The Gallery (-BTS-)

Digital Art

''I know. I was there. I saw the great void in your soul, and you saw mine."

~Sebastian Faulks 

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Your eyes flutter open and you realize that you are suspended in darkness. There is nothing but the pitch-black void that no sounds can get to. . . no light. The only thing you hear is the thump . . . thump . . . thump of your heart beating rapidly in your chest. Your ears start ringing from the lack of sound causing you to slip further into the void.

Once you awaken again you see you are in your house, but something feels off. It's too bright and colorful to be current. There are childhood pictures of you on the walls and paintings are everywhere scattered on the floors and walls like a gallery. The smell of cinnamon and crisp apples trailing through the house reminds you of your mother's award-winning pies. You can catch the faint sound of a sawblade running though wood in the backyard like when you helped your dad build your tree house in the fall. Looking around again you hear someone calling out to you.

"Where did my tester go? I know she couldn't have gotten far."

You freeze and snap your head in the direction of your kitchen, while your chest feels like it is caving in.

"M-m-mom. . . Is that you?"

Suddenly there she is. . . standing in front of you like 4 years had not passed. She was the embodiment of a goddess with her pitch-black hair that fell to her waist. Her face was soft and kind with deep brown eyes that could look black at times depending on the light. She always wore a white jumpsuit that was covered in paint and flour from her, not being the cleanest when it came to her hobbies. While at home she never wore shoes because she always said she loved how the hardwood floors your father made felt on her feet. Which caused you to always copy her and no longer wear shoes inside. She felt so warm and inviting that you ran up to her ingulfing her in a huge hug while tears ran down your face.

"Sweetie what's wrong?" She cupped your cheeks causing you to look at her. "Did Chris make fun of you again because if he did, he won't be getting any cake later."

Her statement caused you to flinch releasing her and stepping back.

"No mom he didn't. . . Wait why are you making a cake?"

"Ohh dear spirits please don't tell me you forgot about your birthday today!"

"What no, not me momma. I just. . ."

"Sweetie, you seem troubled. Go check on your father and Chris then come back in here so we can finish setting up before the others get here, okay?"

"Yeah, I can do that momma."

As you walk away it slowly starts to click what day it is. This just so happened to be your 16th birthday, but it was also the day that you tried to forget. The day you shut everyone out and the day you lost your best friend to the monsters of the world.

You get to the backdoor and place your hand on the handle slowly turning it to walk outside, the smell of fall leaves and sawdust hitting your nose. You look up to see your dad and Chris standing by your treehouse lifting a support beam into place. Your dad was always one of the gruff looking men, almost like a lumber jack. He was over 6 feet and could reach the top shelves of the cabinets for you. His hair was bright blond with darker strawberry blond streaks in it. His eyes were bright green and disappeared when he smiled, in which he had a smile that always felt like no matter what happened you would be okay. They finished setting the beam and they both turned to look at you. Your dad smiled and waved, while Chris's face went bright red as he turned away.