CinnamonPie29594's Short Stories

Stop, No, Please

I don't remember wearing glasses or having eye prescriptions. Nothing of the sort. If I did, I certainly have no recollection of it. Right now, I see colors through a broken glass, a shadow of the world. As if everything I see is on an ancient screen, as though I'm viewing my surroundings through tinted windows. 

Where...am I?

I blink. I have no idea how, but I can tell that birds are chirping, car horns are honking, and there is the occasional sound of bicycle bells. Something in me stirred slightly and it came to me.

I was in a park. My eyes roved across the landscape, taking in the grass and trees, the people walking around, the playground equipment.. I walked (even though I couldn't really feel the ground beneath me?) towards the sand box. As I crouched down and sifted the sand through my fingers, two yellow eyes peered at me from some nearby bushes. I fell back when a black cat jumped out and gave me one last look before stalking away.

BA-BUMP.

BA-BUMP.

I clutched my head in pain. What's going on?? Why does it hurt so much? 

"Mommy! Daddy! 

Eyes widening, I forced myself to face towards the direction from which the voice came from.

A little girl was excitedly pointing at a ladybug on a a marigold flower. One hand held her mother's hand while the other tugged on the hem of her father's shirt. "Daddy! Mommy! When I grow up I wanna become a person who works with lots of animals and plants!" Her parents chuckled. "How about a scientist?" asked her father. "What's that?" the girl curiously said. "Someone who works with many different things including animals and plants. You can even help discover new species!" "Now, now, honey. She's only seven. Give her some time," the girl's mother gently chided. Not quite understanding anything, the girl put on a determined face and declared, "Okay! I'm gonna be a scientist!" The parents laugh and the 'family' continue on their way.

I crouched down as much as I possibly could and held tightly to my knees. No way is this happening. I wanted to scream. I wanted to grab that little girl and shake her as much as I can and yell "It's a lie! Don't listen to them! They're not as they seem and even if they are..your life isn't going to go as smoothly as you  think..It's..it's not that easy... You don't understand.."

I suddenly felt a presence beside me. It was the little girl. She was looking at me with her big eyes. It seemed as though she was looking at me. "Mommy..?" she whispered. Her parents looked down at her in slight concern. "Yes, darling?" ""I-I see a girl on the ground..and part of her body is missing.." Shocked, I looked down at my body and held back a shriek once I saw bushes covering my midsection. I looked back. My body was behind the bush. But I didn't feel anything..

The girl looked terrified. Her father waved a hand in front of her face, speaking to her. I managed a hushed whisper,

"You..

can..

see me..?"

She nodded slowly. I raised a hand up and she mirrored my actions. As our hands drew closer to each other, I faintly sensed her parents' growing unease. Right before our hands touched she said, "You look like me." Once contact was made, the screen cracked.

Swirling, twirling, everything's whirling in my head. Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole I felt like a heavy weight rocketing towards a nonexistent bottom. My mouth was open but no sound could make its way out. My eyes were closed. I tried opening them just once but something held me back. I came to a halt. Finally feeling easier to breath, I let my eyelids lift. Startled, my hand flew to my mouth. I was floating. In midair. Everything was black and white. The room was white while I floated just out of the room. Everything outside the room was black. Vast, empty darkness. I rubbed my eyes. Are there really specs that let you see black and white? If so, I want to take them off.

A door appeared on the one of the walls. I watched. Things began to take form as children began filing into the room and taking their seats. I blinked again. Not too long ago this had been an empty room. A blank space. Now it has so much detail and is full of life. A particular person caught my eye. The girl from earlier. She looks older now but still has a bright and cheerful aura around her. Cautiously, I somehow floated down next to her and poked her. "Ah!" she yelped. A few surrounding students glanced at her but continued whatever they were doing after she sheepishly laughed it off. 

Returning to her normal sitting position, she partially covered her face with a textbook and whispered to me. "What are you doing here?" Since no one besides her could hear me I spoke normally. "I don't really know but it seems I'm some sort of ghost-like spirit now. And I have little to no control over where I go." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, it seems to me that either you're living and starting to drift away-" "Huh?!!" "-or you're already dead but something's holding you back." My face must've looked really funny to her since she laughed. "Hey, it's just what I think is going on. Just as you said, we can't  be sure." 

I bit my lip, not feeling anything really, but the girl just smiled at me. "If it bothers you so much," she started to say, "Then I can try to help you find what's troubling you. I'll help send you off in peace." Here, her eyes crinkled with a bright smile. "[____]!" A friend called out to her and she turned her eyes away from me. I didn't mind. No one would prioritize an illusion when there's more important stuff to do. What bothered me, though, was the fact that I couldn't clearly hear what the girl's name was. Whenever someone spoke her name, all I heard was static

"Were you talking to yourself?" The girl's friend cocked her head to the side and looked around. At some point she looked through me but nothing in her eyes betrayed anything abnormal. The girl chuckled and shook it off, saying "You know how I am, I'm the animal whisperer. I can talk to any animal.  Just now, I told Mr. Spider to make sure to catch all the pests in our classroom." Her friend nodded uncertainly, not knowing whether or not to believe her.

- Later -

I followed the girl throughout her day and made my presence small as possible. Instead, I observed everything going on in this world. Everywhere we went, all the things I saw her do, felt nostalgic. I couldn't shake off the feeling that I'm missing something.

When bedtime finally reached, I quietly asked her a question that had been stuck in the back of my mind for the majority of the day.

"Do you..remember wanting to be a scientist?"

She rolled over in bed and peeked out under the covers. Her eyes shone brightly as moonlight filtered through the room. 

"I do."

I sucked in a breath, or what felt like was a breath. I prompted her to explain further of her plans.

"From my knowledge, there should be lots of scientists with different jobs. Which path are you taking specifically?"

She hummed a little as she became lost in thought. 

"I want to be a scientist who helps everyone and everything. I want to discover new species and learn more about everything. If no such path exists...," a determined glint appeared in her eyes. 

"I'll pave my own path!"

At that moment, a blinding white light overtook the room and I felt myself being pulled into a vortex of black again. Silently, I grumbled. When will I stop being pulled around already?

As if fate was heeding my call, that became my last vortex trip. However, I was about to find that this last trip is a calamity compared to the previous two trips before.

What greeted me was a whirlwind of memories and emotions pulling and striking at me simultaneously. It felt as though a mask or a costume was slapped over me each time a panel whizzed by, different scenes that I slip into and out.

A terrifying scream jolted me into a sharp, white room.