Loneliness

	She came in view of the town. It was a sullen place, located in the middle of nowhere. 

There were no roads leading to it. There were no signs to locate it. But she knew it was there, for 

she could see it, she could feel it. The surrounding area was barren; no trees or bushes, only a flat, 

grassy plain. There were only a few buildings, but against the sea of nothingness, they stood out 

immensely. No people or vehicles came in or out of the town, it appeared deserted and alone.

	She started walking determinately. Something drew her towards this place, never letting 

go. Each step placed her closer to the fated destination. It was a cold and dreary day. The wind 

blew strong and whipped her hair about her expressionless face. Clouds raced across the sky, 

coming from out of nowhere..The sun was hidden in an unknown place,  and all was shrouded in 

darkness, even herself. As she neared, she noticed an old, creaky sign, swinging madly in the 

wind. "Loneliness," it simply read, nothing more. A looming wall surrounded the town, 

forbidding and tall. There was a black iron gate, infront of where she stood. She pushed it open, 

the metal chilling her hand. It gave a sorrowful squeak as it solemnly swung open. She turned 

around and slammed the gate closed with a loud clang that ran throughout her head. She faced the 

darkness and took a deep breath, bracing her against what would come next, knowing that she 

would never be able to go back again.

	The wind continued blowing, even here in the shelter that the buildings of the town 

created. It hit her ears and made a ominus, rumbling sound. From the moment she had closed the 

gate, an empty feeling began to fill her, with every single breath. It was cold here, not only in 

temperature, but in feeling too. Dust devils swirled furiously in the streets, eventually engulfing 

her, hitting her eyes and blinding her vision. She stumbled towards the nearest building, hoping 

for some sort of shelter. It had few windows, of which were small and of broken glass. The outer 

walls were covered with dirt, beneath the dirt, paint could be seen peeling away and pieces of 

wood falling off. Overall the building was in dispicable shape. She fumbled with the handle of the 

door with one hand, covering her eyes with the other. It wasn't locked and she managed to open 

the door with a shove of her shoulder. She quickly stepped in and slammed the door behind her, 

nearly wrecking the wall. The room was shrouded in darkness and empty except for a chair in a 

distant corner near a window. The air was still, it felt as though no one had been in there for ages. 

She walked towards the chair, the hollow sound of her footsteps echoing off the walls. She sat 

upon the ancient chair, it's legs wobbling under the pressure, and took a long deep sigh of dismay. 

What had brought her here? There was a pulling sensation, a need to be here. Now that she 

arrived, she fearfully felt as though she belonged. The enpty feeling from before had grown with 

every passing moment, leaving her with nothing. She now felt colder than ever. She felt lonlier 

than ever. There were truly no people at all in this town. It was only her, no one else. She shivered. 

She could distinctly smell it in the air. The very essence of the town was created upon emptiness, 

fear and grief. It tingled her skin and filled her mind. The town itself was made of this feeling. It

was her feelings of shame, grief, sadness, fear, emptiness and loneliness.

	She looked out the window slowly. It was dark and the dust that filled the air barely 

allowed the surrounding buildings to be visible. They appeared to be similar to the one she was in. 

Walls with nothing in them, falling apart with ever single passing moment. Everything was 

scattered about, in no particular order. There appeared to be a figure far away, almost invisible, 

yet soon the dust increased and it vanished out of sight.

	The wind howled and threatened to blow down the building, but the foundation managed 

to hold. She leaned back against the chair, weary and tired. She let her eyelids fall and listened to 

the constant howl of the wind. There was nothing better to do but sleep, as long as the dust storm 

continued. Maybe, sh thought, the wind will die down in the morning, or night, whatever the time 

of day was. But maybe not, and she would be trapped here forever , with nothing but a window to 

look out of, and seeing no one. She shuddered at the thought. Eventually she managed to force 

herself to sleep, only to be rewarded with nightmares filled with lost hopes and wishes and people 

never to be seen again.

	She awoke disappointed, still weary and tired nonetheless. She didn't open her eyes at 

first, for she knew she would only find darkness, instead she listened. It was silent. The wind had 

stopped and now there were no sounds except for her harsh breath. The empty feeling had not 

subsided. Now she also felt numb. Pain could be felt, like needles constantly piercing her. She 

stood up, hoping that moving about would rob her of that pain. She peered out the window, the 

dust was now replced be thick, heavy fog. She felt her way through the dark room to the door on 

the other side, and stepped out. The air was damp and musty. The fog rolled about, so thick that it 

seemed to sit upon her, weighing down every inch of her body. Even though the wind was gone 

and the sound that had carried with it, the bonechilling feeling still remained. She looked about, 

walking slowly. The buildings were merely ghosts, hiding behind the fog. Figures surrounded her, 

seeming human, but when she walked closer they would disappear into shadows created by the 

ever constant taunting fog.

	She wandered about, it seemed for several hours, though time meant nothing here. The 

pain of being abandoned and forgotten had not diminished, instead it grew with every step. No 

one remembered her and no one ever would. She was dead inside, her soul and spirit gone. She 

wanted so much more in life, yet recieved nothing but pain and anguish. No one cared to notice. 

In confusion she continued, not knowing where to go, lost from herself and everyone else.

	Then a figure appeared, distant and ghostly in the fog. It didn't move like the shadows, but 

stood still. As she neared it, the outline became more definate. She was certain it was human. Her 

heart started to pound rapidly. Maybe there was someone. Anyone. She stumbled towards it, 

begging that it was not just another figment of her imagination. It wasn't. It was a girl with simple 

features and clothing. It held a dagger in its hands, placed before her. It was an exact replica of 

herself, frozen in stone. It was her exact twin; the face, the features, the clothing, but all in stone 

grey. Yet there was one difference. Where there should have been eyes, there was nothing, only 

darkness. She felt dissapointed that it wasn't a person. She tapped the statue with a finger, it 

responded with a hollow plunk; there was nothing inside of it, it was only a shell. She felt like this 

statue was a representation of herself; lifelike, yet empty and dead. She touched the statue's face. 

The stone, was remarkably cold and chilled her hand. Goosebumps traveled up her arm and across 

her body, she shivered, not for the first time. Then all of a sudden she felt wetness upon the face, 

for a tear had fallen from where there should have been eyes and landed on her hand. At that very 

moment she realized that had summoned her here.

	"What am I ?" a sad but calm female voice suddenly said out loud. She spun about, trying 

to locate where the voice had come from. "What am I ?" it repeated. There were no others around, 

only her and the statue. She looked into the statue, into it's empty eye sockets. "What am I ?" the 

voice asked, almost begging, Her eyes grew round and she gasped. The voice was hers, somehow 

coming from the statue. There was something strange about this statue, she could feel it; there 

was something to be feared about it. It seemed powerful, yet innocent all at the same time.

	"What am I ?" it again repeated, more expectantly, as if demanding an answer. She 

studied it's stone face, it appeared to grow angry with every passing moment, angry for her not 

answering. A blinding flash of lightning suddenly lit up the sky and the pain that had bothered her 

since waking up now grew worse and became unbearable. She gripped her stomach and fell to her 

knees before the statue. Tears filled her eyes and she squeezed them shut. Rain began pouring 

down in sheets and she was drenched within seconds. The air was filled terrifying claps of thunder 

and flashes of lightning. When she opened her eyes again, she looked up at the demoniac statue 

and could see that an angry, red, burning light was emitted from within it and poured out at the 

empty eye sockets. "What am I ?!" the voice now yelled, demanding and threatening. The pain 

increased and she cried out, terrified. It wanted her to answer.

	"I...I...a...am...alone," she barely whispered, nearly inaudible. All of a sudden the rain, 

lightning and thunder stopped instantly. Now there was nothing, even the town seemed to 

dissappear. Only she and the statue remained. The voice was gone now. All she could hear was 

dead silence and her own bitter sobbing for several minutes. She could feel the blood veins all 

throughout her pounding. She calmed down, trying to slow her breathing and heartbeat. Then she 

heard a clear crack that sliced through the silent air, and then another, and another. She raised her 

eyes to the statue's face. Crack after crack grew across it; it began to crumble, falling to pieces. 

From the cracks the red light expanded, engulfing everything. The statue then exploded from the 

inside out. She covered her eyes with her hands as pieces of stone flew at her. When she finally 

lifted her hands away from her face, there was nothing left of the statue, only the dagger that it 

once held lay upon the ground. 
	
	She instantly knew what she had to do. Silence yet again filled the surrounding area; 

empty and still of thought. She slowly took the dagger, her hands shaking, her body trembling. 

She held it up and closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.  In a single maddening 

moment it was plunged into her heart, and she fell at last, forever disappearing from the face of 

the earth. 

	"...Alone...," a voice whispered. Forgotten, all she left behind was a lonely crimson stain 

upon the ground.