Fear Club_A Confession by Damian Stephens

Author:Damian Stephens [Stephens, Damian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780578464664
Google: x-V8wwEACAAJ
Amazon: 0578464667
Goodreads: 44641768
Publisher: Fourth Mansions Press, LLC
Published: 2019-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

THAT WHICH REMAINS

TWO YEARS AGO.

“The things of childhood are not childish, necessarily,” the figure said, its voice a mass of whispers and shadows. “Things become childish when they start getting sold. You can always see through the lies of adults. They don’t know anything, because they think they know everything.” The figure shifted, intermixing with the darkness.

“And you start to become one of them,” it continued. “Why? You start to believe their lies. There are no explanations for anything. Just more convincing fictions.”

Something like mathematical equations began to appear shimmering in the air around it.

“You believe that?” it laughed. “So if I change my name to something ‘more consistent,’ I am somehow more me? If I decide this moment to play a different role, but I do it with perfect believability, perfect consistency, that new role is somehow...truer ?”

The silvery numbers and other figures became blurry, misty, and faded back into the darkness.

“Ah, they simply make things up, just like we do,” it said. “But their lies only serve to make things less wonderful. They make up money...then they make up burdens to make the money seem more believable. They make up jobs...then they make up school and degrees to make the jobs seem more believable. They make up knowledge, they make up ‘facts,’ they make up truths...then they make up argumentation and debate, they make up conflict, to make all of their facts seem less like fiction.” It seemed to sigh momentarily. “But the world you live in depends entirely upon you, on what fictions you choose to believe in. That is the secret. That is the key.”

I projected an image of myself into the darkness.

The shape within it laughed again.

“The most basic lie of all,” it said. “What is a person, anyway? What is a place? What are things? Except appearances, never seen from all possible angles at once, and therefore always mostly mysterious, whether we recognize that Mystery within them or not.”

I could sense the capital “M” on the word. Given that most of this conversation was obviously occurring in my head, that wasn’t too odd.

I opened my eyes.

The hospital. Day. Morning. I took a breath.

By the gods, I could breathe.

My fever had apparently broken. I gazed about the hospital room and pulled myself to a sitting position. Was that energy I felt? It seemed like an old friend, long unseen, suddenly returning from some strange vacation in the wilderness...

“I see you’re feeling better?” the nurse walked in. Lissa, that was her name. “You want to try eating something?”

Yes, I would like to, I thought I said. “Yes, I would like to,” I repeated in the real world.

“Good for you!” she smiled. Nurse Lissa—ah, what a glorious lady to meet the day with! Those lovely blonde curls snaking all round and about her smile!

“I’d like to—” I said. This was unpracticed. My throat was clear, my lungs functional. I started again. “May I take a walk?” I asked. Did I have to ask permission?

Lissa laughed. Lovely! “Let’s take it one step at a time, Charley, okay?” She was fluffing up the pillows behind me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.