Ronnie had given up on any semblance of returning to a normal life.
He was now sitting in a garden that sprouted up from an empty void and was now drinking tea and eating various snacks with a man in a fine suit. He sat across from Ronnie at the ornate table made for two, and was carefully stirring his spoon in his lemon flavored tea, his lips pursed, lost deep in thought.
Ronnie had requested hot chocolate and it appeared out of thin air.
So he sat, drinking his hot chocolate in silence across from a man who looked like a dead family friend, Tyreceus, causing even more confusion about his day. His terror mounted as the man moved one of his long locks to the side and revealed the signature curved ears of Ionadians.
“Well, where do I begin,” Wrinkle said.
“I don’t know,” Ronnie mumbled. “All I know is that two maniacs destroyed Ace’s house.”
“Oh no. Oh I’m sorry about that. They had a question and I answered it, I didn’t think they would be violent guests. They were wonderful when they came to my home.”
Wrinkle gestured to a beautiful garden, filled with mammoth sized flowers and tall hedges, all creating an infinite maze, leading to the center, his fountain garden, greenhouse, and small cottage.
“I don’t have the watch,” Ronnie said.
“Yes you do! Don’t be silly! It’s under the tree! I even tried to tell them! Those two ran off before I could even finish my sentence and didn’t listen to me! ”
Ronnie’s pupils shrank while Wrinkle waved his hand in the air, chastising him about not being observant.
“I’m so sorry I scared you earlier. I just needed to send a message.”
“What message,” Ronnie said in fear.
“Can you tell..Ace..to come visit? I miss him and I’m afraid to leave…”
Ronnie was disgusted, thinking that he and the strange trickster inside the garden were involved, as Wrinkle seemed quite bashful.
“Why are you blushing ?”
“It feels rude to call him by his first name! I have manners. You address your elders in a respectful way!”
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Once again, Ronnie knew he was the only sane person around.
“I’m not sending him anymore messages. I’m never speaking to him ever again, ” Ronnie asserted.
“I’m not saying you need to return here, just get him back for me. I miss him. ”
And once again, Ronnie became weak to tears.
The odd man looked as if his eyes had no pupils when they flickered white, his stress heightened, anxiety mounting. He took off his gloves, revealing his neat nails and dug them into the palms of his skin. The look was even more ghastly, with the few tears he cried.
Once again, frustrated, exasperated, lonely, Wrinkle had to explain that he had turned back time, now a ruined VHS tape. He didn’t need to turn back the hands of time any longer, but because of that, Ace never came to visit.
Ace never learned how to visit The Place That Never Was, and so, Wrinkle would forever be stuck, afraid to leave, from fear of rejection.
Ronnie, easily moved, began consoling his captor, awkwardly patting his hand.
“You’re going to be fine. Why are you so obse — I mean, focused on this?”
“I want him to stay here with me, where no one could ever hurt us again. I made this place, using my imagination, and it's wonderful. Why stay outside, where it's dangerous, when you can be in here, and live forever ?”
Ronnie felt that there was some logic in his warped mind, but he still knew that something wasn’t quite right. From what little information he could gather, this was all an illusion, a trap, and feared he would be the next fly stuck in the pot of honey.
“I think you should stay here as well,” Wrinkle said.
Ronnie shook his head, Wrinkle shook his head rapidly, yes, and gripped Ronnie’s hands tight, causing his skin to get clammy. Wrinkle’s hands were stone cold, as if he were dead, a living corpse, only sustained by life in his imaginary world.
Wrinkle was so excited to talk to someone, anyone, that he did not mind pouring himself out, his entire life story to a man who did not want to know him. And so he awkwardly listened to the tale of an unhinged man, and at the end of it he was sure that he was still lying.
“The gods are cruel,” he said quietly. “ They took someone from me. Let me tell you about them.”