We've all heard the phrase "Life's not fair." But how often do we hear the phrase, death is not fair? We have all heard the phrase of people going into the light when they die. The light brings a peaceful closure to a long and painful suffering...or does it?
After, reading "A Trick of the Light," by Chet Williamson, from the book 666 Number of the Beast, I was left thinking otherwise.
Ok, so the story starts with Andy who stays watching over his dying girlfriend Kylie at the hospital. During her last few days he notices a light hovering above her bed and a crouched shadow shivering by the corner of the room. Creepy no? On the day she dies, Andy watches as a shadow emerges from Kylie's body and goes into the light that hovers above her. The light then fades, as does the shadow that "shivers" on the corner. The end, Kylie has gone into the light and now rests in peace right? Wrong!
As Andy later finds out from the nurse, the light is simply a trick by death. By going into the light Kylie had just walked into something that is far from closure and rest. Instead, in the light Kylie will have the painful experience of reliving her death forever. Is this hell perhaps? The nurse tells Andy that the shadow that "shivers" at the corner of the room will bring true darkness and closure for Kylie. In an effort to bring Kylie to rest, Andy who has a special gift of seeing the light finds a way to go into the light in his attempt to save Kylie and lure her spirit into the creepy shadow that crouches by the corner. I will not give the ending away incase there are some of you here who have yet to stumble upon the story.
If you like to read these kind of things you will be pleased with this short story; it will leave you thinking about everything you've ever heard and read about "the light." This book had horror, fantasy and romance (between Andy and Kylie.) The setting of the story is so morose and haunting, makes you feel like you are surrounded by the dead and the dying. As I mentioned there is some romance with Andy who's seen as the loyal boyfriend who stands by his dying girlfriend. (There is no kissing or such though.) There is a little twist to the romance by the end of the short story that I will not give away, so you will have to find out by yourself! All I will say is, karma!
I was left thinking about the light after reading the book. I convinced a very superstitious cousin of mine into reading the story and she came back to me in distress wondering what she would do when she died; "Ahhh I dont know what to do now Diana! Should I go into the light?!"
Surely though if you're one to believe in these types of things, it makes you wonder no? What if death isn't fair either? If there really is a light, is it a trick to lure you in? What do you do? What do you choose to believe?
Very nice book review, not a story I would read unless stumbling across it. It does seem like an interesting twist on the whole "go into the light" belief. As a friend once told, (and I stick to this concept) "If you see a light at the end of the tunnel, that would be the train coming towards you, so you may want to move." FYI, diggin' the new creepy background on your blog!
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