There is a darkness. It envelops. It consumes. It is everywhere. It swallows the minds of all it touches. It washes over them like black rain, drenching them in its emptiness. They do not see it. They are woefully unaware. They carry on their lives, the darkness eating away at them bit by bit, day by day. It devours all that they are and ever could be, and they do not see. But I see.

I am painfully aware of the darkness. I have lived in it, been wrapped in it. I have seen its gnashing teeth and felt its venomous bite. I have been nearly blinded by it. For a time, it was all I knew. Like the mindless masses, I thought that it simply was, that it was not darkness, but life itself. Then I awoke. I do not remember how it is that I came to this awakening. It is my power and my curse that I can see it for what it is.

This darkness is everywhere. It is outside and within. It is made up of hate and greed, of apathy and distrust, of materialism and disdain. It grows stronger every day. It feeds on lust, division and ignorance. It counts on the thoughtless skittering of the masses. It needs low, pliable minds to spread itself from one to another. It revels in the depths of our fear and in our lack of understanding. They are food for the darkness, and what a feast they provide.

But I see this black apparition as clear as if it had form. I can see its fingers shaping and molding society to its advantage. I hear its rasping voice leading their thoughts, infiltrating their minds. But they do not see. So many are blind to it, believing, foolishly, that they live in a safe and normal world. If only they could realize that what they call normalcy is, in truth, the darkness at work.

I look on in sadness and despair as more and more people become infected with the darkness. Their minds become weak, contorted so horribly that they see no wrong in all the wrong that they do. I weep as I see them hate and kill and lie and steal. I shiver as I see each one be taken, each generation falling victim sooner than the last. And those who have been consumed look upon me as an oddity, a freak, because I refuse to conform to the will of the darkness that they call life. They cast me out, seeing me as a fool. But they are the fools. Poor, poor fools.

I beg and dream and pray for them to awaken as I did. For them to see the darkness for what it is and cast it out. For them to see the reality, to heal their diseased minds. But the darkness is still trying to take me too. I fight it, but there is so little fight left. So much darkness and so few to stand against it. It wants it that way. Though I am tired and battered and weak, I still try. I will do all I can to die a free soul, and to take as many from the darkness as I can before I go.

*****

This is a creative writing piece inspired by the current state of the world. The “darkness” is the disease that is spreading in society as we become dumber, more complacent and more hateful. I have been fighting this darkness my whole life, and I’ll continue to do so for as long as I can. I hope to see more people turning away from mass media and the negative influences of society so that they can become better people and save this world before it’s too late.

Briana Blair

Briana Blair is an author and artisan. She has published more then 30 books and thousands of articles across multiple sites. After practicing Paganism and witchcraft for 25 years, she's now on a journey as an atheist and skeptic. She's eclectic, unpredictable, and always evolving. Facebook - Twitter