[4. WHAT ARE SOME RECENT MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS IN YOUR LIFE?]

.

.

.

~~~

The transition between asleep and awake is almost not existent. One second I’m arguing with an ostrich about whether stools or hammocks were better for riding on top of giant hippos, and the next second I’m more awake, more cold, and more confused than I thought I ever could be.

It’s cold.

No, scratch that, it’s very cold.

Snowflakes drift onto my eyelashes, and I realize that I’m lying in a pile of snow. Heavy clouds droop in the sky.  A breath of wind slips past me. I shiver hard. Cold? Why am I cold? I shouldn’t be cold. It’s summer, so why is it snowing? It’s freezing, and here I am wearing only a sweatshirt and basketball shorts.

Confused, I stand up and brush the snow off my clothes as I look around. For a second, I feel like I’m blind. Everything’s so white. It almost hurts. I shiver again as the cold seeps into my bones. Where am I? With the amount of snow blowing around in the wind, it’s hard to make out much detail in any direction, except for the few hazy buildings brooding not far in the distance. Everything else is just snow. It must go on for miles.

The wind picks up, sending drifts of icy snow into the air. It falls onto me. The sensation of hard pieces of ice hitting my skin is so raw it hurts. I gasp.

Is there a freak snow storm happening right now? But why am I outside? And what was I doing last night? Did I fall asleep on someone’s lawn or something?

I pull my sleeves down past my hands as I think. All of a sudden, terror floods me as the recents events tear their way to the front of my mind. I whip around to stare at the sky, searching for signs of anything moving despite the blizzard whirling around me.

Where is it? Is it still chasing me?

There’s too much snow in the air. It keeps getting in my eyes. I lower my head, blinking to get rid of the cold flakes. It’s alright, right? I got away from it. I can feel it. It’s so far away now, so I should be fine, right? I don’t think it knows where I am now, so I can head back home . . . right? Only, how do I get back home? There’s buildings, so someone must be living here. They should have a phone I can use to call Dad, and maybe a cab too. Anything to get out of this weather.

I start walking towards the closest building. As I slog through the snow, trying unsuccessfully to keep my sneakers from getting even more drenched, my frantic flight from the demon eye slips into replay mode in my head.

I freaking managed to survive thatǃ How did I freaking manage to survive that? And just how far did I run?  

I freeze as a thought hits me. Wait . . . this isn’t Earth. Where the heck am I? Like, where in the whole universe even? This is really, really dangerous. I’m totally freezing to death here, and I have no idea where I am. I’m probably on an alien planet. Scratch that, I am on an alien planet, and that thing is out there still looking for me. Who knows when it’ll catch back up. I’m really starting to hyperventilate.

No, I’m definitely hyperventilating.

“Someone, Help!!!! Please! Is there anyone there? I’m lost!” I scream into the wind, trying not to panic, but the situation is definitely getting to me. I can feel tears starting to freeze against my cheek as they spill over. “Anyone? Don’t leave me here alone! I don’t know where I am! Someone please come help me! I’m kinda scared, alright?! And cold! And really I don’t know where I am and I don’t know what’s happening or why it’s chasing me or even if my dad’s okay!”

My voice is thrown back into my face as a blast of freezing air assaults me. Sharp, cold bits of ice pound against my skin. It stings, but also cools my frantic thoughts a bit. I grimace and brush the frozen tears off my face with my sleeve. Okay. Calm down. Shouting isn’t going to help, so take deep breaths. In and out. Okay, okay. Breathing is helping. I’m okay now. Think, Devin, think. You’re smart. I’m sure I’ll be fine. Even on an alien world. First things first, like Dad says: categorize the things you know.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Number one, I’m on a different planet. There’s no helping that.

Number two, I’m not exactly sure how I got here, but I know it had something to do with running through space, all weird and mystical-like. Let’s . . . put that train of thought aside for later. It won’t help me now.

Number three, I don’t think I can go back. Why? Most likely because of number four, which is that my body is completely off.

I stretch out my hands and stare at them. The ghoulish thing that first showed up, it bit off my right arm and a good portion of my side went with it. I can swear on the all-holy avocado tree in my backyard that that was reality, so why am I back to normal?

It couldn’t be that I somehow transmigrated into the body of a trash sixth miss that got thrown out into the cold by her fed-up family and her arrogant (but mindblowingly handsome) crown prince fiance, right? I poke out my tongue at the stupid thought. Maybe I read too much. Honestly, I’m not even sure how I can be cracking jokes in this situation.

But no, this is still my body. My hands have all the same calluses, and I can see my hair drifting like ugly black seaweed in the wind. If that wasn't enough of a clue, I'm still wearing the same clothes as when I was attacked, though my backpack seems to have disappeared and my sweatshirt really should be only half a sweatshirt. Let's not think about that right now.

I breathe a sigh, putting my hands into my sweatshirt pocket. I’m still me.

I do feel weird though. Fragile and weak, like a glass figurine or maybe a soap bubble. Also, super frayed and tense. It’s like I’ve used up a massive amount of energy and am running on fumes or something. I might just dissipate on the wind because of it. Probably from getting eaten, then smacked around and then some. I really don’t like the feeling, but I don’t feel like it’ll be changing any time soon. And so, I don’t think I can leave the way I came. Not that I’d know how to get back. So, number four puts number three on the backburner, then.

Number five, though, I really need to get inside something. Like really. I can feel myself getting closer to a numb past numb. Enough standing out in the cold, thinking. Any longer out here, and the cold might just stop my thought process altogether.

I move again towards the hazy building closest to me.

. . . And now, I’ve come to the sudden realization that moving through thick, wet snow is very, very exhausting.

It takes me way longer than I thought to reach it. When I do reach the building (or rather, the squat, ratty looking house), I take a minute to lean my head against the grainy, weather-worn door to catch my breath. Then, I raise my hand and knock hard. Wind blows through me as a wait. I knock a few more times, realizing that it’s starting to get darker outside.

“Hello? Could someone please answer?”

I wait a few more minutes.

“Really? You’re not going to answer? Is it because it’s snowing or is it because it’s me? I mean seriously, I’m having a really bad past couple of days, so if you could answer the door, I’d really appreciate it.” I give the door another knock before sighing.

“Is it just my luck that nobody’s home? Should I try the other houses then?” I look back out into the snowstorm, barely making out the other houses. I shiver. “I really don’t want to, though.”

Frowning, I give the door a hard kick and turn away, only to freeze hearing a creaking sound. I whirl around, bringing my hands up in a defensive posture, then lower them when I see the slightly open door.

“It’s was unlocked? Haha, I nearly gave myself a heart attack.” Putting a hand on my chest, I give the door a stare. “Should I? It’s really cold. They’ll forgive me, right?” I take a deep breath, the push open the door. It slowly creaks open, giving me a slight amount of resistance.

“Hello?” I call out as I step through the doorway. “Sorry for barging in, but no one answered when I knocked. I hope you don’t mind. It’s blizzarding outside, so . . .” I trail off.

I’m not sure what I was hoping for. The room’s empty. It’s clear that no one’s been here for a long, long time. Maybe a window or something was left open, because the floor--along with the single, creepy looking chair in the middle--is covered in a layer of frost. The frost is kinda eerie looking actually. It creeps up the walls and twists in the corners of the room all the way up to the ceiling like some kind of spider web. And while it’s not as cold as outside, I still find myself shivering.

Leading off to the right of the chair in the strange, empty room is a tall doorway that almost reached the ceiling, it’s opening arched at the top. The faint light streaming in from the slightly open door doesn’t reach the opening, so I can’t see much in that room besides a few uncertain outlines of dark shapes that may or may not belong to a kitchen. An uneasy feeling drifts towards me the longer I stare into that room.

“ . . . Let’s try a different place,” I say, trying to use my voice to break the creepy vibe. “This place feels off.” I glance back at the chair one more time, then turn to leave.

As I’m turning, out of the corner of my eye I see something abnormally tall standing just inside the doorway to the other room, the top of its head somehow taller than the already tall arch. As fast as I can, I rip open the door and bolt back out into the blizzard. Anywhere is better than being in that house, because I know for a fact that’s definitely not something I want to meet.

I almost freeze as the icy air hits me like a rabid bulldog. My mind goes blank for a second before the sudden increase in the pounding of my heart jolts me awake again. Immediately I break out into the fastest run I can manage while slogging through the thick layer of snow.

I don’t dare to look back. I can feel the thing from the house following me, and I have the very bad feeling that it can move through this weather better than I can.

. . . Sadly, I’m right.