31 Tales (Volume II) - Powers Unlocked

Keep Walking

Beep Beep! Was that the alarm again? Beep Beep! This must have been the third time now. Third time? "I'M LATE!" He cried as he leapt out of bed and threw on whatever clothes lay strewn across the floor. "No time, no time" he rushed past his small bathroom. He rushed out his door and ran past the community kitchen. He stepped back "well, I gotta eat" he rushed into the room that smelled of bleach and baked goods. The muffin sat under the glass cloche. "Aww, he left me some breakfast" he swooned as he greedily lifted the cloche and snatched his  raspberry and white chocolate muffin. As he ran and ate, he could feel the bits of fruit get stuck in between his teeth. Now he wanted to brush his teeth. Too late. He thought as he slid down the banister. He rolled the wrapper into a ball and threw the muffin case into the bin like a basketball. He reached deep into his pocket and pulled out a strip of gum, he forced the minty goodness into his mouth as he chewed frantically. Reaching the door to his block he stopped to smell his breath. "Smells good" he sighed with relief as he sorted his wind blown hair out whilst checking himself out in the glass. He strolled quickly down the hall. "MY MASK!" He yelled in shock "MY BAG" great! Now he had to go back. It was a one way system. He'd have to go round but how? He couldn't be seen going around uni without a mask. He walked backwards and fell into someone. He turned to see a woman looking less than impressed. "Are you trying to break all the rules at once?" She raised an eyebrow as he picked himself up off the floor. He laughed nervously as he shuffled past. "Just the one hopefully" he rushed back the way he came. Down the hall and out the door, that's all he had to do. Down the hall and out the door. "I swear the hallway used to be shorter than this" he said as he ran and ran towards the door which seemed to only get pushed further and further away. He stood still and watched as the door pinged forwards like an elastic band. It knocked him off his feet as it collided into him. Knocking him out cold.

He felt himself rising to his feet without lifting himself. His eyes slowly flickered open as he turned to see his friend's eyes looking at him worried. "What on Earth happened to you?" he slipped out of his hands and slumped down onto the floor. Wiping his mouth with his hand he saw nothing but blood. "The door hit me" his friend looked over to the door which sat feet away. "How can the door hit you from all the way over there?" He gave a slight worried laugh "well, you definitely have some kind of concussion" he lifted his arm and placed it over his shoulder. The pair walked slowly towards the door. "Did I really miss the seminar?" His friend nodded "Yep, nothing exciting though. We just took notes on how to conserve oxygen when running" he nodded and sighed in response. "Is it just me or is this hallway getting longer?" His friend asked confused. It was. "This is what happened before the door pinged back and hit me. It happened when I stopped, we need to keep walking I guess." The door pushed further and further back. "This makes no sense, halls don't so this." He shrugged in reply. "Just a 2020 thing I guess, halls can make themselves longer." The door in the distance opened and within a second a girl was right beside them as if she had teleported to them. "Hey, it's a one way system..." she stopped when she saw the state of his face. "Why are you walking in place? He needs immediate medical attention" the two men stared at her in confusion "walking in place? What are you talking about the door is getting further and further..." The girl nodded and slowly walked away concerned. "Look I'm going to have to stop my legs feel like they are walking in tar. "No, you can't stop" he begged "if we stop the door will ping back and it me again" his friend sighed "it only hit you right?" He nodded "then you keep walking, I'll stop and see what's going on" they tried his method. When his friend stopped he could see him walking in place like the girl had said. "You're not moving anywhere" he turned to look at the door which wasn't moving either. "Try... walking backwards maybe the door will come back to you" he laughed at the absurdity of his words. He did what his friend said and walked backwards, relieved to see the door coming back to its natural position. "Right lets turn you around" his friend said as he slowly spun him around to face the other way. He looked over his shoulder to see if the door was staying in place. "Don't look at it, it's only when you look at it that it it moves" he did as he was told and within no time they were outside the door.

They sat on the bench. They didn't bother to social distance even though they should, they had been right up in each other's space for what felt like half an hour and besides at least his friend was wearing a mask. That was the least of their worries. "So..." his friend broke the silence "I guess you're one of those 'Wielders' they are talking about all over Twitter." He nodded still not fully comprehending it. "Why me?" He asked with a moan "why did I get this stupid ability to move hallways with my mind?" His friend patted him on the shoulder "hey? Maybe it's not just hallways, try walking towards that bin" the friend pointed to the black bin sitting on the grass. He stood and walked towards the bin, sure enough it moved away from him. "Woah" he walked backwards until he fell back onto the bench. "It must be anything you're directly heading towards. You want to reach it so it pushes itself away from you. You'll never win a race" his friend fell into hysterics "hey, it's not funny. I could win a race if I want to. I... just won't look directly at the finish line" they both laughed together. "Seriously though, there are people turning into sea monsters and I'm stuck with this, feels like the short straw to me" he rolled his eyes, "there's bound to be someone worse off. Maybe my muffin caused you to gain your ability" his friend nudged him with his elbow. "What if, the thing everyone has in common is muffins" he moved his hands like a fortune teller looking within a crystal ball. "Oh, shut it. I'm almost certain that's not the case. Now forgetting masks on the other hand..." they laughed again "yep, definitely didn't see the sea beast wearing a mask" they sighed together as the laughter slowly faded away. "Seriously though, no one needs to know about this. I don't want to be some lab rat, remember that little boy from a week ago?" His friend nodded in reply "your secret is safe with me. If we get back to your room we may be able to grab your mask before our next seminar" they both rose from the bench. He covered his eyes. "What are you doing?" His friend asked confused "hey, if I can't see what I'm heading towards, it won't escape me" he shrugged.