DEEPEST DARK - #flashfictionmagic -

#flashfictionmagic – DEEPEST DARK

When people ask me how I lost my sight, I tell a different story each time. I touched the Archangel’s Scepter without first swallowing holy water. I stepped into a cloud of golden troll dust and neglected to close my eyes. Or my personal favorite: the Duc sneezed on me.
The truth is something I will never admit. Not even to you.
What matters to you, whoever you are who has stumbled upon this story, is how I am going to get it back again.
In my search for the cure, I found the Woman of Wisdom and received the strangest advice: “Find the Deepest Dark, and it will set you free.”
I assumed she meant free of blindness, but here, in the belly of the deepest cave my guide could find, I wonder if she meant my sanity. I can feel my mind tugging at its moorings, asking questions like, “What is sight? And “Do we want to see again? The world is so terribly bright.”
“Are you sure this isn’t far enough?” Isak’s words scatter my musings.
I sigh. “I can still see a fringe of light.”
“My torch has been out for the last hundred yards.”
“I know, it’s—“
“This would be much easier if you’d tell me how you were blinded.”
“The troll dust, Isak.”
He snorts. “If you mention the Duc, I will sneeze on you myself.”
I face him in the dark. The fringe of light that circles my sight follows. His words were light, but my heightened hearing caught the pain beneath them. “Isak…”
“Just tell me, Lola.” I feel the heat of him in the cool cave air as he moves closer. I force myself still.
“I cannot tell you, because…” My tongue presses against my lips, rebelling. If I tell you, it will kill you.
He stands near for another breath, then spins forward. “On we go, then.”
His pain is turning bitter, but I can do nothing but follow. I will find a darkness that blots out this ring of light, and my sight will return. This terrible secret will be lifted.
If not…
Even you are not safe, wherever you are.