APOCANGELICA Wild Beasts

Chapter 1

 "Let's talk a bit of Pangaea. Okay?"

"If you insist" she said, while puffing away her boredom.

"Well, I think the time has come to dissect the thing a bit, don't you think?"

"You are the one who decides, Doc." Ada stroked her short brown hair behind her ears. She pulled up her feet, lending support to the heels on the edge of the chair, and clasped her legs to her chest, tightly gripping them with her arms. She laid her head to rest it on her knees and, while remaining in a fetal position, she settled down to a long digression about her alleged delusions.

"How come you have named it like this?" asked the doctor, to initiate the discussion, given that his young patient was, as usual, reluctant to talk.

The young girl stared at the silvery pen holder on the doctor's desk. It was finely carved and polished, so much so, that it seemed to have been freshly polished, who knows, she wondered, if he took it up himself every morning as the initiatory rite of the working day."So... For my seventh birthday my parents presented me a book full of illustrations. It was about the prehistoric days. I used to read it regularly. I liked it so much, it was full of colorful figures. Really... full, full, full! There was a big picture. It took both the pages: an overview of the prehistoric land. The caption read: Pangaea, the super primeval continent that will give life, breaking itself into several pieces, to the current continents. It was written just like this, I would have read it a million times. Have you seen it, Doc? The Pangaea.

Anyway in the picture, one could see lush green lowland, full of strange animals that grazed calmly... Since then, I have always thought that heaven has to be like this: a place uncontaminated and full of lush green plants and trees, as far as the eyes can see. White Mountains touching the horizon and a clear sky at the top illuminated by a bright sun. Peace and serenity, everywhere." Ada was lost with a blank look on her face.

"And so?" the doctor urged her.

Ada looked at him while staring blankly."So, when I found myself in there, right away I found it familiar... I pondered about that picture and boom! I decided that I was finished right in Pangaea."

"Okay" the doctor said, he used to use that word as a leap to give the patient a positive and reassuring sign."A couple of days back", regains flipping his notes sorted in an immaculate folder and without the slightest of crease,"you told me that at the beginning you found yourself there inside without the control of the transit, let's call it so, right?"

"Yes, it just happened at the beginning. It's one of the reasons why I do not think I have created it... otherwise, I should be its Lady and its Mistress, isn't it? Isn't this how it works, Doc?"

"Maybe you are, but you don't know of it" pointed out the doctor.

"You mean that it is the birth of my subconsciousness or whatever? In short, a part of my subconscious mind creates it and throws me in whenever it decides?"

"Something like that. After all, correct me if I'm wrong, you're a passionate reader of novels" he glanced at his notes again."Fantasy and science fiction are your preferences, right?"

"Yes, I read everything. By the way, don't you think that the library here needs some updating? What do you say?"

"Didn't you find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah, well, but there are some authors who write cycles of novels, you know? Every three or four years, they publish a follow-up and it would not be bad idea to have the latest volume of the main fantasy sagas. I am certainly not the only one who reads, right?"

"Not at all! Reading is a very popular hobby among teenagers, especially among those who are introverts: it gives them alternative points of view which help them to compare or provide food for thought for those who are hungry for answers." Then, leaning his elbows on the table and observing the girl from over his glasses, he added:"Additionally, allowing those who feel out of place in the reality, of being able to easily escape into the fantasy world. Allows them to, so to say, be free."