A Weird Reality

Chapter 1: The initial arrival

Axavia was skipping down the sidewalk to the park with her family, overjoyed at the idea of getting to hang out with her friends again. It was her birthday today, and they were having a party for her at her favorite park. Axavia spotted her friends in the distance at the picnic table that sat under a big oak tree. She started racing over to them, excited about what the day would hold.

"Axavia, sweetie, be careful!" Her mom called out to her as they approached the wooden table. Once she reached the picnic table, her friends all greeted her excitedly.

"Happy birthday, Axavia!!" They exclaimed. Axavia smiled brightly as she thanked them, and sat down on the bench with everyone else.

The party went on lively as they went through all the activities they had planned for her. It was getting late, and they were doing one last thing for Axavia's birthday. They decided to play a game of tag before the party would end and everyone would go home. It was Axavia's turn to be it, and she started chasing everyone around the park. They were all laughing joyfully as Axavia chased and tagged them. Soon it was down to one last person, her best friend [Redacted].

"You can't catch me!!" [Redacted] exclaimed to Axavia. Silence... [Redacted] noticed Axavia didn't reply back and was quiet. Why did Axavia not continue with their banter? She was never this quiet. [Redacted] stopped running and stood still.

[Redacted] turned around to look behind them, wondering why Axavia had suddenly gone silent.

"Huh..?" They said, as they noticed that Axavia was no longer there.

"What's wrong, you two?" Axavia's parents asked as they looked up to see how the kids were doing.

"Where is Axavia?" They asked [Redacted].

"I- I dont- I dont know, she- she just suddenly disappeared!!" [Redacted] responded to them, looking panicked.

"What?!" Everyone shouted. "We- we have to look for her!! Everyone spread out and search!" Axavia's mom shouted. Everyone started frantically looking around for Axavia.

Axavia fell through the ground into some unknown place, hitting the ground hard and passed out. She woke up a while later, still stunned by the fall, to a weird place she had never seen. The walls were covered in old yellow wallpaper. She felt a cold damp carpet floor beneath her. Where is everyone? What happened to the park they were in? What's going on? She got up and looked around in a panic, hoping to find someone, anyone, that she may know. To no avail, she realized she was all alone. She sat back down and leaned against a nearby wall. What should she do? She doesn't know where she is or how she even got here. Her breathing started to grow faster as she panicked. She could feel tears start to stream down her face. Axavia brought her knees up to her chest and laid her head in her lap as she cried. She cried for a while, feeling time slip between her fingers as she gasped for air.

Eventually she calmed down, wiping the tears off of her face and looked around. She decided the best thing she could do right now is look around and try to find a way home. She got up from where she was sitting and started to wander around in search of an exit. This place seemed to be endless. Everywhere she turned looked exactly the same. It was like she was stuck in some sort of maze. She continued to walk, hoping she could find something.

Axavia had walked for many hours. She had been in this place for quite a long while. She believes she might be going crazy here. She heard little noises, creaks, and footsteps. She would look around the dimly lit area and find nothing. She felt as though she was being watched by something. She could hear the soft buzzing of the lights overhead as she walked. She saw what might have been the shadow of something in corners and around the randomly segmented walls. Axavia would freeze anytime she saw or heard something scared of what may be near. Her body shook with fear. She might have just been hearing and seeing things but she couldn't be sure that she was fully alone.

It must have been hours since she arrived here. She had lost count of how long it's been. Soon enough she started feeling hungry. She had been walking for so long now without food. She remembered she had some candy from the party in her pocket and pulled it out. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. She gobbled down the bit of candy, feeling a little bit better now that she had something to eat. Once she was finished, she decided to keep going. Surely she'll find something soon, right? After many hours of being trapped here, Axavia came across a ladder that led into a hole in the wall. There was an exit sign overtop the hole. She had no other option and climbed up the ladder, and into the hole. She crawled through into a new area. Could this be the way out?