The Darkness by Gerri Brousseau

The darkness embraces me.  Its icy arms wrap around me and draw me deeper into its cold abyss.  It speaks to me in soft whispers as it swallows me up into the frozen prison of a deep and dreamless sleep.  I find myself seeking it and the painless comfort it gives me.  I seek it as an addict seeks his next high.

My friends reach for me, but their arms are not long enough.  I hear them calling to me and I smile a pleasant smile, but the darkness whispers, its cool breath caressing my ear, "come", and I go.  My friends toss ropes of encouragement to me, but they too fall short.

I'm lulled further into an even deeper slumber, ignoring every speck of light that manages to creep into the darkness.  Is there a way to climb out of this deep abyss?  I stretch out my arm and toy with the idea of taking hold of the rope of encouragement dangling before me.  Yet, I yawn and turn over to snuggle deeper into the comfort of the darkness.  Yes, climbing out of this pit is going to take some effort.  I yawn again.  Perhaps tomorrow I will give it a try, I think as I drift off into what feels like a drug induced state of Morpheus.

This, my dear readers, I am told is what a state of depression feels like.  J.K. Rowling describes this in characters in her Harry Potter Series, characters she calls Dementors.  She describes these faceless creatures as monsters that feed off human happiness and cause depression and despair.  She pens, " … they leave you an empty shell."  They first appear in The Prisoner of Azkaban and reappear in future Potter adventures.  As I recall, Professor Lupin gives Harry chocolate, which the wise professor claims helps you feel better.

Have you ever experienced something which you turned into a character in a novel, as JK Rowling turned her experience with depression into the dreaded Dementors?  Have you ever used an object or place as a character in your book?

Filed under: romance