Spinoffs, Short Stories, and Bonus Chapters

You Can't Do Everything Alone - Short Story

(Another random short story ^_^)

I took a wary step forward, onto the next colorful square on the floor. There are too many rules, I thought, there's no way I can win! A loud siren filled the air.

"What did I do now?!" I asked, confused. "That was a blue tile!"

"Yes, blue tiles are usually safe. But you were just on a green tile, a product of blue. Therefore you set off the alarm," he explained, shrugging. How did he remember all of this?

"Oh, right. Of course," I laughed sarcastically. He gave me yet another stern look.

"Don't test me, Wren. I'm keeping you alive, you know," he reminded me. "Remember who the real enemy is. You can't lose to them tomorrow." I fell silent and nodded. Looking around me, there were two green tiles, two orange tiles, a red tile, a pink tile, and two purple tiles. I hopped from my tile to the green one ahead of me and smiled victoriously when nothing happened. I looked to him for approval and he nodded. I got one right! Now there were a few options, but one of the options was a wooden tile. Those were always safe, right? Or were they always deadly...

I avoided the tile altogether and jumped over an orange tile onto another. An arrow whizzed through the air, dangerously close. My eyes widened and I turned to him again.

"What this time?!"

"Orange means arrow, Wren! Never safe, even with a jump." He sighed from the balcony. I furrowed my eyebrows. I had to get this! Now... Pink or red? Those seemed to be the only safe options... Though I could jump into the pool from here and switch to water tiles. No, that would be more confusing! Everything is backwards with water tiles... "Make your next move, they would have killed you by now!" I panicked and jumped into the water- big mistake. I landed on a wooden tile, and a bomb sound went off. Apparently that tile would have been safe on land. "Wren, what was that? You're dead." He put his head in his hands. "Thanks to the siren they know where you are, and if you weren't killed by the arrow you're certainly dead now. You'll never make it," he said defeatedly. "I'm sorry... You know I'm only doing this because I care, right?" I nodded, afraid to speak. "I guess we're all just going to die."

"No, no we're not." I said decidedly. I'd figured out the maze! Well, how to get through it, anyways.

"We're not?" he asked, confused. He flicked flicked the large switch next to him, and the floor became a regular concrete surface.

"No. I figured it out. They said I was the only one who could touch those tiles. That's exactly how they said it, and that's exactly what they said in the spell as well. Those tiles are imbued with magic that will repel anyone else," I remembered, "But that doesn't mean I have to to do it alone."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure it means exactly that."

"You know how to get through the maze. If you were with me, we could do it."

"How are we ever going to pull that off?" he asked, walking down the stairs of the balcony and over to where I stood.

"And you call yourself a tech geek," I laughed. "You have the technology and I have the magic. We can figure out a way to do this."

"But they won't even let me into the arena, Wren."

"They won't even know you're there. You'll have the headset on and I'll have an ear piece, and you'll talk me through the entire thing."

"And how will I be able to see the playing field?"

"Oh! I forgot. I can perform a shrinking spell and-"

"No way. I'm out."

"Oh come on, you've done it before!"

"And I never want to do it again."

"This is the end of the world we're talking about."

"...Continue."

"And I will wear a hat or something, that you can be on to watch and tell me what to do. I can't do this without you, and you know it." I looked at him with pleading eyes, and he kept his hard stare for a few more moments before his face became soft again. He nodded.

"Alright, but only because it's the end of the world."

"Of course," I laughed. "Because if there's one thing you've taught me, it's that I can't do everything alone."

"Let's go save the world then?" He extended his hand and I took it gratefully, following him back into his tech room- or, sorry, laboratory.

"Let's go save the world."

***

I really like this one guys. I don't even know why. My short story writing process is kinda odd; I choose a specific relationship/friendship/personality and emotion and I write it down. This specific story symbolized confusion and the inability to go through things completely alone. I wrote this one for a person who reminded me that it's okay to ask for help and it's okay to accept it. (I wrote this story during the summer btw.) Anyways, I hope you like it, it kinda means a lot to me. Love you guys, thanks for letting me share so many personal things like this!

Savy Pearson