A Complete, Thick Silence.

The fog pooled around her feet. As she stared down at it in confusion, it began to rise, encircling her legs, her stomach, her heart. Strangely, she felt no fear, just a detached acceptance. One that comes with the understanding that there is absolutely nothing one can do but surrender, come what may.

Then the fog was around her head, her mind and she was immersed in it, body and soul. A complete, thick silence. Gone were the familiar sounds of life as she knew it. The birds, the cars rushing by, the people chattering. She felt as though she stood at the edge of the world. One wrong step and she would tumble into an endless fall. Into oblivion.

All of a sudden, detachment was replaced by panic. Where was she? What was happening? She wanted her husband, her friends. She whirled around, her eyes seeking a familiar focal point. A snapshot from her life. Something to remind her of who she was.

And then she ran. Breathless, filled with dread that she would never see those familiar things again, she ran, and ran and ran. Through the fog, she thought she saw dark shadows in the distance. The silhouettes of trees, buildings, cars, people. And she ran towards those, watching in horror as she got no closer. As they vanished one by one, all eaten by the relentless fog.

Finally, she dropped to her knees, panting, out of breath, desperately seeking that calm resignation she had felt before, the state of surrender that would take away the panic. What choice did she have? She curled up in a ball and retreated deep within herself, until she was nothing but a whimper, a moan.

And slowly in that fog, she began to feel something else. Comfort, an embrace. She rose to her feet, eyes closed and breathed it in, through every pore in her flesh, every cell in her body. And suddenly it washed over her, breaking all barriers, and she gave in to the wondrous feeling of…joy. Floated in it, dwelled in it. She did not want to leave it, wanted to be with it forever.

“Honey?” A familiar voice. She opened her eyes, eyes heavy with fog, and stared at her husband, lying next to her. Sleepily she rolled over into the warmth of his arms and settled in. She was home.

But the fog stayed in her mind. A thing unfamiliar, foreign, but brimming with…hope.