The Fog

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A word of warning. I’ll be posting horror all week.

Reader discretion is advised.

If you’re still here, welcome to Halloween Week!

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Skulking along the rooftops came a dense fog, moving with the elegance of a sleek jungle cat. The motion appeared conscious, as it swamped the town in a tightening ring.
It billowed toward me at incredible speed and obscured all daylight from my fascinated eyes. I could not see my hands mere feet from my face.
The fog hung heavy in the air then solidified, with a constricting sensation I was aware I could no longer move.
Then came a sudden splash, and with it I was released. The eerie veil had fallen and the day was once again clear, leaving nothing but the sodden path on which I stood.
I stared enraptured, studying the slush about my feet and noticed a circumstance most peculiar in the bright morning sun. My shadow was gone. I deduced, the culprit vapor, then solid, then liquid fog had engulfed it. I jerked my head left, then right, buildings, trees, fellow pedestrians had all suffered the same fate.
Transfixed by the shadowless earth I took a step back. There hiding in the place previously occupied by my foot was the cowering shape of my former shadow. It twitched, bewitched, swaying as if spellbound and crept slowly toward my boot tip. The little shadow slinked onto my boot, easing over the soft leather growing as it clawed its way toward my leg.
Oozing upward gripping at my pants leg then shirt, I felt the first chill. The chill of the shade on a scorching summer’s day.
As it reached my torso and chest I swatted at its further encroachment. It continued unwavering in its journey, I was powerless to thwart the black stain as it streamed over my collar. I felt it prick at my neck with ice like talons. Then, it leapt and hovered, now in a clouded form, eye line in what I considered to be an attempt at communication. As I spluttered a perfunctory greeting it lurched forward, toward my mouth with the speed of a violent northern wind. I was helpless to stop it.
The dark shadow I’d created with my being now nests inside me, it is like frostbite on my very soul. I have no inkling of its intentions, I only know, daily, my heart grows colder, and the shadow is unyielding.

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Eugi’s Weekly Prompt: Bewitched

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