{"id":1702,"date":"2023-07-21T10:49:31","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T10:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1702"},"modified":"2023-07-21T10:49:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T10:49:36","slug":"descent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/descent\/1702\/","title":{"rendered":"Descent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In retrospect, I suppose it was kind of like stepping through a door with no staircase on the other side. That\u2019s what it seemed like initially anyway, the rush of fear, the clenching knot in your stomach that you\u2019re dropping, the knowledge you\u2019re going to really… and I mean really<\/em> hurt yourself when you land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funny thing is, I don\u2019t know how long it\u2019s been now, but I\u2019ve still not impacted on anything solid, and I\u2019m not sure anymore that I\u2019m falling, either. I look around… at least, I presume I\u2019m doing so, but I can\u2019t see any light receding behind me. Or one growing in front of me either, I\u2019m pleased to report. It’s scant comfort to not be in a long tunnel with a light at the end, but I\u2019ll take it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

My brain though, won\u2019t give up on the sheer adrenaline-rush terror of being suspended in darkness with no reference points. There\u2019s no wind rushing past, so I\u2019m not travelling, but I feel light, almost as if I\u2019m floating, weightless. Is this what outer space is like? Everything\u2019s silent, eerily so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I try to lift my foot and stamp downwards to ascertain if there\u2019s anything solid, but nothing, and my leg extends with no resistance. I stretch my arms wide – well, again, I think<\/em> I\u2019ve done so, but I can\u2019t really tell \u2013 there\u2019s nothing there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wait a moment… there is<\/em> something up ahead. I strain my eyes, and it looks like it\u2019s on fire, but no warmth radiates my way. It\u2019s… they\u2019re words. They’re getting larger, ever so slowly, and finally I can decipher them: \u201cNo Way Out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not very reassuring. I laugh to myself, but it sounds bitter and I choke halfway through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I need to think, to concentrate. I don\u2019t want to get any closer, don\u2019t want to pass that flaming sign for sure, but how do I stop the inevitable? Closing my eyes makes no difference. I try turning my head again, but they stay in the centre of my frame of reference. Lifting my hands, I cover my face, thankful at least that I can experience that physical sensation of touch but, even then, the words do not go; they are burned into my corneas like a warning, a judgment, an ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I try to scream, but it disappears, no echoes, just a dead sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Off to my left, there is a rustling, shuffling noise, and I freeze, heart pounding. Instinctively I know that this entity does not wish me well. I listen carefully, but it is not repeated… and then it is. Much closer, and it sounds like several of them, whatever they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somehow, I know that they\u2019re hungry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A gentle, soft, insistent laughter inserts itself into my brain. Mocking me for considering that I might have some value to them, or, in fact, to anybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The burning words get larger, closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No way out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funny thing is, I don\u2019t know how long it\u2019s been now, but I\u2019ve still not impacted on anything solid, and I\u2019m not sure anymore that I\u2019m falling, either. I look around… at least, I presume I\u2019m doing so, but I can\u2019t see any light receding behind me. Or one growing in front of me either, I\u2019m pleased to report. It’s scant comfort to not be in a long tunnel with a light at the end, but I\u2019ll take it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[695,836],"tags":[114,155,744,116,12,148,568,769,882,651,191,118,745,159],"class_list":["post-1702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-695","category-no-way-out","tag-but","tag-don","tag-light","tag-like","tag-my","tag-no","tag-re","tag-really","tag-rush","tag-so","tag-there","tag-they","tag-through","tag-what"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sbrNJE-descent","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1705,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions\/1705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}