The Fog

There it came, unyielding and unavoidable through the sky. It was only 3 pm, yet it seemed more like dusk, as if the day was near its close and the Sun would soon set. The sky was quickly darkening as the dim, thick fog approached. It came and left nothing untouched. Nothing was immune to the fog and its overwhelming darkness.

What was I to do? I could not run; no inch of land was to be spared by the fog. Yet I could not stand to watch it anymore. My brother and I stood on the hilltop, looking out over the landscape. We estimated it was about 3 miles away from us currently. Another 15 min and it would be upon us. Fear gripped us like an unseen vice, holding us in place.

Terrifying rumours surrounded the fog. Some said those who disappeared never came back. They simply vanished off the face of the Earth. Others said that there was a great sadness that came with it, but that it soon passed. Still others said that nothing happened, you just kept going on, living your life in the darkness as if nothing had ever happened.

I looked down at my watch. 5 minutes. I looked at my brother. He looked back at me. The moment seemed to last forever. 4 minutes. I could not think of what to say. Uncertainty hung in the air. Was this goodbye? I wasn’t sure. For that reason, I stayed silent. 3 min. I thought of my friends, what had become of them? They were good people, and had always treated me well. 2 min. I thought of my mother. She had been many miles inland, I heard that the fog had reached her a long time ago. I did not know my father, but I assume the fog had touched him as well.

1 min. This was it. What would happen? I looked again at my brother, wishing I knew what to say, wishing there were words that could convey the emotion I felt towards him. There were none. I was embarrassed. There it was, only meters away. I braced for what was to come.

The darkness came upon me and my brother in the blink of an eye. I grabbed him, held him close, and waited for something to happen. It did not. Everything was dark, yet I felt the same. I looked down at my hands, they felt no different. I looked into the eyes of my brother; he looked scared, yet relieved that we had not yet reached our demise.

We walked down the hill, moving further into the fog. I saw my mother, and she waved calmly at me. I had not seen that smile in so long, and caught myself mesmerized by it. There was my father with her. She had never told me much about him but he looked exactly as I envisioned. We walked over to them and we all embraced one another as if we had been together all along. We walked off into the countryside together as a family.