Act

This was supposed to be a short story... but... I mean, well, it still is, it's just not at all how it was supposed to be.

I wrote this between 11 pm and 1 am, which probably accounts for the WTFishness. Alas. Aqui esta. I'm not usually this weird, is what I'm trying to say...

It gets weirder as it goes on, and its not finished. You have been warned.

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Weirdest thing I have ever written
Or
What happens when I try to write past 11 PM

The view was pristine.

The girl sat down on the bench, exhausted. She seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. All around her was open field with no end in sight. The grass just went on until it turned ghostly white as it faded into the horizon. In front of her was a sharp precipice, flying upward into the clouds; in front of that was a pond, the water stagnant. And there she sat, on a wooden and wrought-iron bench, eating a sandwich.

She took slow, small bites. Time passed, and she had not really made any kind of dent in it. She did not bother to consider where she was from or how she had gotten to this place that was nowhere. She was in immaculate condition is she had indeed hiked: her clothes and hair were clean and pressed, with no sign of the sweat that would have doubtlessly accompanied a long trek to this spot. She did not even ponder the bench, how it had gotten there, or for what it was intended. She just sat and ate in a way that was not really eating.

Occasionally, rippled would appear in the water just briefly. They would be small and fleeting, as if some insect had briefly touched down. This was silly, the girl knew almost instinctively, because there were no insects around. The living vegetation and flowers around her begged to contrast this point, but there were not insects bothering her at that moment and as such there were none there and would never be.

And then, from the pale, distant horizon came a man. Whether he was young or old, the girl could not tell, and did not care. He sat on the bench right next to her. She considered for a moment asking this stranger to leave, or at least not to sit so close, something that would have been blatantly unacceptable in the old days. But she quickly shook this idea from her head. Close strangers were popular now and plus, why was she taking time to consider anything?

She might have fallen asleep there, but then again possibly not. What happened next seemed real, at any rate. Suddenly, there was a noise like a shot, or a clap of thunder. A gaping crack formed in the side of the cliff, and pieces of rock started to break away. They fell everywhere around the pond, but not in it.

Then, suddenly, a rock fell toward the water. Time may have actually slowed as it broke the surface. And in that moment, it all became real.

Elli jumped up from the bench, throwing her food aside, as did the boy. He pulled her behind him and she screamed. The sound was deafening; rocks were crashing and exploding into each other. Water began to drip through the rock, and then with a monstrous howl, the full flow broke through the rock, shooting forward like a fire hose. Elli tried to run, but the ground seemed to be shaking. All she found herself able to do was curl up in a ball on the ground and cover her head. She felt the boy’s hand on her back, and she clenched her jaw so hard that the ringing in her ears almost competed with the misery outside.

At some point in time, Elli felt a pull on her upper arm. She took her hands off her ears and looked up. As the black cleared from her vision, she saw that the man was trying to pull her up. She stood and looked around. Things had more or less stopped. Some pebbles would roll down from somewhere every now and then, but things had become eerily quiet. The silence was intimidating; there were no birds, no bugs, and no wind. This scared her, and she pondered how it was possible.

Everything seemed to have become hot. The sky had become a fierce orange. The grass had taken on a golden-brown that faded to black as it neared the horizon line. Even the water was reddish, as she could see the rocks that had fallen into it and the fluorescent sky’s reflection. Elli stood up slowly and cautiously, as if the world might fall out from under her feet. Her companion was silent.

Abruptly, now, she began to wonder where she was, and how she had gotten there, only to find that she did not exactly remember. She again scanned the panorama, hoping for some sign of civilization where there was none.

The jet stream had turned into a mumbling waterfall whose cascade shone golden and orange because of reflections and transparency. Elli turned her attention to this. More than anything else, its emergence had scared her. The pond had started to overflow and the water from there, too, crept toward them. With water coming at them so harshly in so many ways, she felt as though she was drowning. The pond had obviously begun to drain into a bigger reservoir, however, because the water line was receding again.

She examined the falls closely. There was an inconsistency in its coloration, and this bothered her. She wanted to go inspect why one area right in the middle was a few shades darker than the rest, but was afraid to move, lest the hell break loose again.

This was when, again, she became aware of the creature standing next to her. She examined him closely. He was gazing at the dark spot on the waterfall. As she tried to endeavor a guess as to his age, he began to walk toward it. The first movement jarred Elli. His steps were jerky, with paused in between, as if the ground might evaporate should he tread incorrectly. Elli understood this; she still found herself terrified of making a motion. She watched as her edged cautiously toward the pond, and his shoes sloshed in the new mud. She leaned as he made his way to her right around the bank. And by mistake, she took a step forward.

Her heart skipped a beat. But nothing bad happened.

Another step. Nothing.

Soon she was walking—oh! The simple joy of walking—and began to follow him as he led underneath the waterfall’s trajectory. As she approached him, he looked her in the eyes and smiled, scared. Elli wanted to speak, but was afraid of the Silence.

Behind the waterfall, a cave had opened in the side of what used to be the precipice. It led downward, and was completely dark beyond ten or so yards. They both gazed into it. Elli wanted separately to go home, but she found herself unable to remember where that was. Tears welled up in her eyes as she was consumed by frustration.

And then he stepped forward again. Down he went, into the black, and Elli followed him because she felt like there was no other choice. She considered running out toward the extremes of the field, but worried that she was miles from anywhere and did not want to risk collapsing from exhaustion all alone. If she was going to die, it would at least be with someone. So, she followed him quickly, partially afraid and partially because the downward momentum carried her.

They walked in silence, allowing the tunnel to guide them. Elli held the back of her companion’s shirt, and he kept his arms outstretched, feeling his way forward along the walls. At one point, he stepped forward harshly and his shirt flew from her grasp. She gasped loudly.

“What happened!?” The question echoed through the corridors, and the two stood silent, as if some paranormal presence might answer instead of Elli.

She regained her composure. “I lost your shirt. I was afraid you’d begun to run, and I’d lost you.” She whispered, still intimidated by the idea of more loud noise. He breathed out, loudly, and took hold of her arm. He began to almost pull her forward.

“I want to get out of here,” he explained, “I… I’m actually a little claustrophobic.”
She gazed at the black spot she thought was him. “Then why did you come in here?” Both were still whispering.

“All that stuff happened… It just seemed like the right way to go…” His words trailed off into the nothing and were engulfed by it. And then, “Plus… I don’t know what this is. I don’t think there was a way out where we were.”

She nodded in agreement, but he could not see her do so. Luckily, she accompanied the nod with, “I think you’re right.” She paused thoughtfully, and looked again at the rift in the dark. “Elli,” she said.

He was quiet for moment. “Short for anything?”

She stared blankly. She laughed to herself for a second. It was funny how habits such as facial expression carried over even when they were obviously useless. “Uh… why?”

“Just curious.” He laughed lightly. “I’m not shady or anything. I’m Jason.”

She smiled almost despite herself, which she found odd. She did not dislike him; fear had just produced distrust. “It’s short for Ellen.”

He stopped. She walked into his back, but he was able to fight the force of her push and throw her back instead. She landed on the ground and looked up, confused.

“There’s no more floor here.” He got to his knees and ran his hand down the edge of the drop as far as it would go. He sat on the ground, defeated. “It would really suck if we came all this way for nothing, because I’m not going back all that time.”

Elli was quiet. She thought for a second. She rubbed her hand along the ground until she felt a pebble. Slowly and tentatively, she picked it up and dropped it over the edge of the end. And then she listened.

It landed. She heard it land. And she heard it land quickly.

Jason immediately realized what she had done. They began almost throwing pebbles down into the abyss, trying to gauge how long the falloff was. Finally Jason stopped, seemingly satisfied. “I’m going to try and jump down.”

Elli did not argue. It seemed logical to her, too. She did not want to go back outside to that painful nothing. She wanted it to stop. He jumped, and she put her head between her legs and prayed.

She didn’t ever hear if he landed or not, but his voice called, “Elli. You can make it.” She was afraid, even more than she had been of the water. She didn’t want to. She wanted to sit in the darkness forever. He called for her again. He comforted her, showed her he was okay. Yet she did not move. And, finally, his hand reached up, grabbed her foot, pulled her, and she fell.

She landed hard, and with a shot of pain up her back. She didn’t yell at him, nor did he scold her for her hesitance. There was just a silent understanding that each in their own way had done was needed to be done.

She rose slowly and realized that it was her wrist and arm, not her back, which had pained her. But then she looked up, and forgot all this, for there was a light. She smiled a huge, gaping, goofy smile that she knew Jason could not see. She did not, however, run. Neither did. They walked slowly and purposefully toward the light. Elli suspected a mirage. She thought it could not possibly truly be the end, and hoped with indescribable intensity that it led to civilization. Jason kept pace with her, although he did itch to move.

They approached the light. Shielding their eyes, they stepped out into it. They were still in a meadow-like area, but not far off they could see the unmistakable sight of a city’s silhouette. This time, they ran.




Jason and Elli searched through their pockets for a wallet, money, or form of identification that could tell them who they were, where they were from, or where they were going. Jason found money, but nothing else. They stood on a tall hill that overlooked what was undoubtedly a city. In the distance, again, everything faded into a white haze. This aggravated Jason more than Elli, who proposed logical explanations for it. While she was doing this, something occurred to her:

“What if we’re dead?” she asked, almost too calmly.

Jason looked at her, his eyes wide. “We’re not.” He furrowed his brow. “Of course we’re not,” he asserted, “If we were, we’d know who we are and stuff. And we’d definitely… I dunno. Feel dead. I’m just disoriented. Maybe we were both in an accident. Maybe we both have amnesia.”

“I like that better,” she admitted, “but… we can’t really rule out anything.” He nodded in solemn agreement.

They made their way down into the city and, to their utmost relief, it was real. There were cars and people who truly interacted with them. There was money and drunks and McDonald’s and bars… everything mundane and wonderful was there.

And then something amazing happened: a woman told them they were in Springfield. Elli rejoiced. A town, a town! A real place, all of it was real. The woman explained how they were at a high altitude, which accounted for the thick fog. The two laughed as she walked away. Something about the town’s name gave it validity, made it real. Elli threw her hands around his waist, unsure of how else to express her absolute elation.

They wandered into a coffee shop only to find that, for the first time thus far, they actually felt hungry and thirsty. Jason used the money frugally, and each ended up with only a small sandwich and a glass of water. With this, they sat down. Elli realized how her legs ached, and her wrist throbbed.

With the realization, she looked up at Jason. “Doesn’t it feel like things are slowly coming back? Feelings and knowledge and stuff? Something about it just seems… wrong. I know this place is comfortable, and there are people here, and they’re not robotic or anything, but it just feels… wrong.”

Jason sipped his drink. “You know, there’s a Springfield in every state.” He sighed and leaned back. “I know. Something’s off. I feel like… I’m kind of slowly getting more control. But I can’t put my finger on where I could be earning it back from.”

“It’s frustrating,” she said simply, quietly.

He leaned forward. “Where’d you get hurt when you jumped? Let me see. My mom’s a nurse, I’ve done this stuff before.” He froze, taken aback by his own words. They stared at each other for a second, and then slowly Elli brought her wrist to his hand. He touched it and she twitched and little and then looked away.

He was eyeing it closely and trying to determine whether or not it was broken. Slowly, he ran his thumb over the bruising. It turned red for a second, and then faded. He froze, and looked up at her. She was still not paying attention. “How does it feel?” he asked cautiously.

She lifted it, examining the injury. “A lot better, actually.” She rotated it completely. “I guess it wasn’t as hurt as I thought. I guess I just kind of panicked when I felt the pain.”

For a second Jason let the confusion and almost horror show on his face, but he quickly hid it and Elli was not perceptive enough in that way to have ever noticed it was there. He had seen the wrist not ten seconds earlier. It had looked broken. He sat back in his chair and stared at his food. Eventually, he came out of his daze and ate it. It tasted bland.

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And then I went to bed. O.o The next morning I looked at it and went... FTW???//slash

One_Who_Writes_Fantasy

Wow. Really, I know how you feel. I once woke up at one in the morning and wrote fifteen pages of a narrative by my cat, watching me write about him. It as weird, but nonetheless, good, just like your story. It's weird, yes, but interesting.

If you don't want to write it, that's fine, the one about my cat never got much farther either - but just remember this (I say this to myself a lot) :

All writing, even if it's just a sentence, is one more step in a swirling staircase that you yourself have created. Follow it, and who knows; it might lead you somewhere extraordinary.

- Quoted by myself, I thought of it while writing one day.

I hope your staircase brings you someplace you enjoy more than reality!

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Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~ Anton Chekhov