Despair

The blue flower broke into petals and fluttered away from his hands. Each one of the petals miraculously managed to reach the front of the strangers who were all in different positions.

They all froze in place, whether it was involuntary or voluntary even they did not know.

But what they did know at that moment was that…

What stood above them felt like an impenetrable wall, as large as the sky beyond, imposing and bloodthirsty, filling their hearts with palpable despair.

We will die here.

Those four words resurfaced a fear that they thought they had fought all their lives.

And insidiously, the man that stood before them exuded such an ominous and intimidating presence that made them feel hopelessness.

Each of them in their position was overwhelmed by a sense of futility and the belief that this marked the end of their lives, and that made their skin crawl with paralyzing fear.