The Writers' Block Anthology

Nowhere and Everywhere

I always hated the vacation house. Whenever my family would take the annual reunion trip, I'd find refuge in the surrounding forest. Mother always told us kids that the house was just settling when there was creaking, that it was the wind when there was a ghostly moan, and only tree branches when shadows danced across the walls. I knew better. The adults never saw anything, but I did. All of us kids did. That's why the forest is my savior. It wraps around me and shields my eyes from that horrid house. Here I can wander without fear and today the forest decided to give me a gift. A staircase.

It was an old stone staircase belonging to a time long ago. I first stumbled on it when I was taking my venture away from the house. My annoying cousins, who had decided I was a good target for their slingshots, never explored too deep into the thick pines. This is where I found the staircase. Nestled in the deep forest and reaching high into the branches. As the sun sank, it cast me within its shadow and I found myself walking to the bottom of the weathered steps. Placing one foot steadily in front of the other, I climbed the staircase to nowhere half expecting it to take me somewhere. Maybe back to its time. Maybe to a fantasy world. Maybe, simply, to a door. But nothing laid waiting for me when I reached the top except for a long and painful fall if I managed to slip. The view wasn't bad either. On one side the house perched on the hill like a king surveying his kingdom, and on the other the hill sloped down and vanished under a vast lake.

With the sun beginning to set, I would need to head back to the house. Mother would be looking and dinner would be ready. As I carefully made my way back down the stone and glanced back at the staircase when farther up the hill a thought occurred to me. The staircase, with its shadow reaching toward me longingly, would be the perfect way to get back to my cousins for their torture. A plan formed in my mind as I raced back to the house.

~~~~~

Later that night when the moon bathed the land silver I wrestled my cousins from their beds. It wasn't too hard to get them to come along. I simply told them that the adults were holding a bonfire in the forest. This may not mean much to other families but, to us, a bonfire meant marshmallows and s'mores.

My cousins didn't question me for a second. Not when we passed the doors of the snoring adults. Not with all the lights of the house off. Not when I unlocked the door to lead them into the charcoal night. They didn't even question me when I compelled them into the forest they so painstakingly avoided.

"How much further?" one whined, wrapping her arms around her body.

"Not too much," I answered. "They didn't want the fire too close to the house."

"I'm tired!" groaned the other. He kicked a rock, sending it tumbling.

"Shut up!" I snapped. Where was the staircase? Did I walk for this long earlier today? Maybe the darkness made the time pass slower. We'd come across it soon.

It was when we stood at the edge of the lake did I finally see the staircase. It was planted on an island a few hundred yards from shore.

"You don't expect us to swim, do you?" the boy asked.

"I'm not swimming," the girl huffed. "I'm going back to bed. Thanks for nothing."

I eventually followed them back but not until after I stood staring at the staircase. There's no way I swam to the staircase before. Maybe it was a different one? The shadow reached toward the shore. Reaching toward me.

I shook my head. Sleep. Sleep is what I need. The shadows of the house were not better than the staircase when I finally reached its door. It took everything for me not to run all the way to my bed and alert everyone to my presence. That night my dreams were haunted by shadows and staircases.

~~~~~~~~~~

I gasped, my eyes flying open as I pitched forward toward the ground below.

"No!" I squealed, throwing myself backward to try and save myself from the fall. Save myself I did, but when my back struck the stone I didn't stop. One sharp edge after another until I hit the bottom of the staircase. My lungs were devoid of air. The sky stared at me mockingly as I tried in vain to breathe. Eventually, I was allowed relief and could take stock of where I was. Under the sense of pain that rippled from every impact I sustained, I could feel the soft cool grass resting under me. The wind caressed me gently, and the musty smell of mud convinced me to attempt to sit up.

There I was, as I struggled to collect my aching body, back in the shadow of the staircase. It loomed, blocking the pastel sky from my eyes. The darkness of the shadow became as thick and black as tar. And I didn't move. I couldn't move. I did nothing to stop the darkness. Maybe I didn't want to. Instead, I became a part of the shadow leading me to nowhere and it led me to everywhere.

You are mine now.