Penultimate Destination

Laymond jolted awake in a state of panic and disorientation. He sat in the snow, dizzy, panting, and naked as he attempted to regain his bearings. When the world stopped spinning around him, he recognised that he had not been here a moment ago. Although he could not recall where he had been previously, or anything for that matter. He stumbled to his feet and frantically looked around himself to find anything familiar, but he was unsuccessful. All that he could glean was that he was alone in the snow, surrounded by alpine trees. He staggered directionlessly, aiming for escape, but he overbalanced and tumbled back onto the floor. Lying on his back, he noticed the frighteningly unnatural bright crimson sky hovering above him through a sizable gap in the trees. His chest pounded erratically. Not from his heart, but from a scar at the centre of his body spanning the width of his chest.

I didn’t have a scar before he thought, knowing it to be true despite being unable to recall anything about his past. He took deep breaths to calm himself and as he did so he tried his best to recall anything about himself. He vaguely remembered the name Laymond and he attributed it to himself. Otherwise, everything prior to the current moment remained in the dark. Eventually, he returned to his feet, dusting off the snow clinging to his hairy body, and set off uphill, hoping a higher vantage point would aid his search for anyone who could help.

“Hello! Anybody there?! I need help!” Laymond shouted for help continually for an indiscernible amount of time as he walked. He received no response outside of a distorted echo. He observed no signs of life anywhere outside of the conifer trees that engulfed him. Ultimately, he grew tired and stopped shouting to conserve energy. As Laymond ascended the hill, an increasing amount of oddities he was previously too distracted to notice became apparent. He wasn’t freezing. Despite trudging through the snow naked for an amount of time he couldn’t pinpoint, Laymond only felt cool. Not only that, but he was dry. The snow didn’t melt. He picked it up and played with it in his hands, but it maintained its form. Stranger than all of this was the tranquillity he experienced. With every step the panic and shock that followed his awakening faded and were replaced by a deep peace.

When he finally reached the crest of the hill he was greeted with a sublime view. Before him stretched lush, rolling hills topped with the same snow and trees Laymond had become so acquainted with. Tufts of clouds tinted red by both the crimson sky and the warm lights emanating from a distant town drifted between the hills. The town looked small, cosy and quaint. Although Laymond’s view of it was obscured by smaller hills that partially broke his line of sight. Everything beyond that town looked hazy and grey; he couldn’t make anything out. A few steps into Laymond’s descent down his hill, he heard a loud rustling. Laymond turned towards it, spotting the backside of some large gold-furred feline creature squeezing between branches as it wandered between the trees. Laymond followed it without a thought.

He ducked and moved branches to avoid being scratched while he followed the creature. Thankfully the woods didn’t remain thick for long and opened up considerably, granting Laymond a better view of the beast. From behind, he could see that it had horns and a cow's ears and upon closer inspection he observed that the beast’s tail was akin to a lion's. What must he taste like? He wondered. The longer he followed the creature the further he got from that town and the more desolate the landscape became. Where did the trees go? Laymond thought passively. As he did so, the creature turned around and revealed that it had a mouth like an enlarged eagle's beak. Laymond thought nothing of it, and continued following the creature until it stopped, turned to its left, and stared into the distance.

Laymond followed suit and was transfixed by the ethereal kaleidoscopic lights glowing from that direction. As Laymond stood mesmerised, the creature bounded away, headed back towards the woods. Laymond journeyed towards the source of the lights, almost involuntarily. He discovered a mighty throne at the centre of an amphitheatre, both of which were empty. Laymond found no reasonable source for the multicoloured lights that entranced him. The colours constantly shifted around Laymond but he recognised a consistent crystalline formation occurring behind and above the throne. Laymond felt deeply that he should not be here, yet he felt safe nonetheless.

He turned around to see a bipedal entity gently approaching him. It was tall and slender. Its entire body was the same muted shade of dark grey. Trailing behind its spindly legs was something silky and cloak-like. It appeared to be an extension of the entity's being. The entity's face was absent. There were vague outlines of where eyes or a mouth might have been, but there were no holes on its vacant grey head. Laymond froze, unable to look away from the entity’s empty head. His scar pulsated. As it got closer, Laymond spoke. A quiet “hey” was all he could muster. The entity didn’t respond or acknowledge; it simply continued its approach until it was directly in front of Laymond.

The entity, looming over him, raised its four-fingered hand, brushed aside Laymond’s long greasy hair and cupped his left cheek. It was pleasurably cold to the touch. Laymond felt a total release of tension from his body and he gained some semblance of clarity. He had loved. There was a woman; her name might’ve been Mary or Marybeth. They had a child. He couldn’t miss them, for he could only passively observe the disjointed incomplete memories and images forming in his mind. He harmed a man. He harmed another man, and another more. He was hurt by his father. He feebly clawed at his mother. He protected. He ate another man's bread. He drank from the river. He harmed a man, and he harmed him back. He was a child on the swings awestruck by a beautiful sunset. He was guilty. He was tainted. He lived in a cacophony. His soul contorted in his hands after it had escaped through the hole ripped into his chest.

The entity gently caressed Laymond’s cheek with its thumb, wiping away a tear. Laymond continued to be engrossed by the vacancy of what should have been the entity's face. After a moment of silence from sound, body, mind, and soul, Laymond felt a great burning sensation from within himself, from every atom in his body.

He opened his mouth to scream, but before any sound could escape, he was gone.