The light lit the street quite badly. It was old and yellow and barely made it’s way to the opposite side of the road. I stood beneath it, breathing heavily. I looked around me, trying to blink away the salt water that was stinging my eyes. I couldn’t see any other lights on. I listened carefully. I couldn’t hear anything. I strained my ears, searching for those sounds that were lying just below the sound of the wind. Still nothing. I wondered if I’d lost them. I wondered if it were even a “them” or just an “it”. I wondered if pronouns even applied. Home was still a few streets away. This lamppost was the only nearby source of light I knew of. If I were going to make it home, it’d have to be in darkness. They were faster in the dark. I checked my watch. It was at least a couple of hours till daylight. I couldn’t stay under this light forever. I willed myself to breathe more slowly and I rubbed my eyes. I set myself up to run again. The light began to flicker. That’s when I heard it. They were behind me and they were waiting. The light went out.

-Alice

Turn the lights off
I want to see you in darkness
I want to see with my fingers
Feel with my tongue
I want every movement
Accompanied by a sound
A sound I can hear so clearly
Without visuals to
Get in the way
As it were

I’m not really sure
What I should be feeling
At this precise moment
Inside, I mean
I know what
My fingers can touch
And my lips and tongue can taste
But I’ve no idea
No clue at all
As to what
My heart should be
Whispering in my ears

You’ve rendered me speechless
You’ve taken my breath away
Every word I might have had
Is long since forgotten

My mind
Is spiralling backwards
And forwards
Remembering the day we met
As well as
Envisioning the future
But then
I’m not so sure if we even have one

I can picture it
In my mind
Every little detail
That I want, at least
But I’m not sure
If I can see the path
That would lead us there

I’m feeling
You again
Feeling your words
On my skin
On my neck
Your lips
Your touch
I’m starting to wonder
If it’ll ever be enough

-Alice

It was dark. I couldn’t see anything. The blackness enveloped me like deep velvet. I dared not move in case I stumbled and put myself into even deeper trouble than I was already in. I stood there, motionless, trying to breathe slowly. I couldn’t hear anything. There was no sound and nothing for my eyes to focus on. I just stood there, not moving. Breathing slowly, trying to slow my heart rate as best I could. Nothing to see, nothing to hear. I’m not sure if I could even smell anything. I could move my arms but there didn’t seem to be anything within reach. Still I hesitated. I’m not sure what I was standing on. Whether there was anything stable around what little I was standing on. So there I stood, unable to see or hear and unable to move. I just stood there waiting. Nothing to keep me company except my thoughts. I just stood there thinking. Most of the things I came up with were fairly inane. Things that didn’t matter. Things no one would care about but me. But I kept returning to one thing. It kept preying on my mind as I stood there in isolation. I kept thinking about how hungry I was.

-Alice

I could hear the echoes. They were surrounding me like some baying crowd. Multiple voices in the dark. Calling to me. I couldn’t hear the words. I couldn’t distinguish between them. All I could hear was a maelstrom of vocal sounds. Consonants wrapping aound vowels. Phonetic sounds that made no sense. They could be speaking in any language, speaking any words and it would sound the same. I walked forward, feeling my way in the dark. I had no clue about what I was walking towards. Or even what I was walking away from. I started to wonder if they were really voices. Maybe they were the sounds of rabid wild animals. Maybe I would find myself falling into a waterfall and then the only voice would be my cry as I fell. I wasn’t sure if the voices were getting louder. They were still echoing and surrounding me. They still made no sense. Suddenly one seemed to cut through and it hushed the others. Everything was quiet. Quiet and dark. Then the light hit me along with an eruption of sound. The maelstrom was back but it was clearer this time. I could hear a word. One word, said by every voice. “Surprise!”

-Alice