Your Chain (Chains- Version 2)

Your Chain is a new version of Chains in which the protagonist is "You". The original Chains can be read in When My Mind Wanders: A Collection of Writings and Short Stories. 

Your Chain

You find yourself in a void of nothingness. The darkness surrounds you and penetrates your soul, blinding you. You can feel the heavy, cold metal shackles on your wrists and ankles. When you pull your arm forward, you feel the chain tug back. You try to walk forward, but the chains keep you in place. You can do nothing to move from where you stand. 

As you stand in the dark, a soft light emanates from nowhere. Initially, it is far off in the distance. The gentle glow feels as though it could warm the world. You pull at your chains again causing the hard metal to dig into your skin. It cuts the flesh.

You look down and see that each shackle is different and yet the same. Each one is made with an unbreakable metal, so hard and heavy that it makes movement cumbersome. Each is linked to a chain made of the same material. 

You crouch down, lost in complete despair. The blood drips from your wrists. The longer you stay still, the more your flesh heals and grows over the shackles. The restraints will soon become a part of you. 

You know you can no longer continue to crouch, allowing yourself to sit upon the cold, lifeless floor. You remember the light as it draws your attention to itself. You stare into the light. A harsh sound suddenly meets your ear - a sort of sharp clanging from a shackle hitting the stone-like floor. 

As the sound echoes through the air, it changes to the sound of a bell ringing. Such a sweet sound encourages you to stand up again. Looking at your right leg, you notice that the shackle has fallen. You see it glisten in the darkness, but it looks dull in the light.

The light has somehow grown closer to you. Unknowingly, you start to walk forward. You can only walk a few steps before the chains stop you, keeping you from going farther. You turn and realize that the three chains trail off into the darkness and are linked to an unseen anchor. 

In anger, you yank on the chains, but they refuse to budge. You scream into the darkness and begin to cry. Anger, sadness, fear -- all rush through your veins. Your emotions run wildly through you when you realize that you have somehow been freed from one chain, only to be left captive to the others.

As you stare into the vast emptiness, you can feel something growing up your right leg. The vine creeps up and winds itself around your calf. You struggle frantically to free yourself of this new evil, but its grip only gets tighter. You can feel it restricting the blood-flow as it strangles the life out of your foot.

Your mind returns to the light and you look back at it with tears streaming down your face. A strange warmth seems to emanate from the far off light and gently caress your face. It feels warm on your tear-soaked cheeks. You can feel the vine withering in the heat. It becomes ash, which you easily shake off. Only a red scar lingers.

You feel the shackle around your left ankle loosen and drop off. This chain is black and soiled with blood. Feeling the weight lifted, if only slightly, you become determined to run towards the light. You refuse to think of the other two chains.

You feel your bare feet slap against the cold, smooth floor. The sound echoes in your ears as your heart quickens and it becomes harder to breathe. Another shackle falls to the ground. The clanging motivates you to run harder. The fourth shackle breaks off. 

You are free.

You can feel your hair as the air runs through it. You are elated in spite of the pain in your chest. The light before you glows brighter than before as you run towards it.

The light reflects off your skin. In joy, you reach out your arm as you run to the light and see the scar and dried blood on your wrist. The way it felt haunts you, but you are so close to the light. 

You are so close to the light that you can almost touch it, but something is clasped around your neck. It chokes you and jerks you back as its chain becomes taut. It gags you, causing you to cough as you try desperately to catch your breath. 

You have been so lost in the weight of the other shackles, the band around your neck has gone unnoticed. It is lighter than the others and does not feel like metal. You look back and notice that the chain fettering you now is far longer than you can even fathom. Knowing that it is all that is keeping you from the light, from the freedom you thought you had, you tug at the chain and claw at the collar. 

You become hysterical. You are so close and yet so far. You frantically try to remove this last restraint as the tears well up in your eyes and your fingers begin to bleed.

In despair, your legs give way and you land on your knees. An intense pain rushes through you. Angry, you scream out and beat your fists against the ground hoping that the pain will calm you. Your tears pour forth and cover the ground. With no energy left, you lay yourself on the wet floor. The cold seeps through your flesh. You lay your head to one side and look back into the darkness from whence you came. 

The light has illuminated the world and you could see just how far you have come. You can see the bloodstains, rusted shackles and their tarnished chains. They overlap and form a cross.

You squint to see the place where the first chain is fastened, but as you stare blankly at it, the darkness begins to eat away at the light. The past is quickly becoming hidden in the encroaching darkness. An uneasy feeling eats away at your soul as fear overcomes you.

You turn your head back to the shimmering light. It is so bright that you have to look away. You want desperately to feel the warmth comforting you as it once had. You want to feel the freedom you had once known. The light somehow gives you courage and you stand and focus on the white light. 

You lift your hand and reach for whatever is calling to you. You know the darkness is behind you and you can feel something playing with the final chain, but the warmth from the light hugs you. You look back to see the dark has grown darker, but you notice that the light has grown brighter. You turn away from the dark and try to walk forward, but the chain does not give. 

How will you wait on freedom from this last restraint?