Terriivale was a township built on fear —
That travelled faster than any transport.
It surrounded the Hollow Caller, said to claim people whenever called.
The legend had been —
Repeated. Retold. Repeated.
Believed— unequivocally.
Seasoned traveller Wanda Ling felt the unsettling vibe.
Old footprints.
Shattered tools
A memorial — hardly remembered.
Residents told her that townsfolk vanished after a dangerous bridge crossing — a bridge left unrepaired.
Wanda faced the residents during a town hall meeting.
“There is no Hallowed Caller. People vanished when they crossed the bridge.”
But one whisper became another—
And another.
Those in the town hall frantically chanted his name…
“Hallow…Hallow…Hallow…”
And the forest answered —
“Afraid.”
The bridge remained empty.
Wanda left.
The fresh footprints had returned to the forest.
A child. Of the woods…or of fear.
Mirrors of the Mind by Michelle Liew is a collection of psychological and supernatural short stories that explore the quiet unease beneath ordinary moments. These are not tales of spectacle, but of subtle fracture — where memory distorts, silence speaks, and the self is not always singular. In these stories, what is unseen often carries the greatest weight, and what lingers is not what is shown, but what is felt.
