The Body, The Soul, and The Nightmare!

September 20, 2022 | 335 Views |

The body just entered the darkest and cruellest nightmare, and the soul is trapped in a bell jar. Will the body find a way out to save the soul?

It was one of those nights where everything felt eerie and unnatural. The body was trying to fall asleep; twisting and turning; rolling from one corner of the bed to the other. Suddenly, it found itself grasping for air. It tried waking up and struggled to open its eyes but found itself in a dark room. It was stuck in the labyrinth of the nightmare. There was a huge bell jar in the middle of the room, and trapped in it was the soul. There wasn't any way to free the soul. So the soul said to the body, "It needs a key. You need to go and fetch it before it is too late to save me." The body ran out of the room to search for the key.

Exiting the room, it entered a long corridor, which was dimly lit and seemed to have no end. There were doors on either side. Without giving it much thought and with the rush to save the soul, the body entered the first room it encountered. There was a shadow lurking in that dark room. The body enquired about the key, and the shadow made the body believe that the key was in that very room. "But everything comes with a price", smirkingly said the shadow. The body had no idea what the price would be. It just went along with the shadow. It was a predator in disguise. The body could feel the hands of the predator assaulting every part of it. There were cuts and bruises that no one could see. It bled until the cuts healed, and then there were new scars. With every passing minute, the torture kept on increasing. Beaten up, broken, scarred and bruised, the body crawled to find the way out of the room. The predator grabbed the leg, dragged the body across the room, picked it up and threw it at the door. This time, the blow was hard enough to crack the door. The body slipped out of the crack, falling into the same corridor where it all started.

This time the corridor looked different. Many more shadows were lurking freely, trying to grab and pull the body into their rooms. A bright red door caught the body's attention. While the other rooms looked dark and dusty, the red door seemed different. The body ran as fast as it could and entered the room. This room was beautiful. It had flowers all over the walls, and a bright sun shined right through the window. The body took a sigh of relief and started to look around for the key. There was a tap on the shoulder. The body turned around and saw a white shadow. The white shadow gently held the hands and said you are in the wrong room. There is no key, and the time here is limited. Also, there is no exit either. You are trapped. The chills ran down the spine, and the body felt numb. A ticking sound was echoing in the room. Soon, the floor started to shake. The body looked around and saw the walls crunching in. The beauty of the room, the flowers, the bright sun and the white shadow; all disappeared. The walls kept moving in, and the panicked body could feel the suffocation that came along with the crunched space. It tried to break the door, but the door turned into a wall too. The body turned around, walked towards the window, broke the glass, and jumped out of it.

Again the same corridor, but this time around, the body could see the bell jar and the trapped soul. It felt helpless. The hurt the body felt in the other two room; were a thing of the past. However, the soul was still bleeding and suffocating. The wounds were fresh for the soul as if they didn't heal. The body sat near the bell jar, crying and writhing. Then, a call came from a room in the far corner of the corridor. The body got up and walked towards it. A new white shadow was standing near a room with the door covered in dirt, dust and spider webs. The shadow invited the body into the room, but the body didn't even flinch. The body couldn't trust anymore. The shadow opened the door, and the body could see the key in the middle of the room. Just floating in the air, the body ran through the door. The moment the body stepped inside, the door got shut. The body turned around and saw the white shadow resembling the predator. The white shadow was peeling its skin off and beneath that layer of skin was the same coal-black skin. The body started trembling, it looked at the key, and it was nothing but a lie- an illusion. It vanished in a cloud of black smoke. This time the heart broke into a million pieces, and the body saw the betrayal. It felt cheated. The shadow offered the freedom of the soul, then took it all away. It was worse than what the body felt earlier. The body left the room, and the shadow didn't stop it. It was as if it wanted to snatch the willpower and make the soul suffer a heartbreak.

The body didn't end up in the corridor this time. It was a warm and cozy room. The body felt a sense of peace in it. The body didn't have the strength to look around. The room had a chair in the corner, and the body relaxed on it for a bit. It wanted to breathe for a while, gather some hope and stitch the broken heart piece together. The door opened, and a shadow walked in. The body didn't bother to run away; it was too fragile to make a move. The room started to get colder and colder. The shadow absorbed all the warmth in the room. The paint on the walls started to peel off. The feeling of peace was gone; it felt weird as if a storm was about to come. The shadow left. The body was still in the room. It started to look around and could see the scribblings on the walls. Blackmailer; torturer; heckler; liar. The words echoed in the room. The ears started to bleed. The body couldn't think straight anymore. Somehow, it made it to the door. Found the exit of the corridor and ended up in the room where the soul was trapped under the bell jar.

The bell jar was broken. The body rushed to help the soul, but, the soul couldn't survive. Suffocated and choked; it bled to death. The body carried the soul to the end of the corridor to make its way out of the nightmare, only to realize it wasn't the nightmare in the first place. It was the harsh truth. Now, the body walks around with the dead soul finding sparks to revive it.

Ariba Khan

Every new journey leads to a new destination and writing is the most beautiful journey for me!