The Morning Mist
The morning mist hung low as Kenji woke with a start. He had dreamed of falling into an endless gray void. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he threw on his robe and stepped outside.
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The world was shrouded in fog, with visibility down to just a few feet. Kenji breathed deep the damp air, finding calm in the stillness. He set about preparing tea to clear his mind of lingering dreams.
As the water boiled, Kenji gazed into the mist. Shadowy forms seemed to emerge and recede, playing tricks on his eyes. He wondered what mysteries the fog concealed just out of sight. His tea steeping, Kenji sat and sipped, watching the world take shape bit by bit.
The sun rose higher, burning off wisps of mist. Kenji saw that his garden had become overgrown in his absence. Weeds choked the paths, and grass stood knee-high. He set to work with clippers and trowels, hacking and digging. Sweat soon dampened his robes.
As Kenji worked, the fog continued to thin. Across the garden wall, he spied movement through drifting veils. Curious, he peered closer and saw a figure in the neighbor's yard. The form seemed hunched and unsteady, lurching from side to side.
Alarmed, Kenji climbed the wall to offer help. But as he dropped down to the other side, only more fog greeted him. The strange figure had vanished without a trace. Kenji called out but heard no reply over the breeze. He began to wonder if he'd seen a vision or something worse.
Shaken, Kenji returned to his garden though his heart wasn't in the weeding. Each shift of the mist raised the hairs on his neck. Had something watched him from the fog? He worked faster to take his mind off phantoms. By midday, sweat soaked through his robes.
Taking a break, Kenji drank cool water from his pail. As the mist thinned further, he spied movement once more in the neighbor's yard. This time, two dark forms staggered together through the haze. Their movements seemed unnatural, almost predatory. Gripped by fear, Kenji dared not call out again.
He crouched low behind the garden wall, hardly daring to breathe. The figures drifted closer to the fog, coming into clearer focus. Kenji stifled a gasp - they were corpses, flesh sloughing off bone. Soulless eyes searched blindly as the reanimated things shuffled on.
Paralyzed by horror, Kenji watched the undead pass. An awful hunger seemed to drive their movements, an urge to feed. As they drifted out of sight, Kenji's mind reeled with questions. Had some dark magic animated the dead? Was this a plague come to the village on ghostly feet?
Shaking off his fear, Kenji knew he must warn the others. He raced to the village as fast as his legs could carry him through thinning mist. All seemed quiet as usual - too quiet. The streets were empty, not a soul in sight. Had the fog already claimed them too? Kenji pounded on doors but heard only silence.
Panic rising, Kenji checked the last home - his own. Inside all was still until he heard a noise down the hall. He crept towards the sound, dreading what horrors waited. Rounding the corner, Kenji came face to face with the rotting corpses of his family. Soulless eyes met his, and dead mouths opened in a soundless scream.
Kenji's world shattered at that moment. Grief and rage overtook him as the things that were his family shambled closer. With a primal yell, Kenji seized a broom and began beating the corpses back. "Leave us!" he cried through tears. "You will not take any more!"
Exhausted, Kenji collapsed to his knees amidst the ruins of his home. All was lost - his family, his village, his life before this nightmare. As the last wisps of fog lifted away on the breeze, Kenji wept. But through his tears came a grim resolve. He would put down these abominations and avenge the loss. The mist had shown him a darkness, and he meant to bring light.
