Tales of Bewilderment To Find

A sketch of a short story

When I was alone, I thought of stories. Stories and tales of all sorts, from elephants and wonderlands to quests up in space. The characters talk to each other in my dreams, and I can almost see their homes and habitats if I concentrate hard enough. But they're just for me, just for me to imagine and dream of when I'm bored or nervous.

But one day, those stories came true.

My mother took me to her workplace today. I waited by the couches outside her office, reading her books and watching various meetings that took place inside the building. She took me here whenever she didn't want me to go to school.

Yesterday evening, I had told her one of my least distressing stories that I'd thought of, and she still told me that she didn't want me to go anywhere today.

My mother and I got home at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so I went straight upstairs and sat on my narrow bed. She didn't like it when I did that, but it was my story time, and I couldn't miss the chance to speak with my friends.

As I lay on my bed, a new story arrived (as stories do every day), and I was very excited. I couldn't wait to float through a brand-new enchanting cake, filled with the most amusing twists, wrapped with passion and sorrow, and decorated in lots of laughter and glee.

This one story was pinging in my head. Eager to tell me its content, I guessed. Quite unusual the way it did that, though. My other stories normally let me in calmly without any disruption.

I tried to have a look of what the story might be about. I didn't really feel like I wanted to see a historical or heroic type of story right now. But unfortunately I saw nothing, and I was forced to give up and go in.

I slowly entered. But as I felt I was about half way, my mind was inside.

First, I see bright colours. They are surrounding me, screaming in my ears and blinding me. This is a story of hallucination.

I turn around, concentrating on getting out. I normally exit visions I don't understand, because I would be frightened. This one did not let me out.

I shout. I shout out the first words I think of, even though I couldn't hear myself. I feel like I need to say something.

The walls swirl around me, expanding and shrinking, which makes me intimidated. There was no start, no end, a world of chaos without time and space. The ground that used to be there disappears and I start to float, as if there was no gravity.

The pinging from the beginning was still there, getting louder and louder. Everywhere was a blend of orange, yellow and green. I couldn't see my own body.

A woman then appears at my feet weeping. She watches me with distaste and anguish. She has pale pink hair and her eyes unnaturally black, the pupils nearly covering her whole eyes. She had a few wrinkles on her face but she seemed young, around 20 years old. I stumble back, startled by this hideous alien.

Next, animals came into my illusion, forming from the bubbling hues and striding towards me. I saw a giraffe, which I recognised. It was one of favourite characters. He was always jolly and fun in my other stories, but here, he was a demon with black eyes like the others.

I noticed lots them, my most treasured friends – the birds from the peach tree, Cara who lives on the moon, and the fish twins who always fought each other. They were all staring at me, smiling as their eyes turned into moon-shaped curves.

"Why are you here?" I sobbed. "What happened to you?" None of them talked, they were just watching me endlessly.

Suddenly, they all raised their hands. I shrieked from shock, and they faded quickly into the atmosphere. I was left alone, all of a sudden very shadowy and black.

I rushed across the infinite dark, my mind in panic and fear. Darkness and open space were my greatest dreads. They are the things I wanted to avoid, forever. I was even afraid of moonless nights – when dark and wide space came together, I could not keep calm.

A bright white light shone in my eyes, and I tripped. The light consumed me and I was abruptly back in my room. I stayed lying down for a couple of minutes, heated and breathing heavily.

After that, I walked downstairs, wanting to talk to my mother about this crazy illusion.

I thought it was an illusion.

"Mum?" I say quietly.

"Corliss? It's dinner. Please come down."

I screamed my lungs out when I found her in the kitchen. I could not understand what was happening to me.

My mother, Valera Green, had become a monster. She had the body of a baby giraffe and was looking at me with black, black eyes.

"Mama! Valera!" I wailed and shouted. She smiled, her darkened eyes curving into a moon facing downwards.

I sprinted out the house, and the sun was starting to set. I didn't know what to do, just that I could not be here, here in this ruined world. With my ruined people. With my ruined mother.

I stopped in an alley, catching my breath. In my hand was a drawing I had sketched, when I first started seeing my stories. I must have grabbed it before I left the house.

It was a drawing of a dazzling rocky mountain, covered in snow and was in the midst of a staging sunrise.

I started at the picture through my fuzzy sight. The wind blew on it, and I saw the snow drifting on the rocks. The sun was glistening through a thin layer of clouds. I close my eyes.

A guiding instinct told me what to do, and I was ready.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the scene and the rocks were scattered around on the crystal snow. It was daybreak, and my friends stood before me.

"You're back! Come with us, Corliss." Cara said. Of course, the fish twins were throwing snowballs at each other. They were cheering and hugging one another. All my sisters and brothers I never had, they were there, waiting for me.

I felt at peace and relieved. This was where I wassupposed to be. I breathed in the fresh frosty air, and I grinned.

<End-ShortStory>