fog, he didn’t know which way to turn, which way to focus. It was time to wake up, he needed to wake up.

“Welcome back, Max.”

The fog lifted and his mind cleared along with his vision. There was no one in the room with him, though Max looked the room over expecting someone, after all the voice he heard had to belong. He remembered waking up once before. He also remembered panicking and nurses, and then suddenly diving back into darkness. Trying to remain calm this time, Max located the call button and pushed it. As he waited, Max continued his scrutiny of the room and noticed a difference that he had missed upon awakening. It was subtle but the room wasn’t exactly the same as before. He knew this as absolute fact but he wasn’t sure how that could be. Even though the room was evenly lit, one corner seemed to be cloaked in light shadow. More accurately, it was as if the color were grayed out and therein lay the difference.