(Hallowmonath 25, 55 / 6:55PM)
Several years ago.
An old broken door soon collapsed onto the wooden floorboards below.
Soon after, light let in the old and stale air that was trapped within the contents of the messy farmhouse, the smell of gasoline and dirt escaping from out of the door.
Two soldiers took in the smell of the little farmhouse that both saw within their own eyes, followed by both of their arms wielding military-grade weapons.
One was a tall freckled woman, while the other was a shark-human with a large blue nose.
(Gwen) Reminds me of my childhood. Well, replace gasoline with beer.
Benn placed both of his hands onto his knees as he started to cough and gag out loud, causing Gwen to furrowed her brow..
(Gwen) Come on, even the smell of gasoline is enough to turn you into a mess…
(Benn) Any smell that’s strong … is sensitive to my nose.
(Gwen) sighs …
Pushing her feet forward into the darkened room inside, she noticed the creaking floorboards beneath her feet. Seeming to make the wood scream out with every step, her frown was replaced by a smile as she turned her body toward Benn.
As for Benn, he had his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk, before pounding his chest with his right hand two times to allow the unneeded contents to go back to where it came from.
(Gwen) You know, these old wooden floors are pretty cool.
(Benn) Try … not to do anything here. We’re here … for a search mission.
(Gwen) Come on, loosen up a bit. I don’t know what they want to search for, and even the Sergeant wouldn’t tell us what we’re searching for…
Gwen started to gently jump and down on the wooden floorboards, the wood holding her shrieking loudly. Giggling softly at the screams of the wood, she had her face pinned toward the shark-human that didn’t even set foot on the unstable wood.
Despite the smell continuing to bother him, Benn still maintained his sharp frown.
(Benn) Stop doing that.
(Gwen) Then make me—
The floor beneath her snapped in two.
Unlike in cartoons, Gwen didn’t stay in the air for a few seconds. Because of their planet having gravity, it pulled Gwen down deep inside where she last stood. Free falling for several seconds, her eyes couldn’t tell if she was falling or not as the motion of the fall blurred the lines between imagination and reality.
Eventually, a loud crack was made from the bottom of the hole.
(Gwen’s thoughts) What … What happened?
Unable to turn her head, she laid the back of her head on the cold hard covered ground, her eyes looking up at the light that didn’t shine through the hole.
Clamping both of her palms onto the cold ground, she slowly tried to push her body upward, trying to gesture her legs and feet to—
(Gwen’s thoughts) Wait … why can’t I move my legs?
Having her butt on the cold floor, she had her body in a sitting position where her hands and arms did all the heavy work. Drunkenly placing her right hand under her knee, she tried to make it move but for some strange reason, she couldn’t trace any sense of feeling within her legs.
(Benn) Damn it, Gwen! You should have been careful.
With her eyes widening as she looked up at the hole from above, she noticed Benn looking down in shock.
(Gwen) H-Help! My legs! I can’t move my legs!
(Benn) Don’t move! I’ll get help!
Leaving the edge of the newly broken hole, Gwen saw the last of the shark-human now that she was all alone.
Tears welled up in her eyes, her nose sniffling with the scent of body odor roaming the hole, Gwen bit down her lower lip with her front teeth. As a trickle of blood spurted out from the bitten area, Gwen frantically looked around the darkened hole that she was trapped in, the darkness surrounding her.
(Gwen’s thoughts) Not the dark … I don’t like the dark …
But a shining light appeared in a little corner of the hole.
Remaining still, Gwen stared right into the blinking light that got the attention of her slanted eyes. Her body leaning toward the yellow light that dimly shone in the darkness, she soon crawled with just only her hands and arms.
(Gwen’s thoughts) Why is there a light here?
Sweat trickled down from both her temples, her hands soon started to form blistering calluses that were caused by the dragging of hardened stone. The cuts on her hand soon burned up her palms, her lower body couldn’t even take in the pain that was endured on her legs.
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By reaching the blinking light, she noticed that it was nothing more than just a simple glowing crystal.
(Gwen’s thoughts) And why a crystal of all things?
Having her left hand hold up her body, she extended her right hand toward the blinking substance that intrigued her curiosity. As her fingers barely touched the ends of the crystal, the glowing light—
She was now in a world filled with sand etched across the horizon.
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(???) Are you ok?
Only sand was seen throughout every corner and cranny of what she laid eyes on.
The desert glaciers that stood stall amid the burning heat flew away the sand that flowed throughout the ever-growing concept of time itself. Gwen’s jaw dropped wide open as her eyes widened. Since her legs were still paralyzed from the fall earlier, she had both of her hands placed on the burning sand that enveloped her wrists.
Her throat quivered. She puckered her lips, stiffening from what she saw right in front of her.
(Gwen) W-What was I … what … where …
(???) I know you have a lot of questions. People act like this during their first time here.
In front of her own eyes, was a man clad in all black.
He looked to be old, old enough to be in his 50s or 60s with tattered clothes. His body was not even facing Gwen, and he had both of his hands inside of his pants pockets.
He tilted his head down.
(???) You touched the crystal, yes? Do you have it with you?
Gwen looked down to where her right hand was. Ignoring the pain from the burning sand, she pulled it out quickly.
Noticing that the crystal disappeared, tears began to well up inside of her eyes.
(Gwen) I … I don’t—
(???) Don’t worry, the only thing that you could’ve brought was yourself, your soul, and clothes. Everything else would’ve stayed in your world.
Gwen shut her eyes as the hot wind blew straight across her face.
(Gwen) How can you deal with this heat? How are you still alive in this dump?
(???) You have no idea…
Gwen opened her eyes a crack to see the old man. She caught a glimpse of his thin gray hair that barely touched the ends of his neck. His wrinkles and face were hidden with hair covering the sides of his face.
The old man tilted his head upward as he continued to look into the sandy glaciers in front of him.
(Gwen) Why did you take me here? Just who are you? And what do you want from me?
(???) I’ll answer all of those questions, but on one condition.
The old man continued to have both of his hands inside his pockets, his fingers mingling with the tiny open holes that were the same length as his fingernails. He let out a sigh as his body slouched forward while the blowing sand continued to pelt his clothes.
(???) If you promise to reflect on your past, you will know everything about the upcoming future, but at a later date.
Gwen squinted, trying to get a glimpse of the man’s face, but even the sight of the sandy landscape was hard to see. She cleared her parched throat.
(Gwen) E-Everything? What is this about?
(???) Me and you were both chosen, followed by many others…
In his right hand, he grasped a metal-like object that caressed the linings of his palms and wrinkled skin.
Showcasing the metal to the outer right side of his body, Gwen took in the sight as her body leaned forward at the shining object. Her hands trembling under the weight of her chest and head, her elbows creaked under the colliding joints and bones.
(???) Here.
He then tossed the black device with a backward throw, the metal slowly traversing in the zero-humidity air. Landing right in front of her, Gwen stared into the contents of the metal as she hovered her face with a widened stare.
(???) It’ll only showcase your turning points as toward the woman you are now.
Extending her right hand onto the top of the device, which emitted a low frequency sound. Her breath drew shorter and shorter, her body completely forgot that she was newly paralyzed, leading to her falling on the burning sand with her chest slamming first.
But just as she made contact with the sand, her fingers grazed the top of the metal device.
The sounds of the glistening stopping, the world she saw right in front of her…
Vanished.
As if she was sucked into nothing, not even total darkness was enough to describe what lay beyond that vanishment. Feeling as if her soul was projected out of her body, her senses all seemed to be forgotten and misled, leading to her feeling as if she was nothing at all.
Since nothing is nothing, and nothing can be described as nothing, then nothing is not necessarily nothing.
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(Ostermonath 17, 49 / 6:12PM)
A man’s cries deafened the silenced room.
Burrowing his face inside the poorly washed bed sheets, his wails and sorrow continued to wash away the cloth.
A little girl peeked through the opening of an old wooden door, her face botched with huge freckles.
(???’s thoughts) Daddy…
(???) Angie…
The little girl only saw the back of his head as his crying started to slow. Gripping the edge of the bed sheets with his curled fingers, his whole body shook in a trembling frenzy.
(???) Damn it all … why her …
The girl was about to reach her hand out, to comfort her father, but in less than a second, the man stood up, shaking the wooden floorboards beneath his feet.
She had no time to flinch before the wooden door swung open.
(???) Ow!
Putting both of her hands onto her forehead, small tears lit up the corners of her eyes followed by loud sniffles assaulting her nostrils.
She then saw her father continuing to walk toward the kitchen, not caring in the slightest for her wellbeing.
Tracing her steps along the old wooden floorboards, she walked through the old but well-maintained hallway filled with pictures and photos that were hung up on the walls. Ignoring the family photos they used to be past, the little girl continued to walk on the creaking floor until she reached the kitchen.
(???) Daddy…
Peeking her head out from the corner, her father in front of her rummaged through the fridge with both of his bare hands. Whatever leftovers that he stacked inside of the fridge, rolled in the back of him as it accumulated dust and grime from the floor.
Stopping for one single second, his eyes caught the whiff of a bottle in the back of the fridge, causing him to moisten his lips with his pink tongue.
Thrusting his right hand into the back of the metal fridge, his fingers grasped the beverage that could soothe any pain…
(???’s thoughts) For Angie…
The bottle already opened up, and the man placed his lips onto the brown liquor bottle that awaited his tongue.
Swirling his tongue, the sticky beverage tingled and nourished the contents of his teeth and gums, his already yellow teeth turning more brittle by the second. Followed by the way his feet were glued to the ground, he straightened himself as he angled his head 180 degrees up.
With the liquor continuing to caress his tongue, he forced the contents of the bottle to deepen down toward his throat.
(???) D-Daddy…
She placed both of her hands onto the wooden edge of the wall, splinters already forming along her smooth and porcelain-like palms.
Tears continuing to well up from within the crevices of her slanted eyes, she witnessed the climax of his long kiss with the liquor bottle at hand as he finally pulled the bottle out of his mouth. Slouching forward, he gripped the brown bottle with just his right hand alone, his fingers loosening the glass that soon started to behave under the contents of gravity.
(???) That hit the spot…
The strain of the alcohol content he drank with one swoop soon hit him like a freight train. Collapsing onto the wooden ground, his back hit the old floor creating a loud thump that rocked the entire kitchen room.
Laying on the ground with breath that could drunken a beast-human, the man spread out his arms and legs as he looked up toward the old wooden ceiling above him.
(???) W-What was I going to do again…? W-Was I supposed to feed G-Gwen dinner—
Failing to undergo his thought, the man soon closed his eyes as the alcohol claimed victory over him.
And right in front of him, was a little girl that widened her eyes from the spectacle at hand, her hands curled up into hardened fists.