The Dark Cave
Xulon Press Writer's Contest
I was invited to enter an International writers contest. I respect your readership. Consider reading the short story and clicking on the poll below. Thank you! -Dr. Phinney
He whispered in my sleep. He called me by name. I awakened as the voice gradually became stronger and whirled around my subconscious. I gazed around my bedroom, expecting to discover the presence of the one calling my name.
I jumped from my bed in desperation. The voice spoke again, Come unto Me. And then it happened. My heart began to race as I was fronted with darkness I had not known. A type of darkness that took the air from my soul. Immediately, I was flooded with; I am alone. The darkness pulled me deeper and deeper into a dark passage likened to a vortex of despair. Within moments, I was swiftly ushered into a world of nothingness. I lost touch with the world around me. The silence was like torturous pain. The darkness presented itself as permissible suffocation. I stood still. I was frozen. I began to hear the noises of darkness. Silence began to scream the sounds of evil. Yet this place seemed all too familiar.
As I strained to look through the darkness, I saw the morbid entrance to a cave. A small light, like a candle, flickering within the darkness. I was compelled to enter. The air turned cold, comfortless, and chillingly isolated as I passed through the entrance. As I stood in the cave, the voice whispered again. I have called you into the darkness to see the light. I frantically looked around the cave to see who was speaking. While no soul was to be found, I immediately began to see pictures meticulously framed in gold and silver. Within each frame were horrid snapshots of events revealing deplorable deeds I committed throughout my life. Shame consumed my soul. Such shame, without thought, I squeezed my eyes tightly and began to weep uncontrollably.
As sadness rolled over my heart and mind, the voice whispered. Open your eyes. Cast your eyes upon each picture, for I am about to reveal the Truth. I obeyed. I tried to lift my feet but found them stuck to the cave’s floor. It was as if thick honey was binding them to the floor. To my surprise, this “thick honey” covered the entire floor of the cave. As I laboriously clopped around, I stood before each picture, studying each as if my life depended upon it. Guilt flooded my soul. I wanted to hide, but I knew there was no passageway back to my conscious world. I was trapped.
While my gaze was fixed on each picture, pleasure, fear, and disappointment were rooted in my soul. Suddenly, each picture came alive. It was like watching a movie. I heard the words and saw the deeds as if they were unfolding in my presence. On the one hand, I wanted to watch; on the other hand, I wanted to destroy the picture. The fight within my mind was overwhelmingly tiresome. I began to feel like a depleted, defeated warrior on a battlefield. I began to smell the stench of my evil deeds. I became sick. I could not vomit. The sickness rolled around in my body until I began to faint. Then, my worst fear fronted me – I began to suffocate. I couldn’t breathe. I noticed the flickering light sped up, acting like a strobe. Then, lights out.
As I stood in the cave, the darkness blinded me. The silence was deafening. The presence of evil rolled in like a dark storm. I heard the laughter of dark evil demons. The laughter was rushing by my ears like the winds of chaos. Suddenly, one of these dark spirits speaks the words my soul has fought. See, you are nothing but a failure. You are a loser, and nobody cares about your anguish. Now you must pay for your sins.
The messages from these dark spirits seem to go on for hours. I couldn’t run. I was unable to hide. I was stuck to the floor with the sweetness of my sins. I was held in bondage to the memories of my past. I was suffocating in the darkness I had created. I thought I had been sent to Hell.
The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of my office - exhausted. Over the next two months, I suffered mental torment that was foreign to me. Cold sweat nightmares plagued me nightly. Questions, doubts, and fears ruled my mind throughout each day. By the end of the two months, I concluded that I was a lost soul going to Hell, minimally a massive disappointment to God.
Again, the voice summoned me while in a deep sleep. This time, the voice was deep and commanding. Stephen, come forth. I leaped from my bed and said Here I am, Lord. Before I could get to my home office, I was pulled into this vortex of darkness. I found myself in the dark cave succumbing to defeat. Suddenly, a brilliant blue light burst through the cave’s entrance. In the center of this magnificent light stood a man dressed in white. His face was radiant, with fire in His eyes, a drawn sword, and a gentle smile. Then, He spoke.
Stephen, My Redeemed. I have taken you to the depths of darkness and despair. I called you to cast your eyes upon what you were. I have revealed your madness of framing your past with My cherished metals of gold and silver. No longer visit this dark place in your mind. Use the sword I imparted to you to fight against the creatures of this dark domain. I have set you apart to proclaim who I Am, not who you were. I have given you a new name and identity and called you to walk a less traveled road. Go now, and never return to this dark cave again. Stephen, you are My Redeemed.
Who I was is no more. He is all the more. While I have known the principles of the believer’s identity in Christ for many years, this true-to-life experience shifted me into a level of the Deeper Life in Christ I believe few have come to know. Today, I refer to this experience as my “Garden of Gethsemane.” Yes. It was dark, very dark. It was torturous. But, both the Lord and I know that I discovered the light and Life of Jesus Christ in a way that empowers me to draw the sword of the Spirit during those once defeating temptations of visiting the dark cave of my past.
How would you rate this submission?
Stephen, I LOVE this. Well done. Dreams are peculiar things indeed. Gave me chills. Reminds me of my (long) short story Echo Of Reality at the top of my Substack about one man’s journey from the darkness of a cave to the light above, both metaphorically and experientially. Darkness always flees from light. Certain men love to be clothed in darkness while retreating from the Light but there is always a remnant of goodness. Please keep writing these. Jim