'Maiden within the Shadows' by Adeosun Pelumi

My eyes grew heavy with sleep and like a pair of heavy doors,

They shut with a muted thud

I rode the tide of a fevered sleep

And in my delirium I saw her again.

Her feet left not a single print on the tufted floor

And her garment, flowing downward to curl around her feet,

Made not the barest phantom of a whisper

“Who are you?” I wondered.

But this unwelcome august visitor uttered not a single word

And I bore this silence with an ominous feeling;

My night, she haunted like a desolate ghost in search of its murderer

That I see not another face but hers in my waking hour

Closer, she moved

Yet farther still I beheld her

Like a mirage formed amidst the mist of reality;

Her silhouette like that of a troubled maiden.

The flashlight, which I bore with me, I shone on her

That I may fathom the disclosed secret

Of this maiden hidden within the shadows

But the beam reached her not

And yet she walked closer and closer still

With all the grace and purpose of a haunted spirit

Afraid, I clutched my trapped heart,

That was beating erratically in its cage

And stumbled back a few steps

But she matched my pace with two of hers

“My sleep I forfeit, If only you would let me be!” I cried

Perhaps, that was a sigh I heard

Or was it a gasp, I wondered

But it did seem to come from me.

“Come…” She whispered

Or so I thought she did,

As she seemed to speak directly to my mind,

And compelled, I moved towards her

The closer I got, the deeper the shadows masking her identity

But I knew she were a beautiful creature

As my unbidden imagination shew me a portrait of her;

Of a fine lady garbed in raiment of jeweled promises.

Then, I finally got to her

My hands already reaching,

Moving towards the dark mass that made up her face

But even in that short distance between us,

I couldn’t reach her.

“Come…” She whispered again

As her image became blurry

And she gently fades away before the glares of a rising sun

And I was jolted awake to the horror

Of a shadowed face hovering above mine and then…

I screamed.

RELATED: