The Open Mind

Joshua was sitting in the mahogany chair set apart in the dark library, in front of him.  A fire blazed igniting the room in a dreary light. He sat in wait with the lonely howling of the wind, and the pounding of the rain. "Tick, tock, tick, tock," said the grandfather clock as the chimes rang for twelve o'clock. He heard a noise coming from the western door below the haunted picture of his great-great-grandfather, Fergad the Fourth. He always hated that picture.  For he was the one that started it.  He was the one who made him first suffer through this awful mess that now he had to sort out for himself. The noise grew louder into a steady roar and the door shook with such violence.  Dust fell from the old books and shelves. Then the door shone with a spectral white that chilled Joshua to the very bone. He walked to the door slowly, stared at Fergad the Fourth, and cursed him one final time, as he stepped out into the light. The fog crept out and chilled his face as he walked out into a cursed, dreary graveyard filled with people. He stared through their translucent bodies and blank expressions, and then glanced at the giant black podium to his left in front of the grave of Fergad the Fourth.  Dressed in his best tuxedo, he stepped out onto the podium, each step creaking with years of worn out work.  He elegantly twisted his hand.  Spirals of smoke shaped into a worn scroll unrolling itself in mid air. A long list of names glowed in the cold darkness of night.  "Jaccob Isenham," Joshua called. A bloated spectral walked onto the grave with no emotion left in his face. "For your crimes against the Straughtford family you are sent to the underworld with the power of God's judgment". He twisted his hands sharply and smoke reeled out of his hands straightening out into a wicked, black arrow pointed to the phantom's chest. Joshua paused and stared at this poor soul, here only because he had sued against the Straughtford family for the disappearance of his son. He had almost won but was secretly and wrongfully murdered by one of his sisters, before he even had the chance to scream. Joshua felt a new level of guilt he had never felt before and his soul screamed for release of this treachery to the God he knew. He knew he was not worthy to judge this man. Who is but God himself! Why should he use his magic to curse this man out of no pity or remorse? Suddenly the grave below him started to release smoke. It curled and unfurled into his sister, Rebecca. "So you too?" She asked.  "Who am I to judge, and who are you to kill your brother?  Do you not remember my power's source?  Do you not remember how Cain himself created it?" She stared me down with a glare that led my mind to a frenzy of panic for the new idea that struck my head.  Run!  Her eyes rolled back as she chanted the ground itself to release it's creatures.  Roots sprung up and ripped the earth asunder as they made their way to Joshua. He quickly summoned a wall of stone that stretched below the earth as he drew a door in the air and smoke wreathed from the frame as the picture of a log cabin stood out in a deep pinewood forest. The wall was ripped from the ground right before Joshua stepped through. The last thing he saw before the portal closed was his sister's terrified face, as his father drove a knife through her. The calm, mellow forest that was slowly filling with a morning light of bright pink and blue made everything seem absolutely beautiful. But it opposed so horrifically to how Joshua was feeling. So abhor was the nature of his heart in this enthralling moment, he walked steadily to the wooden safe house and began to unfurl his arm and billow out a fog of smoke that covered the area. Once it had cleared, a rune glowed along the rim of the house giving him passage. He stepped inside and saw a little room with a small kitchen to the right and two staircases leading up to the bedroom, and another leading to the basement. A wide family room was stretched out in front of the dinning table full of bean bags and desks. A strong smell of burning sandalwood and cinnamon incense reached his nostrils as he sat down in his bed. He wanted to sit there and cry forever at what he had done, what he had seen and heard was almost too much for him. He had been planning this for years but never actually had the courage to do it. He always thought that what he was doing was completely unnecessary and unneeded. But somehow after his first judgment trial, he was not able to think of anything else. So he thought it better of it to try and wipe some of the pain away in the river. He left the house in search of the wild river that ran along here. But as he was in search, a strong noise filled his mind from one of the runes, and a small figure was outlined in the trees above. Joshua shot an arrow of smoke at the figure, puncturing the small creature as it fell to the ground. He picked up the squirrel in both of his hands, and began to say a prayer asking for forgiveness, as tears left his eyes and streaked to the forest floor. He then carried the body to the log cabin and hanged It for a meal. Once he had found the river, he began to undress. He grabbed some denim jeans and a black t-shirt and slipped them on his heavily built frame. And walked back to the house in a blank state of emotion. He just wanted to forget, but the only thing that came to mind at this point was that if he were to truly forget, he would never find the willingness to do what needed to be done.