Pandora's Box

Chapter six

Sonii stares in awe at the alien surroundings that stand before her. She recollects her last moments in the passageway but can't understand how she ended up here.

She stands in a corridor. A wall to her left, her right and behind her. Her only possible path is forward. She stands still and studies the mysterious interior.

It is a place that screams "antique" or  "vintage"
Actually, more like an art museum of some sorts. Everything looks so perfectly detailed that any person would be frightened to breathe near it, fearing to damage the fine artistry. So eerily arranged, every small detail symbolizes something important to her but her mind floats from corner to corner, not allowing herself to focus.

She steps forward hoping to explore the area but stops her body from moving further once she hears the cracking sound. Once glance at the floor beneath her, which looks as if it's about to fall through, and she takes off in a sprint.

Behind her, everything falls apart. She can hear her breath quicken and feels as if her heart skips a beat when she sees the floor breaking away, sending things clattering. She runs away from the damage, hoping not to get caught in the crossfire.

Distracted by the disaster behind her, she doesn't realize when she's at the end of the corridor and bashes into the wall. It's as if it appeared out of nowhere. She realizes it's only a turn so she adjusts her direction and takes off.

She continuously collides with walls that appear suddenly and has to change her direction. She ignores the pain in her elbows which always shield her every time she hits a wall. The wind is blowing due the falling objects and broken windows provide her with enough visual obstacles, but her will not to fall keeps her going. The faster she runs, the quicker the floor falls through and the more damage she leaves as her trail.
And yet she keeps on running.

Eventually, her body becomes her enemy and she's faced with exhaustion.
Her muscles are aching. Her throat is raspy and she feels as if she can take no more. She begins to focus more on her surroundings, hoping to distract her mind from the pain.

She starts noticing the finer details in the objects around her. More specifically, the gold vase that seems to be at almost every corner she turns. The simple vase takes her down memory lane as it reminds her of the story Jane used to tell her as a kid.

The story of the queen of Aisling...
It's a story of a strong independent women fighting for respect.
A women who wouldn't stop moving forward and never let anything hold her back.
It sounds like a revolutionary fairytale until Jane told her the end. The girl had eventually "outrun" all her problems and in doing so, isolated herself. The only way to save herself was to let herself fall from her high pedestal. To go back to facing her problems instead of running.

Now it hits her.
Like a lightbulb that's just starting to glow.

Sonii stops. She can still hear the shattering behind her but she doesn't move because she realizes that there is only one way out. Instead of running from this problem, she's going to face it head on.

She can feel the wind push her hair forward and the dust that hits her body. She slowly closes her eyes, leans back and lets gravity work its magic.