2025 November 11, 3:46
Ireland, Cork
“My world . . . is so stale, isn't it. Wake up, school, home, sleep, wake up, school, home, sleep, wake up, school, home, sleep. The same conversation, the same walls, the same people, the same old, why isn’t there more, more for me, more to see, to go, to feel?”
“Briar, can you answer the question on the board?”
“The same loop over and over and OVER again. I'm sick of it! this roundabout lifestyle that I'm forced to live, damn it to hell! Why I'm Briar stuck trapped like this. It's miserable! Get me out of this nightmare”
“Briar?”
“What is life’s meaning if we’re just repeating the same cycle? This same existential dread. This classroom, the same dry walls, the same putrid scent, the same students, the same boring old teacher. The only difference being the problems Briar face.”
“Briar Hammon!”
Briar’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted by his name being called, he sprung up from his desk, coming back to his senses. Briar had gotten lost in his thoughts again. He realized he was in class; and everyone was looking at him. The classroom was filled to the brim with students, almost reaching 50. The floor and walls of the classroom with old, their colors fading as an effect of poor maintenance. Briar’s eyes quickly looked towards the teacher, Mr. Brooks. He was standing up next to his desk, he was looking at Briar directly with his hand on his desk. There was an annoyed expression on his face. Several students murmured a whisper presumably about Briar. Mr. Brooks spoke in a painfully sarcastic tone in his voice, knocking on the desk with his fist. “Are you sleeping in my class briar? Is what I'm teaching that unimportant? Or do you not need his teaching?”
Mr. brooks had been on his ass for the last year, no reason at all. He must not like how Briar looks. Before long Briar responded, “I don’t know . . . does it matter?”
Mr. Brooks sighed. His gaze softens. He quickly pointed towards the classroom door “step outside, I'll be there in a moment”
Without thinking Briar yelled in response “You can’t do that! I didn’t even do anything this time!”
Mr. brooks slammed his fist on the table, the sound caused everyone in the room to jump. “it's here or detention! Or do you want me to repeat myself”
Briar stood up immediately and stormed out of the classroom without even bothering to look at Mr. brook’s face. Briar slammed the class door behind himself. Briar stood in the school hallway. Briar looked around; Briar was the only person there. He let out a sigh before sitting against the wall beside the classroom door. Briar spoke aloud “I hate Mr. Brooks so much; I didn’t even do anything.”
The classroom door swung open; Briar quickly stood up in response. Aira stepped out. She flashed a cheeky smile before fully stepping out and closing the door behind herself.
Aira was an old friend of Briar for 4, coming on 5 years. She had long smooth pink hair that fell halfway down her pocket. She had lighter skin, and her eyes were a light blue. She wore several stickers over her grey school jumper and black pants making the clothes stand out despite their bleak colors. Briar thought she was unique compared to everyone else, she spoke slow and with a sense of empath “Bri-Bri!”
An instant blush came to Briar’s face, he covered his face with his hands. Briar mumbled “don’t call me that, why are you here!”
“I asked to teacher if Briar could talk to you,” Aira stepped closer, “you owe me”
Briar retracted his hands from his face and took a deep breath. "Thank you so much Aira, Briar can’t believe that guy”
Aira poked his head “he’s a cool teacher. You we’re sleeping in class dude”
“I wasn’t sleeping,” Briar groaned, “and he just likes you because you do good in his class”
Aira shrugged “everybody likes me, it's just my natural charm”
Briar rolled his eyes, he thought to himself “Aira was a nice break from the cycle, she’s a good friend. I don’t get what she sees from me. How could someone as popular and beautiful as her be friends with me”
“Beg to differ” Briar joked, a smug smirk on his face. aria's face turned red.” hey! What's that supposed to mean!”
Briar struggled to hold in his laughter, a small chuckle breaking through his lips “I'm joking, in joking.”
“You better be,” Aira punched his shoulder, “and stop getting in trouble before you get expelled!”
Briar stepped back from Aira “yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm going to go now”
Briar turned around to walk away. Aira reached out her hand “hey, where are you going, you still have class.”
“Bathroom, be right back” Briar said as a waved back. Aira tried to speak to me as Briar walked away from her, but Briar wasn’t listening. Briar thought to himself “I don’t need to use the bathroom right, but the excuse is a great way to get privacy. Aira’s fun but she’s a bit clingy”.
As Briar walked further away from Aira, Briar was further enveloped in the peaceful silence of the hallway. Briar walked down the hallway; each of his footsteps made an echo through the empty hallway. The bathroom was just at the end of the hall. The bathroom door opened, and the school janitor exited. He was wearing a green tracksuit and had a black cap on. The janitor moved slowly but abrasively. He rolled around a cleaning trolley. The janitor looked directly at him. His gaze was unnatural, and his stare was unblinking. It sent shivers down his spine, the only thought coming to his mind was “why was he watching me.”
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After a bit of hesitation Briar walked past the janitor Briar could feel his gaze upon himself. Briar entered the bathroom, quickly shutting the door behind himself; Briar could feel his gaze through the door. Briar tried to ignore him and kept pushing forward. Briar sat inside of the bathroom stall on top of the seat cover. Briar mumbled “I'll just stay here until school ends.no way I'm going out there with that creep” Theres only two classes left anyway.”
2025 November 11, 4:45
Ireland, Cork
The bell rang and Briar could hear the footsteps of students passing by. Briar stood up and walked to the door of the bathroom, he peaked out of the door and looked around. The hall was filled with students and there was no sight of the janitor. Briar exited and followed the crowd and walked out of the school’s front door .as Briar continued his walk home, he was walking with fewer and fewer people, eventually taking a turn entering a forest path. His family’s home was far from others, so Briar usually walked alone apart from when Aira wanted to walk him home. The path was a dark one, night-pitch black. The trees blocked most of the light and the only noises were those of small critters and the crunching of leaves below Briar’s feet. As Briar walked deeper it became harder to see the path that Briar had walked. His house wasn’t far down the path. Briar suddenly heard the snap of a branch. The briar quickly turned around in reaction. Briar froze instantly once he realized what he was looking at.
The same janitor from before stood far behind him, He was completely still and stared directly at him, his eyes were blank, far to blank. His face showed too little emotion for a human and his gaze stabbed dagger into Briar. Briar yelled back “W . . . What are you doing! What's the big idea!”
The janitor took a step forwards. Briar backed up, his hand shaking “I'll call the police!”
The janitor began to walk towards him, his gaze still fixed on Briar. Briar immediately turned around and ran as fast as he could, starting a mad dash towards his home. His heart was pounding out of his chest. Briar could hear the thudding of the janitors' footsteps behind him. Each step felt louder and followed by and each closer one, a louder one. Briar didn’t even turn around, his mind scared to see how much distance he had made.
He was following him and fast, the footsteps banged through his head. Briar panickily scrambled through his thoughts “I'm going to die; I'm going to die like this! I can’t go home, he’ll follow me. I have to lose him!”
Briar suddenly takes an abrupt turn off the path. He brushes past trees and branches. He keeps pushing forward, moving through bush and plant alike. The pounding footsteps behind him stopped, as Briar got further and further aways. The sun shone less and less through the trees until complete darkness enveloped him. Briars kept running, his feet ached as if they were about to fall off, but he kept running, kept moving. His heart racing with each step until.
Briar’s foot didn’t touch the ground. Briar fell forward. The ground stopped Brair fell down it a dark void. He descended and at a rapid pace. The pit's void was completely blank, not even a hint of light shown. Brair found himself unable to scream; his body tensed, frozen as he fell. His mind screamed at him and his heart yelled as if demanding him to touch the ground. The briar hyperventilated, each breath quick, and disturbed. Briar's panic rises rapidly until a thought comes to his mind. Briar breathing stops, he closes his eyes, a melancholy feeling drooped over him.
“don't I deserve this?”
Suddenly the deafening horn of a train hits Briar: Briar grunts covering his ears to block the noise. Blindingly bright lights shine into his face from below him. He looks down and sees the front of a white train. The train was covered with images of black flowers, its windows were a pure white, not being transparent at all. The train rises up towards him, as if defying gravity. Briar braces himself for impact. The train roars louder than the last before colliding. It one sudden moment Briar's vision goes black.
2025 November ??, ??:??
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Briar’s eyes suddenly opened. He looked around, he was sitting in a seat of what looked to be the inside of a train. The interior was fancy, the walls made of a wooden material with carved designs of flowers. The briar reached out and touched the wall. The walls felt cold, frozen even but were smooth. Possibly sanded to perfection The train’s windows were completely white. The train had several tables four arrayed across its left and right sides. The chairs were made of dark leather and the table a dark oak. Briar could hear the sound of feint classical music in the distance. The seat felt unusually comfortable, threatening him to stay stuck to it. Briar stood up from his seat, he smelt a small scent of ginger. Briar looked down at the train halls. It seemed endless, not even cutting off into multiple trains car; just being one long, never-ending cart. Brair quickly chose a direction and walked. The train seemed endless despite how much he walked. Briar called out “hello! Is anyone there”
Nothing but silence. Briar felt a sense of unease “Where am I, what is this place?”
Briar suddenly felt the train stop moving. The change in force makes him fall over. Brair’s face slams against the floor. He winces in pain “dammit”
He quickly gets up to his feet and dusts himself off. He looked around. Suddenly he noticed a missing set of chairs and table. He walks over to the gap. “This place just gets weirder”
Briar reaches his hand out to touch the door. His hand phases through it. Briar quickly retracts his hand he steps back away from the wall. His breathing was heavy and his thought were racing “impossible, am I dead? Is this the afterlife? Or some liminal space, a different dimension?”
Briars eyes dart between his hand and the wall. An idea pops into his head. He steps back, getting as far as possible. “No better choice then? Well . . . “
Briars ran forward. His body moves through the wall of the train. Briar lands on hard concrete. He takes a moment to breathe before looking around. The area around him resembled a subway but different. The same concrete floor, the same fluorescent lighting above but there was no exit in sight. Even weirder was several small windows lined across the wall. Briars looked back at the train. Even from the outside the train looked never ending, the endless train went down the endless path. Brair gasped “I'm going to be sick”
his eye dart both ways of the train, both equally endless. Briar yelled; He listened as his echo traveled further and further away. Briar walked to the window he looked out of it. He sees the vast void of space. Far in the distance he could see a vast collection of stars and colors shaped like a snake, its body made up of several spiral galaxies, it orbited a golden sun in the center. Briars eyes we’re stuck to view, it was magnificent. Just looking at it he felt ethereal. Briar touches the window “the . . . stars”
“Beautiful isn’t it” voice said from behind him. Briar quickly turned around. Standing a couple of feet away from him was a man. Their hair was a pure white styled into a tousled top, not even a speck of dust resided in his hair. His skin was light sienna and his eyes white a blank white. The man was dressed in a black suit with white accent and white bowling shoes. His expression was welcoming, too good to be true.
Briar backed up against the window. He eyes scanned the man Infront of him. he asked “Who are you! Where am I!"
The man bowed down, making a small chuckle before. His voice was honeyed, and he spoke in a feint British accent “Greetings Wisp, I’m Mr. Moon, welcome to the subspace highway.”