Home / Gone With the Mist / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Gone With the Mist: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Upon getting home, I changed out of my wet clothes into a set of clean pajamas.The candlelight dinner I had prepared for our fifth anniversary had already gone cold on the table.At around ten o'clock, someone opened the door.A gust of wind swept into the house when my husband, Elias Marque, stepped inside.As usual, he hung his coat on the third hook mounted to the wall of the entrance before slipping into his gray slippers.When he swept a glance over the uneaten food on the table, he frowned.“Didn't I tell you I don’t like the house getting greasy after cooking?”I watched him quietly from the couch.“Today is our fifth anniversary. You told me you’d be coming home for dinner.“I noticed the way he paused briefly while untying his tie.A trace of annoyance flickered in his eyes.“Sorry, an important project came up today, so I forgot.”“An important project?”“Yeah. Don’t be upset.”He candidly undid his cufflinks before brushing me off in a perfunctory manner. “I’l

Chapter 2

The welcome party hosted by the research institute was held at the city's largest hotel.Elias sent me the location and instructed me to arrive punctually.When my best friend, Gabrielle Carlsen, found out about what happened, she insisted on tagging along at the expense of cancelling one of her meetings.“Alyssa, you’re a softie! If I don’t go with you, they’re going to eat you alive!”Since I knew I could not possibly dissuade her, I let her come along.The atmosphere was very lively when we arrived.Elias was seated at the head of the table and was exchanging hushed whispers with Jade.“Elias, look at the statistics! These fluctuating lines are shaped like that kitten we used to feed back when we were in school!”Elias’ expression was soft as he chuckled.“You have such a quirky imagination.”“Oh, come on. It looks just like it, doesn’t it?”“It does.”In the five years we’d been together, I had never seen him smiling so genuinely.Turned out he did have an animated sid

Chapter 3

On Monday, the production team informed me that the final evaluation for the documentary was scheduled for Wednesday.The review panel required all the referenced research material to be signed by the research institute to attest to its legitimacy.The person in charge was none other than Elias.I rarely, if ever, asked him for any favors.Over the past five years, I knew better than to disrupt his routine.This time, I knew I had to ask him.After taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door of his study.“Elias, I need your signature for some documents. They need to be signed by two o'clock tomorrow.“All the data is inside this flash drive. Could you sign it once you verify the data?”Elias continued flipping through an academic paper without bothering to look up at me.“Is this about that documentary of yours?“You're still working on it?”At last, he looked up at me. There was nothing but scorn in his eyes.“Alyssa, you need to be a professional to film a proper docume

Chapter 4

The moving crew was very efficient.They managed to empty out the house where I’d lived for five years within an hour.I had pitifully few belongings. Everything fit into two pieces of luggage.There were clothes, books, and an old laptop I had used for years.I walked into the study one last time.The safe on the top row of the shelf contained a glass display case with built-in humidity control.It contained a specimen of the Helena morpho, a rare butterfly with blue wings that glittered with an ethereal appearance.It was the first and the only gift Elias had ever given me. It dated back to the time when I was just starting to court him.He told me it was the representation of perfect symmetry and color in nature.I took the display case out of the safe, and set it on the coffee table in the living room.The wedding ring I had tossed away last time could no longer be recovered.I neatly placed the display case containing the butterfly specimen next to the wedding band on t

Chapter 5

Gabrielle glared intently at the rearview mirror and cussed under her breath, “He’s insane! We're in the middle of the city!”I remained expressionless. My eyes locked on the black speck in the rearview mirror, growing larger by the second.My heart was about to leap out of my chest.What I felt was a mix of fear, anger, and more than anything else, a sense of disgust for having been involved with him for five years.“Shake him off.”My voice was ice-cold.“Hold on tight!”Gabrielle jerked the steering wheel furiously.The car swung up a ramp and merged into the highway with the agility of a fox.She was a skilled driver and managed to weave her way through countless cars in quick succession.Meanwhile, the Bentley soon found its path blocked by a row of massive container trucks.It was starting to lag behind, and eventually, it faded into the distance again.My fingers pressed against my legs were shaking the whole time, revealing my anxiety.The car raced on.It was onl

Chapter 6

A week later.A gust of wind kicked up a fine mist of sand which lashed mercilessly against my face and prickled me like a thousand micro needles.Despite that, I felt more clear-headed than ever. With every breath I took, I relished a sense of freedom I hadn’t felt in years.I had officially joined the National Geographic team in shooting a documentary titled “Ecosystems: A Century of the Desert” as the lead director.Everything I was experiencing here was a stark contrast to the life I had led for the last five years.I no longer had to be concerned about positioning cup handles at precisely a forty-five-degree angle, or arranging clothes hangers by color. Most importantly, there was no longer a man trapping me in a pitfall of his own rules.Everywhere I looked, there was an endless expanse of yellow sand while headstrong desert poplar trees emerged against all odds. I was here with a team of researchers who were equally passionate about the natural world.Their hearty laughte

Chapter 7

While I was experiencing the wilderness along with my freedom, Elias was a thousand miles away from me.His world, on the contrary, was slowly crumbling.He hardly slept for two whole weeks.It was only after Alyssa left that he realized that the home he had meticulously designed into a “domain of perfection” was riddled with little flaws.The cup’s handle could never quite align to a precise forty-five-degree angle pointing southeast the way he wanted it to.The new towels he bought were not quite the exact color or thickness that he wanted, which drove him mad.Although he managed to arrange the documents in his study in alphabetical order, something still felt off about them.Like a madman, he would rearrange them obsessively until the next morning.Eventually, Elias resorted to destroying every piece of furniture that felt off to him and bought exact replicas for them. He did his best to recreate the same layout Alyssa had arranged when she was still around.However, to hi

Chapter 8

Three months later, in the city.The documentary directed by me, “Breath of the Desert,” was internally screened at the National Geographic headquarters.After the closing credits, a suspenseful silence fell over the conference room for a little while before everyone erupted into thunderous applause.It was immediately named the most significant ecological documentary of the year. Shortly after that, I received a message to return to the city to wrap up the post-production and conduct a panel.When I wheeled my luggage out of the airport arrivals hall, I was stopped by a figure who was all too familiar.It was Elias.He looked like a completely different person.His once impeccable bespoke suit was now creased all over, while his tie looked similarly haphazard. It was a level of sloppiness he never would have tolerated in the past.His cheeks were deeply sunken, and dark circles ringed his eyes. He had become so frail that I barely managed to recognize him at all.His eyes wer

Chapter 9

In the end, the documentary was titled “The Galaxy Over the Desert.”After a strenuous post-production process, it was finally given the final stamp of approval and soon premiered during prime time on a national channel.On the night of its premiere, viewership skyrocketed, breaking the channel’s five-year record for documentaries. The reception online was equally favorable, and soon, the documentary garnered widespread acclaim.Though I was the director, I didn’t take all the credit or praise for myself.Instead, I jumped head-first into the next project by leading my team to the next location: the Timber Plateau.As night fell, the sky over the plateau turned into a wide canvas of blue that resembled the ocean.It seemed as if all one needed to do was to reach out to touch the sparkling stars.I stood by the edge of a massive salt lake and stared transfixed at the images on my monitor.The brilliant starry sky was reflected on the face of the lake. The mirrored halves from

Chapter 10

Six months later, in Freign.I was nominated for the “Best Debut Director” award at the International Nature Documentary Festival for "The Galaxy Over the Desert.”On the night of the awards ceremony, I walked down the red carpet in an expertly tailored black suit.I faced the audience confidently while countless camera flashes went off in every direction. My composure was calm and steady, befitting someone who had braved the desert winds.Toward the end of the night, I won the award.When I stood at the center of stage and underneath the spotlight, I held the trophy firmly to deliver a brief acceptance speech.“I’m grateful to the land that taught me how to breathe again. I’m also grateful that I found a renewed version of myself in the wilderness.”Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.When the ceremony concluded, people mingled around, and the noise of their chatter filled the hall.I waded through the crowd and made my way toward the celebratory banquet.Soon, I

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