The wind howled mournfully, crying over the murder of the glorious sun, replaced by the cruel whispers of the snow, as they descended onto the rooftop of the old Fortesque warehouse. The moon glowed tiresomely, surrendering its light to the abyss of the night. The mournful wind, whipped the broken door of the Fortesque warehouse, so that a shattered mirror and unpleasantly green cleaning supplies could be seen from the corner of Leira’s darkening eyes. She cautiously stepped over the graveyard of yet another replying echo victim, whilst half-heartedly dismantling the crimson roses alongside it. The gap between her strides gradually increased, as she began to breathe deeper and deeper because of the foul odour of rotten flesh burning the stubble inside her nostrils.
The fact that she had abhorred the dead had perplexed her, especially after her mother had joined there as a result of a girls’ night out, several bottles of vodka and her mother’s laziness restricting her to call an Uber. But alas, the memories of her deceased beloved mother had been devoured into the whirlpool of hatred in her mind. Now Leira’s strides had turned into leaps as a layer of snow was hungrily trying to swallow the shoes protecting her numbing feet. Her reflection frowned back at her, from the shards on the wooden floor of the Fortesque warehouse that beckoned her. Knowing refusing the invitation of entering the warehouse would leave her dying of pneumonia, Leira collapsed graciously onto the carpet of moss. And she slept. The wind ceased its grievous howls and the moon began to shine again, defeating the nocturnal abyss. Everything seemed to be resting. Yet an unforgiving blast of wind howled in vengeance, locking the bruised, battered door of Fortesque as if the wind were a cuckold seeking revenge on his adulterous wife. Leira’s bloodshot eyes turned yellow with alert, as she struggled to keep her balance on the sloping, moss carpet. The wind ran before Leira could even start the race, so she found herself crashing back down again with a purpling mountain forming on the red ribbons on her thighs. The shards of glass seemed to glow. Seemed to levitate in fact. They seemed to levitate into the perfect shape of an oval, each shard bonding with the other as though they were sisters separated at birth. The windows shook with rage, yet not a single shard fell out of place. Leira, struggling to stand up again, used all the strength she had to say “H-h-h-hello, who’s there?”. Leira’s heart started to beat manically, each beat stumbling over the other prior to it. Moisture began pouring out her hands, Leira failing to grasp her breath as another voice replied, “Hi, Leira, nice to meet you too,”. Her echo had replied.
THE END