MHI: A CANDLE IN THE DARK by Marge Simon

Trigger Warning: This piece addresses mental health

The HWA is pleased to launch its Mental Health Initiative, a coordinated roll-out of events, resources, and activities intended to promote positive mental health, foster the concept of hope, and challenge the stigma of mental illness in the horror genre. The initiative, run by the organization’s Wellness Committee, launches in June, and includes the following blog posts from Of Horror and Hope, a downloadable anthology of poems, flash fiction, and personal reflections on mental health by HWA members.

A CANDLE IN THE DARK
Marge Simon

You are alone in darkness. You’re afraid to stand, afraid you might fall. You hear the strike of a match. A candle flares, lighting the features of a strange young man. You try grabbing for the candle, but he vanishes. Just like your life, everything you try is a failure. You can die here in the dark, nobody will give a fuck.

But then you hear the scratch of a match again, and again the young man’s face appears. This time, he is smiling, holding a sheet of paper. There is nothing on the paper. He hands you a pen. “Here is your candle, and this paper is your tinder. You can make your own light, you’re not alone. There are writers like you who’ve been in this room with me, just as down as you are. Every one of them has seen my candle and gotten my message. They’re ready to help you, too.

You let him guide you through the blackness until you see a crack of light coming from a door. He gives you a nod and disappears. It’s up to you to open it.