Night had fallen long ago and Nisha was still climbing the eternal path. It wound about the mountainside in nonsensical spirals, sometimes leading up and sometimes back down, and she was now travelling through a twisted corridor through the centre, lit only by a few scattered glowbugs. She had been walking for hours, her legs ached, her body ached, even her fingers ached and she wasn't even using them.
There was a bright light up ahead! That didn't really matter all the way back here, but at least it was somewhere to aim for. The tunnel was so dark that even her eyes ached as she tried to pierce through the black blanket, and though she was semi-grateful for the few glowbugs, she mostly hated that they didn't give her enough light.
One of them flittered infront of her face and buzzed annoyingly loud, as though it had heard her thought and had been offended, and blinked off. All other glowbugs followed suit and now she was alone in the dark. Great. Nisha sighed and continued onwards to the distant glimmer of hope, holding her arms out lest she smack face first into a dirty wall.
A chill swept over her and pimpled her flesh as she at last took her leave of the dark corridor, and stared in amazement at the tropical paradise before her. Bathed beneath the light of a million stars, the sparkling water and swaying trees were more enchanting than the singing forest, but... there was no temple, only a house, and it was so cold! It had been as warm as a late spring day mere hours ago and now it was as chilly as a mid-winter's night. Minus the snow.
A snowflake fell from the sky and she shuddered. Her thoughts had been granted a bizarre tendency to become reality on this journey. Warmth. Warmth. Warmth. Another snowflake fell and Nisha glared at the sky as she muttered, "I see how it is."
It was freezing. Holding her arms tight against her chest, she ran toward the house and banged on the door, desperate to enter and embrace the shelter, find a blanket, sit infront of a fireplace, eat a warm stew, have a bath; anything to alleviate this chill! The lights were on but no one answered and she banged at the door again, harder and more urgent.
The door swung open, creaking louder than the ancient bridge, and a musty odour swarmed over her as the house settled, the windows and boards cracking and groaning as each snowflake dared land upon its roof.
She stepped closer to the door and peered inside the house, greeted by a quaintly decorated foyer that contrasted the hints of dust and mould that permeated her nostrils. There was no one there.
"Hello?"
Her voice echoed through the house but there was still no answer. Bugger it all, she was cold and needed shelter and could explain herself to the homeowner later. As though to seal that thought, the door swung off from its hinges and smacked her inside before reattaching itself to the frame and slamming shut with a crash.
Face down on the tiles, Nisha grunted. Well, that settled it. Now to find some warmth.
Oooooh I made it to Part 2! Haha. Today is Day 255 of @mydivathings' #365daysofwriting challenge, which you can find here - https://steemit.com/fiction/@mydivathings/day-255-365-days-of-writing-challenge !!
The image used for the prompt is courtesy of bady qb on Unsplash!
Thank you for reading! :)
✨All liquid rewards from this post are going towards mine and @steemydave's very expensive Australian Prospective Marriage Visa, any upvotes are SO appreciated. Thank you 💗❤