Author’s Note: This short story was written to practice setting in 300 words when I was still pretty early into my official writing journey. I really wanted to explore the eerie and haunting beauty of a lost, dark palace. You might also recognize where I got some other inspiration towards the end.
Read while listening for maximum immersion:
The twisting vines coiled around the dark palace, clawing its way back down into the sullen earth. Walking slowly through the leaves, her footsteps crunched in the deafening silence. She inched ever so slightly towards its harrowing doors and gazed upward at its imposing might.
She took a deep breath, allowing her hand to gently caress the large engravings that had been scrawled over its gilded doors.
“Here, God is Blind”
It was written in the Old Language, though it was hardly legible. It seemed to be written in great haste. She thought of the asylum patients and the strange symbols they had drawn all over themselves.
She scrutinized every part of it, puzzled by what she saw. It wasn’t written when the palace was first erected, that much she knew. The structure itself predated the engraving by at least four thousand years.
What’s more, the remarkable stone that made up its towers had crumbled away. Even the greatest archeologists of her time could not identify its true properties. She marveled to think of how it looked in its prime.
What she could ascertain, however, is that it was once a glass like material. It was something that could not have been of this earth, yet here it was, still rooted into the dirt. She couldn’t help but feel as though the walls were listening to her, watching closely as she walked along the great entrance and rendering her humble in their presence.
The young woman bowed her head as a show of respect, cautiously pushing the doors open, half expecting them to bite closed onto her flesh.
Upon entering, magnificent eyes sang in dissonant voices.
“Be…Not…Afraid…” they said.
She dropped her light, desperately clawing at her face in search of her eyes, and the doors snapped shut behind her.
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Adored this.
This was so stunning and chilling, yet oddly hopeful. Gorgeous writing, as always!