Enter iF You Dare

Task Three

Tyler Burns of Video Games: Task Three: Super Smash Brothers

Video Games: 3rd entry.

I nearly fell from my loft-bed as I awoke the next morning from a dream I tried throughout the rest of the day to forget. The kids - they just kept singing. Ring around the Rosie, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes...it never ended, even after I pulled myself out of sleep, the song stayed within the depths of my mind, repeating itself over and over and over again. In their voices no less. The petite, childhood voices of my sister and her ring of friends.

I shook the song out of my head long enough to concentrate on something else for awhile. I decided I might like something for breakfast, and left immediately to forage in the wilds. I say wilds, but I mean come on, a few trees and some shrubbery I'm pretty sure does not count as 'the wilds'.

After returning home with a couple apples, some wild strawberries, and a few carrots I found randomly in the woods, I washed them in a bucket of water I received from the Store. Soon after arriving the previous day, I discovered everyone was issued a teleporter - basically a mini Tardus that would transport you magically to any place you thought of - and there was this big island where lots of people wandered, especially to this place called The Store. It had all kinds of goods - food, water, supplies et cetera - it was great really. All would not have been so bad if we weren't kidnapped and forced into this place. I think if it opened up as a theme park someone could make a lot of money off it. But not as a - as a place to leave your abductees.

Just after breakfast was when the song returned. It was slow, subtle. I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling, wondering about life. That's when it came; the soft melody of some instrumental version I'd come across online at one time in my life, just slowly seeping into my brain like a distant memory of another life, one I found I was not fond of. Then their voices came; Beth's was lead. She began with a few words, her peers soon followed and it became an endless cycle. A melody accompanied by a few lyrics, but who knew those very same childish, century-old lyrics could burn a hole right into me. It was just too painful to remember anything about her, especially her favorite song. I rolled onto my side, resolving to force myself to think of anything else. That's when a distant sound crept into my mind. This sound was not a memory nor was it part of the song, or just the wind, or even an animal outside my door. It was mechanical, it sounded very similar to the noise a helicopter made in flight. I threw myself from the ledge, landing hard on my bare feet. I skipped across the floor to where I had carelessly thrown my shoes, and slipped them on hurriedly, then rushing outside to see what was happening. Was this my rescue? My heart soared at the prospect. Perhaps Danny did press the matter of my unanswered calls, or perhaps I had been right all along, and someone did have overprotective parents. Both dreams were soon crushed as I entered the hovercraft to find my captors staring down at me with menacing looks. They just wanted to cause me pain, I know it. It was probably what they lived for.

Inside the jet-type structure were the other twenty or so teenagers which were unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Across from me sat The Hulk, my old buddy from the Minecraft room. He sat between two girls who looked upset to be here. Their dreams were probably crushed too. Beside me sat a girl who was probably younger than me and had black hair that was smoother than silk sheets. I noticed at the bottom it kind of faded into this purple color. That, I found, was really cool. As I buckled into my seat I looked to the other side of me and found the girl with short spikey hair that was in the van with me and cried the whole ride to the islands. She was staring straight ahead and grasping the hand of a younger girl in the seat next to her. I thought I should probably say something, hello might've been nice now that I think about it, but we didn't travel that far and I figured she probably wouldn't care what I had to say anyway.