The Light

Here is the (hopefully) dramatic opening of a short story on which I am currently working:


The light was blinding.
Derek struggled to find his bearings, but couldn’t get past the light. He wasn’t even sure that he was still breathing.
Yes, he was breathing.
His head ached.He didn’t know why, but he had to see past the light.
Something was out there; beyond the light, something important.Someone was crying. Wait, no, someone was screaming! A woman. Far off to his right. He had to escape the light.
Come on Derek, focus. Where are you?
I’m in Vermont.
Why?
I don’t know!
The light was so intense that he’d lost the capacity to differentiate between his eyes being open or closed . It didn’t matter if they were open, there was no way past this god-awful light.
Wait, I came to Vermont to find Caryn.
“CARYN!” he yelled, just before he realized that he shouldn’t have.
His heart broke as he realized that those pain-filled, blood-curdling screams were coming from Caryn. He had to find a way to get past this wretched, white-hot light before it was too late...


-JS