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W for When I stepped over the threshold: #atozchallenge fiction

Today’s picture prompt is from Theresa Cole —I love its light within darkness—and to go with it I’ve chosen a story starter (below at the beginning of the story in bold) by Marta Szemik which seems to portend a misfortune.
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 When I stepped over the threshold, I did not know I would never see the sun again, but that is how it turned out.

I walked slow, not breathing too often nor too loud, trying to feel each step before I took it, waiting for an echo of my footsteps. But none came.

I smelled the air, raising my face, but could pick up no familiar scent. In the pitch dark, I could see nothing, and when I turned, I realized I did not know which way I had come.

Tired, I sat down, then lay myself, though I could not tell whether it was on a blanket or grass or concrete I lay. I felt nothing, not even the beating of my heart.

Welcome, thrummed from nowhere and everywhere at once, a voice, yet not a voice.

Here I have been ever since, waiting for the clouds to part for the sun, and the thrumming sings through me, as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end.

I know not if days, weeks, months or years have passed. I stay here, no sense, no feeling, only existence, and the singing of the voice that is not a voice. The sun has not emerged, the clouds have not parted, and I know now that it does not matter.

 I am, and the world is without beginning, without end. That is all.
——

A to Z Stories of Life and Death

If you liked this story you might like some of the stories I wrote for my A to Z last year

Blogging from A to Z Challenge Reflections Posts of 2012 will start on Monday May 7th.  The Linky list will go up on that day so you can enter the link for that post on the list.

You can tell us what you thought were the highlights of your April Challenge, what you learned, what changes you might make next time, or what surprised you most.   Let us know about special bloggers you met in your A to Z journey or about a post or posts that especially moved or impressed you.  There are no limits as to what your Challenge experience might have been so tell us in your best way how you felt about the April A to Z Challenge of 2012. 

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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