Lost in the Fog

This morning I searched “Halloween” in my WordPress reader again and found some fun posts.

• Here’s the 5th Annual Halloween Haiku Challenge — There are prizes!
• And at Spooky Little Halloween Miranda celebrates Halloween year round and publishes a yearly magazine.

If you missed this morning’s prompts post, I’m responding to In a Thick Fog.

For today’s images I tried a few things. First I took pictures outside with the plastic filter from last year, then I tried a piece of sheer fabric as a filter (the same fabric I put in the water the other day for a watery grave). Then I made a pin-hole filter to represent rolling fog and took pictures in the mirrorworld. I had a lot of fun moving the camera, or turning the lens while taking the shots, to get the pinpoints to become fog.

OctPoWriMo 2023:Facing Our Fears

Lost or stolen
Lost or stolen
Either way she’s gone

Tossed or broken
Tossed or broken
And it’s been so long

Lost or stolen
Lost or stolen
She couldn’t find her way

Tossed or broken
Tossed or broken
And never will again

Lost or stolen
Lost or stolen
Time won’t bring her back

Tossed or broken
Tossed or broken
What’s left is what we lack

Writober 2023

I have a complete flash fiction for you today.

When the Fog Cleared

I couldn’t stare at this painting for another second. I knew if I put my brush to the canvas in this state, I would destroy a month’s work. I had to get out of the house. The morning mist clung to my thin sweater as I locked the studio door and walked to the car. A drive through town, maybe some  people watching in the park, some fresh air to clear my head, that would be enough. I would get some work done this afternoon.

As I drove I couldn’t stop thinking about the piece. What had gone wrong? Why was I so stuck? The faces. I wasn’t seeing the faces clearly. I wanted them to be extraordinary, but I didn’t know how. I’ve never had problems painting faces before, and this piece wasn’t deeply personal, so that wasn’t the problem. I had to let it go. Stop thinking about it. I turned on the radio. The announcer said, “A thick fog is rolling in, causing poor visibility. Boats are being asked to stay in the harbor.”

I was driving near the marina. I don’t know why I had gone that way, but there I was, looking out at the water. The fog moved so quickly it looked like waves on top of the water. Or arms reaching, headless, ghostly bodies tumbling over each other, I had to get out of here. This road followed the coast for too long, and the thick fog surrounded me. I couldn’t see anything. I panicked and sped up. There was a darkness to my right that I believed was my turn. The car stopped suddenly and I banged my head as my seatbelt dug into my chest. I had hit something, but not hard enough to trigger the air bags.

Stopped my panic eased, and tears flowed down my cheeks. I put my hand to my head and felt a painful bump forming on my forehead over my right eye. I smiled, started laughing. I was being so silly. The fog wasn’t going to hurt me. Why was I trying to run from it? I got out to assess the damage. It wasn’t too bad. I had driven off the road and hit a small tree. When the fog cleared I could probably just back out and drive home, but the fog was so thick, I decided to leave the car, and walk into town and do my people watching as planned, then come back when the fog had lifted.

It felt strange walking in such a thick fog. The water in the air felt like walking through the mister on grocery produce. I could barely see the sidewalk in front of me. Without the sidewalk, I would have been afraid of getting hit or falling into a ditch, but this just kind of felt like floating, which was pleasant like an out of body experience, but also eerie like I was the only person in the world.

I heard them before I saw them. The din of a bustling town. People sitting and chatting, doing business, going in and out of buildings, talking on cell phones, hurrying to their next destination. Then the fog opened up under street lights and store lights and I saw them; everyone in silhouette, their faces like identical black voids with glowing, lidless eyes and bright red lips. The fog had to be playing tricks on me. A hot coffee and a scone would fix me right up. I waited for the light at the cross walk to turn to a walking man but it didn’t. It looked like the same black silhouette with a white eye and red lips. I hurried across the street, trying to ignore everyone I passed. Inside the coffee shop with the door closed behind me,  I realized my eyes were squeezed shut and I had been holding my breath. I took a huge breath of clear, fogless air and opened my eyes. The barista was a black void much more terrifying not in silhouette. Her far-set, glowing, lidless eyes, no nose or at least a void of a nose, and bright red lips stared right at me. The lips parted and I heard, “What can I get you today?” but it sounded like an echo of someone very far away. I felt like the floor had fallen out from under me. I looked around and was surrounded by void people all staring at me.

I turned and ran, pushing the door, thinking I was trapped, until I pulled. I ran across the street startled by honking, but never seeing a vehicle. Running along the sidewalk back toward my car, I saw light ahead. Damn, I thought. My lights are on. My battery will be dead, and I’ll be stuck here. Then I saw her, a person in the driver’s seat. “Hey, ” I yelled. “What are you doing? Get out of my car.”

I ran to the door and pulled on the handle, but it was locked. She didn’t move. Blood splattered the cracked windshield, and spilled down her face. My face. I looked at myself in the side mirror. I saw the silhouette of a black void with glowing lidless eyes and blood red lips.

*Note: I managed to do it again. This story is a response to the visual prompt for October 23rd (Talk about lost in a fog). Guess I’ll be writing about that huge monster then.

NaNoWriMo Prep

I did it. I declared my project as a new novel so I better get brainstorming. I am determined to write in a new genre so I’m thinking Magical Realism, or Supernatural Horror. If you are attempting NaNoWriMo this year and would like to be my writing buddy just search marialberg at the top of the NaNoWriMo.org /dashboard page and you’ll find me. I’m getting excited to explore a new novel idea.