Copyright John Hardy Carroll
Eyes are the windows to the soul, they say, but at this abandoned asylum the windows are the eyes for a thousand tortured, captive souls.
She knows her gift renders her vulnerable, so she skirts the building cautiously, steeling her mental defences to malevolent forces which, seemingly sensing her proximity, surge in frenzied agitation.
Quickening her pace, she stumbles over an errant tree root, before pitching headlong to lie stunned upon the ground.
That brief lapse is all that’s needed; the wait is over. The channel opens, allowing the legions to spill gleefully through.
And now madness walks the world.
My considered explanation after scanning the daily tabloids each morning. Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers every week, a rock of sanity in a world that seems to get stranger, more cruel and lawless with every day. Rant over. 😦
castelsarrasin 
Maybe not so much a gift. More a curse
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Indeed.
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Dear Sandra,
This feels like the prelude to something sinister. Brilliantly written. (Me? A rock of sanity? Oy vey. 😉 )
Shalom,
Rochelle
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In the kingdom of the blind… 🙂 Only joking. Thanks for reading, Rochelle.
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Egads!
A touch of Pandora’s box about this one.
And love the title.
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Thanks for visiting, CE.
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Great title and take on the prompt. I love the use of the word “legions” with its biblical overtones of maddened swine rushing to self-destruction.
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Thanks, Penny, glad yu liked it.
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It’s the best explanation I’ve read so far for the madness that surrounds us…
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I seem to hear myself saying so often these days… “has the world gone mad?”
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My goodness, you led me along with your beautiful prose and then socked me with that chilling ending. Well done, Sandra.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks for reading, Susan.
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Sandra, this is beautiful in its simplicity, and very scary. You’ve done it again 🙂
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Thank you Linda, glad you liked it.
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Ominous piece. I like the pacing.
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I unnerved myself as I was writing it… Thanks for reading.
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Yikes! The set up is great, the payoff is terrifying.
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Thanks for reading, Karen, glad you liked it.
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Gifts aren’t always giving. Hers was a gift too far.
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Not one I’d claim for myself, for sure. Thanks for reading, Keith.
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An excellent story describing the genuine “madness that walks the world.” I often scratch my head and say, “The world is upside and crazy.” I don’t recognize it anymore. Incredible writing, Sandra.
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Thanks Brenda. I’m glad I’m not alone in wondering what we’ve come to.
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Oh that was chillingly good!
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Thanks, Liz. 🙂
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Iain beat me to it but I agree, that is the best plausible explanation for the madness that has taken over the world…
Brilliantly done, Madame!
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I sometimes wonder if it was ever thus, and I just hadn’t noticed before. But then I come to my senses… 🙂
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Haha!!
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Oh I can see how the madness has been captive even after the patient’s left… sometimes “if walls could talk” is not something to wish for.
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A concentration of madness – it’s an intriguing thought isn’t it? Thanks for reading.
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I guess we got to the root of her problem. Too bad it was so easily broken. Good fantasy
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Thanks Stu.
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Ooooh, brilliant!
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Thanks Sue, hope all is well with you.
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Yes, thanks! I had a fun day in Brick Lane, London yesterday
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Lots of photos, I hope.
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Not as many as I would have liked, I failed with my ‘One’s, only a couple
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Brilliant writing!
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Thank you!
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I LOVE your story! Yours and mine could go together, for sure.
Ronda
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I’ve just been to read yours, Ronda. I think your character is happier with her ‘gift’ than mine is, but they are different sides of the same coin for sure. I liked your story – as I said before, I find it difficult to comment on your site but I wanted you to know I’d visited. Thanks for coming to mine.
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Brilliant description! I Iike the metaphor of madness taking over the world…
https://evergreenleaf.blogspot.com/2019/02/home.html
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Many thanks, Kislaya.
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She is engulfed by the place she so desperately wanted to avoid. Nice tale.
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Engulfed is a good word for what’s happening here. Thanks for reading.
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A real supernatural event or a patient’s own explanation for the state of the world, I wonder? Nice one!
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I guess it could be read either way. Thanks for that other angle.
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This is fabulous, Sandra! I see now where Björn decided this was an asylum (from Dale’s comments), and love that you went this direction, along with the sci-fi’ish edge. Your word usage is sharp (“steeling her mental defences to malevolent forces which, seemingly sensing her proximity, surge in frenzied agitation–– love this!) and really pulls the reader into a pacing that reflects what she feels racing along the path. Great!
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Many thanks Dawn. As I recall there was a hint in the caption to the photo. Otherwise I don’t think I’d have got there and I might have had to spend some time working out what that thing hanging from the window was. Glad you liked it. Off to yours now.
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I’m going back to read again. I swear, I missed it entirely! The wasp nest, the local, all of it! I saw windows, something sticking to one, and couldn’t figure it out. It worked with the story I’d just written, so lucky me!
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Ohhh, that one is a scary one. Good write!
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Thanks Jelli.
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Oh, I’m not liking where this tale is leading us (in a good way, that is!) Very well done, my dear.
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Thank you, Alicia. Loved your story this week.
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I love the “gleefully spilling through”.
The piece comes across more like fact than fiction to me. A bit worrying.
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“Gleeful” always personifies the spirit of demonry to me. 🙂 Thanks for reading.
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Powerful and chilling, I fear that she is doomed.
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I think you’re right, Michael. Thanks for visiting.
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i guess it’s time for the superheroes to rescue us. 🙂
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They’re taking a long time about it.
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I read this two ways. First as a fantasical metaphor for the world falling apary, with her actual gift of connectedness to these spooky, otherworldly, chaotic beings; and secondly as she, herself, being an asylum inmate, nurturing her illness as a prized possession,and experiencing and succumbing to her hallucinations, both wonderful and terrible. I think it works both ways.
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That’s an interesting alternative take. I like that. Thank you!
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Well, madness does walk the floors of asylums. Me thinks … hehe
It’s a great story with the potential to be longer, Sandra. Always an interesting read here when I visit. Have a lovely weekend.
Isadora 😎
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Thanks, Isadora. Hope you’re enjoying your weekend too!
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👍🏻
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Chillingly brilliant.
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Thank you!.
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Great title. All of those mad, hovering spirits waiting. Well done.
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Thanks, Sascha.
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🙂
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Such a dark, spooky scenario. Loaded with ominous possibilities. I love your last sentence – ‘gleefully’ is exactly the right word. Wonderful writing.
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I’m spooked by the mental image of gleeful demons. Truly spooked. Thanks Margaret.
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It is a crazy world out there!
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And getting crazier by the day, it seems.
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Nicely written Sandra. I especially liked your opening para, it sets up the horror perfectly.
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The ending does point to something sinister. Makes me want to know more.
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Like Iain said above, this explains a lot of what’s going on right now. Seriously, an excellent tale, kept me captivated from beginning to end.
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This had me very captivated.
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Her gift seems like a curse to me.
Intriguing story, you really have my imagination in overdrive!
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Oh my, what has she unleashed on the world?
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