Well I though my pervious two stories took a long time to complete, but Lifes Edge takes the prize. It probably took about five or so years to complete it. I lost track of how long it actually took, so it may even be longer. I moved, twice, before I finally finished it! But in these five or more years I actually did very little writing. The first few pages under went many, many changes, in the first year but then after that it was just a long slog to the end.
It’s the story I’m lest pleased with at the moment. But after five years, I’m glad to have it done.
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Read online part 1 below, (part 2, part 3 and afterword)
The weather had not looked promising as the sun went down. Dark, angry looking clouds gathered on the horizon. The storm seemed to be waiting for the sun to set.
When it did the storm let fly with all its fury.
Strong and gusty winds tugged and then pulled at the trees and hedgerows lining the small country lane. The precipitation came in all forms a little snow, hail and then rain, lots and lots of it.
The once small stream that ran along side the road was now a raging torrent that threatened to break its banks.
The road it’s self was, in places submerged.
And yet through all of this Martin Mansfield’s red, BMW sports car zoomed at high speed. He knew is was reckless to drive at this speed in these conditions, but it had been nearly two weeks since he’d seen Debbie, and anyway he was a good driver and knew his limits.
So he thought.
He’d just finished talking to Debbie on the phone, saying that he’d be home in about half an hour, when he saw the car up ahead. Dam more traffic, he thought. He slowed down gently and started a smooth over-taking manoeuvre.
“Wears the fire?” Mike Appleby asked him self as the set of headlights behind him, approached at high speed.
The red car (he didn’t have time to see what make it was) overtook him quickly.
“Bloody fool”. Mike cursed.
Then suddenly the car swerved, clipped Mike’s car and disappeared in to the fast flowing stream.
Mike brought his car to a halt, reached for his mobile and dialled 999.
Martin never knew what happened, one moment he was driving down the road, then the next thing he knew he was being thrown about inside the car.
The first jolt almost shook the steering wheel out of his grip. Everything seemed to go quite for a brief moment. Strangely the steering wheel now felt very light in his hands.
Then a fraction of a second later the car shook again, but this time much, much harder. Martin was thrown against the driver’s side door, hard. The car’s windscreen suddenly became opaque with 1000’a of tiny cracks. Outside the window by his side a vertical wall of grass seemed to be rubbing by the car.
Before Martin could even lift his head the car shook again. The cracked windscreen exploded inward and the car was suddenly filled with icy cold water.
The cold water rushed in and hit Martin in the face, he took an involuntary breath in, and got a mouth full of the water.
Spurred on by his panic made him try and get out of the car. He tried to stand up. He got half way and was suddenly pulled back.
Submerged again with another mouthful of water Martin’s panic subsided for a moment.
Seatbelt, he thought.
The fast flowing, icy cold waters where already robbing Martin’s body of it’s heat. His fingers where numb and clumsy and the seatbelt release small and awkward.
Martin’s lungs began to ache for air.
Mike stood by the broken fence where Martins car had left the road. The storm was fading rapidly now, but the bank was slick with mud. He knew that there was some one trapped in the car, but there was nothing more he could do.
He felt totally useless.
Then suddenly the red car slid a little further in to the waters.
Martin’s head broke the surface of the water just as the car slipped. He didn’t have a chance to take a breath. Now fully submerged in the inky black, ice cold water, panic set in with vengeance.
He thrashed around, trying to break his way out of the car. But the glass remained intact.
His chest was now filled with burning pain as his lungs called out for air and his limbs where rapidly losing all feeling. The darkness inside the car began to fade to grey.
The rain had now stopped. Mike looked at the muddy and wet riverbank. No, he told him self. There was no way he could make it down there safely, and he would only make an extra job for the rescuers. I’m doing the right thing. He told him self over and over again, but still was not convinced.
Then from a distance the rising and falling wail of a siren could be heard.
Mike looked at his watch. It had been less than five minutes since he called; it had seemed much, much longer.
Martins frenzied attempts to break out where beginning to wane. The pain in his chest was fading, as was the cold numbness of his body, it was beginning replaced by a warm, comfortable feeling. It was too much effort to break out, it was much easier to stay here.
So this is death? He said to him self. It occurred to him that he should be worried, he was after all dying. But he didn’t seem to care any more, he was just so calm and comfortable, he just didn’t ever want to leave here.
Martin’s struggles had now completely stopped, he just floated in the water.
The sirens seemed to be closing at a terribly slow speed to Mike.
The world was slowly losing its colours and shapes. The darkness around Martin was fading; it’s colours being leached away by a dull grey. The hard shapes of the car where breaking down in to colourless and shapeless clouds.
Martin floated in a mist. A warm, golden light surrounded him. It seemed its golden glow filled every part of his body with a warm felling of total security and comfort.
He was totally happy. He did not ever want to leave here.
The mists swirled around him.
At last the flashing blue light of the fire engine appeared around the corner. Mike waved his arms frantically as the vehicle rolled to a stop.
Mike ran up to the cab and started to explain what had happened. “Okay. It’s all right sir, theirs someone in there, we know”. The officer said to Mike as the others set to work. But they seemed to be working too slowly to Mike.
The random swirling of the mist around Martin’s body began to take on some sort of pattern. They were moving forward. And slowly the light changed. It had been all around him but now it was concentrated in to a point ahead of him. Both he and the mist where moving toward it, or was it moving toward them?
Martin didn’t know, nor did he care, he was happy and contented. He couldn’t remember ever feeling like this before, in fact he couldn’t remember any thing. But it didn’t worry him at all, nothing bad could happen here. He was safe.
Martin had almost reached the golden glow now. It filled his view and cast shadows of his feet along his naked body. He was almost there, he would never have to worry about anything ever again.
But then suddenly some thing changed. With an almost audible click the glow dimmed. Dark shapes could just be seen moving through the mist. And memories began to surface in Martins mind.
Martin sped down the narrow country lane. It was nearly dark, but he wanted to be home on time. It had been nearly two weeks since he’d seen Debbie and he didn’t want to spoil the evening.
It’s getting dark very quickly, Martin noted, looking at the grey sky. He looked at the dashboard clock and then looked again. It read 0:04. Martin frowned, the car had only just been serviced.
Oh well I should be on time.
The light was still fading and martin had to put the powerful headlights on. He looked at the clock again. It now read 0:03. He chanced a look at his watch. That too, read 0:03. “What is going on?” He whispered to him self.
It was getting still darker. The outside world was in deep twilight now. Yet only minutes ago it had been broad daylight.
Martin slowed the car right down, more than a little worried about this. The clock now showed 0:02.
Martin pulled up. It was almost pitch black outside now. It was an erie, unnatural sort of darkness. The car’s headlights even on full beam did not seem to lift the gloom.
The clock now showed 0:01.
Now really scared, Martin picked up his mobile. No Service, the display flashed at him.
“Dam”. He looked around him. The darkness was now total, the headlights didn’t make any difference at all. He looked at the clock.
The clock ticked over to 0:00.
Suddenly everything faded to black.
Martin was floating in a featureless white void. There was nothing to break up the emptiness, not even his body. Yet he could see the void.
Time passed. Then vague shapes appeared in the void, it could have been seconds later or years later, he could not tell.
The void was a white mist that he drifted through. It was patchy and through the thin patches he could see beyond a total and utter blackness. Strange, vague shadows darted around in the mists. Some were massive and rounded while others were small sharp and angular.
Am I dead? Martin asked him self. If I am I’ll never see Debbie again?
Martin slowly became aware to a quite, distant ticking sound.
Suddenly he felt a chill, and for the first time he started to worry. What was happening?
The ticking sound became louder. It was a deep resonant sound.
Suddenly the mists ahead of him cleared and he see could see a vast space free of mist. At the centre of this hollow in the mists was a huge white sphere, which burnt with a fierce light. Around this sphere strange shapes danced. They were multi-faceted, crystalline shapes. But with every tick he heard they changed shape. Squares, pyramids, decahedrons, dodecahedrons and other irregular shapes flashed before him, their facets reflecting the light in to weird patterns on the mists. On their glassy surface’s Martin saw flashes of images, everyday scenes mixed with the strange and surreal, the terrible and horrific.
And all the time that slow steady, ticking.
Martin suddenly felt very cold, alone and scared.
For a moment he could not think of anything but the terrifying spectacle that transfixed him. Then he became aware of a new sound, a deep, horrible laughter. Something was laughing at him.
He wanted to run away and hide, but he had no body to run away with.
The laughter stopped and the mists swirled once again. They started dissipating and with them went the burning globe and it’s ring of shapes.
Martin once again travelled through the golden mists. In such a place direction was meaningless, yet Martin got the impression that he was travelling backwards, away from the horrible laughter and the strange shapes.
Away from all that, but toward where?
The mists had darkened, the all pervading golden glow was fading rapidly. As it did shapes became visible in the mist, they where faint and indistinct at first but as the mists dimmed they seemed to gain solidity.
Martin couldn’t make out what the shapes where but they seemed to be familiar to him.
The grey mists where clearing now. Martin caught glimpses of the world around him. To his left he could hear the distant sound of running water. He was lying down on something cold and hard.
The sensations were distant at the moment but where getting ever more intense.
As if the mist where lifting from his brain. Martin suddenly became aware of a strange sensation.
He was freezing cold and soaked to the skin. Martin looked down at him self. But found he couldn’t, something was covering him.
He tried to push it away, but his arm was heavy, he could hardly lift it.
Suddenly he started coughing. At first he could only feel that he was coughing but as the coughed great deep caught he began to hear them. His chest hurt with a deep burning pain.
As he coughed Martin became aware of great quantities of fluid coming from his mouth. It wasn’t vomit, it didn’t taste like that.
“Bloody hell, he’s alive”. A voice came from behind him.
“That’s it, clear those lungs”. Another voice said.
Martin tried to get up, but his legs didn’t move. Panicking he tried again, this time forcing his self up with his arms.
“Steady on there”. The voice said again.
Martin managed to stand up, but before he could do any thing he became very, very dizzy and the world around him faded to blackness.
