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A Bizarre Night Write

By: Chemical Legend

By Chemical LegendPublished 2 years ago 27 min read
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The dog got up, it’s little clawed feet tapping along the floor until they came to the carpet, where the feet were muffled. Slowly, the dog walked across the carpet and onto the wood floor once again, coming to an abrupt halt near the bed of a 14 year old girl. The dog laid down, causing the bedframe to slightly shake as her body settled, squashed comfortably between the fan and the bed. Suddenly, a noise outside the girl’s bedroom door made the dog get up again. The voices, both male, seemed to grow further away, across the hallway to the girl’s brother’s room. One of the voices grew louder. The bed creaked as the girl hastily put her notebook and pencil away, searching the bottom of her electronic candle for a moment before shutting it off with a small click and placing it on her desk with another creak from the bedframe. Footsteps could be heard going back downstairs.

[Dad probably put my brother to bed] the girl thought. The bed creaked once more as the girl switched the candle back on, light and shadows dancing across the room for a moment or two before they returned to the page upon which the girl was writing. She tried to write, but no ideas came to mind. The little clock next to her read 12:00 p.m. Midnight. There were no more footsteps, so the girl quietly tip-toed down the creaky wooden stairs and went outside, her light silver night dress glowing brighter in the moonlight. She sat down near a large maple tree, pen and paper in hand. She looked at the moon, full and silver as always on a backdrop of black sky littered with blue, magenta and purple galaxies. Silver stars twinkled and shimmered as crickets sung their song and the river gurgled along. Everything was so peaceful, so unlike being in a house, with artificial lights and noises. The girl's face lit up, ideas suddenly flooding her mind. She started writing, scratching out words that didn’t make sense, but fell asleep before she could finish.

Dreaming, perhaps? The little white and gray dog walked up to the girl’s sleeping form and curled up next to her, looking at the stars. The dog was senseless, not knowing that the girl wasn’t dreaming. The dog also didn’t know that touching her will transport her into the girl’s Not-Dream. Of course, no one would know that, as no one has ever not dreamed. And those that have by some chance won’t talk about it, or they say they do, but they only forgot their dreams. Anyhow, the girl was most definitely not dreaming, as she was currently walking in the darkness caused only by a Not-Dream. There was no panicking. No thoughts. Only action. She tried to get out of the darkness to no avail. She felt something brush up against her and found the little white and gray dog, Lily, next to her. Suddenly, the girl felt different. Aware. She knew that she could get out of the darkness, but how?

The girl thought of an exit, holding onto the thought with all her might. Suddenly, there was a slit of light little ways away from where she was standing, dog still at her feet. She started towards the light and opened it, walking inside with the dog trailing behind her.

On the other side, she looked back at the opening, but there was none. Instead, there was a bright blue sky, yellow sun, green, grassy hills, a gray path and… are those eyes? They certainly look like them. And they were. Everywhere the mind could see, there were eyes. They didn’t move, but they followed the girl with their pupils, tracking her every move. The girl walked along the trail, taking in her surroundings. It seemed to be snowing, but instead of snow there were feathers. Looking up, the girl saw not fluffy clouds but lots and lots of pure white angel wings, shaking and molting the feathers that the girl first mistook for snow. Houses here, houses there, some shops scattered around the village. It was magnificent. The houses were all purple with golden roofs and bronze lettering on signs of gold hung down from shops. The shops seemed to be full of different things such as DreamCakes(Filtered Dreams mixed with AngelTears and Stardust cooked over SunFlames. Topped with Moonsprinkles!), Starbits(Bits of Stardust mixed with Sweetgrass and AngelTears baked into a pastry!) and Moonsprinkles(Moonbeams mixed with GrassDew and HoneyGems. Perfect for glamouring any pastry or dessert!). The girl didn’t know what any of the foods were, but she was so hungry. After all, she hadn’t eaten anything since dinner, and it must be way past then. Just as she was about to wander into a shop to buy a DreamCake, she heard a voice.

“STOP!!” It was an odd-looking young girl. She ran up to the girl, dusting off her dark, rich pink dress as she came to a halt. She was odd looking, with her pink dress that seemed to be made of flower petals, her vibrant green cloak and her head, which was simply a sunflower’s blossom.

“You mustn't go in there, lest you be trapped for all eternity.” She had a thick accent, but the girl couldn’t place what type. Still, she was able to understand her.

“Trust me.” The strange flower-girl looked at the human girl.

“You probably don’t trust strangers. Most Not-Dreamers don’t. Well, my name is Lelani Meadowgrove, but you can just call me Lelani.” Lelani held out her hand, which looked pretty human. The girl took it, and Lelani dragged her away from the shop.

“First things first, you should never go into any shops in Featherfall Village. They are all mazes designed to confuse a new traveler and lure them into a trap.” The girl looked confused, wondering how something as innocent as a pastry shop could be so dark.

“Next, and most important in Bizarre: NEVER share your name with ANYONE. Giving away your name is like giving away your whole life and independence, especially to a complete stranger like me. You should never say your name, even to yourself because-” The girl wasn’t listening anymore. In the distance, faint voices were talking, just noticeable above Lelani’s speech about rules and whatnot. The girl, who has never eavesdropped in her life by the way, decided to listen in on the voices. She started walking towards them, but they stayed faint. No matter how far she wandered off the path, she could not clearly hear the voices. Oh, how badly she wanted to hear them, know what they were saying, hear the secrets these wonderful, soft-spoken whispers had to offer. If only she could find their source, then she, too, could hold the secrets of the universe. She could be just like them, finally a part of a group, unlike her everyday life at home, where she was consistently alone and no one paid any mind to her. The voices wanted her and only her. If only she could find them….

A little while later, she came to the edge of the hill, where at the bottom were what seemed to be lots of little tanish brown boxes. The voices seemed to be coming from down there. Sure enough, when the girl got to the bottom of the hill, she could hear the voices growing louder and louder. Also, the boxes weren’t boxes but doors. Millions and millions of doors littered the field. Each and every one seemed to be calling her without calling her by name. It was so loud, the girl had to cover her ears. Even so, the doors only grew louder, until they drowned out any other noise. It was unbearable, and the girl curled into a ball, holding her ears and willing them to stop. They grew louder still. They grew so loud that the girl’s ears started bleeding and she screamed in fear and pain, but it was all drowned out by the millions of voices. What a terrible idea to follow these horrible voices, the girl thought. Suddenly, hands grabbed her and carried her away, back up the hill and to FeatherFall Village once again.

“What were you thinking?!” It was Lelani. “Following voices. Of ALL things, following voices is never a good idea. Especially if you’re heading to Door Valley.” The girl stayed quiet, wiping her ears free of dried blood.

“It’s almost nightfall, so we’ll be heading towards Door Valley soon anyways,” Lelani shrugged. “Don’t worry,” she added hastily, sensing the horrified expression on the girl’s face. “The doors are quiet at night. As long as you don’t think about them that much, you’ll be fine.” And they were off towards Door Valley once again. The girl was still scared, but she tried not to think about the doors and their evil tricks.

“ We should be at Scorched before the sun rises, which will give us plenty of time to get to Last. It didn’t take them long to reach Scorched, and they entered the village straightaway. It was pitch black and yet it was midnight blue all the same. Inside, the girl could not see anything, so she took Lelani’s hand and closed her eyes, the darkness not pressing so much anymore. Before long, Lelani nudged the girl, a signal for her to open her eyes.

“It’s almost sunrise. In a few minutes, Scorched will be too hot to step foot in. We should hurry.” Lelani and the girl came to the outer edge of Scorched, where they watched the pitch-black night turn bright, radiant yellow before settling on clear with heat rising in waves all over the place. It gave the village a kind of distorted, warped look with the charcoal-black houses waving and weaving, as if in a still dance. They walked until they came to a split path, marked one way with Left and the other Right.

“We need to go to the Right Trail.” Lelani said, and so they walked on the Right Trail, up and down six hills until they came to the top of the seventh one.

“Ok. You need to do this, as I can’t. Only travelers are able to open the Village of Last. It is the code of our village. Luckily, it’s simple. All you need to do is look up and grab at the air until you feel a string or wire. Pull the wire, then knock on the door that appears once, then six times, then three times. Only then we can enter.” The girl was skeptical of the whole situation, but there were already too many illogical things that have happened already, so she looked up, grabbing the air. It took two tries to finally grab the string, and she yanked it down with all her might, revealing a door concealed to look like a background. The false landscape fell eloquently, like a falling ribbon and the girl knocked on the door. First once, then six times, and finally three times, just as Lelani told her. They entered, and the entire landscape changed before them. There were trees with rich oak trunks and colorful leaves that shone all the colors of the rainbow in light like prisms. The sky was still blue, but much more vibrant and rich in color than in the rest of Bizarre. The grass came up to the girl’s knees and tickled them as she walked through. The girl took it all in, amazed at how beautiful everything looked. As they walked, Lelani started telling the girl everything she knew about Bizarre and it’s different villages as well as a little bit about the Flowerfolk, which was what Lelani was.

“And here’s where you get your CloudShoes!” Lelani pointed to a small hut with plain walls and a vibrant, rainbow-colored roof topped off with a garden of beautiful flowers of every color around the front. They walked inside, and a little bell chimed an unfamiliar melody that sounded like some kind of toddler’s nursery rhyme. Inside was a wooden front desk with wooden shelves behind it. On the shelves were what looked like pairs of large white cotton balls. The bell continued to chime it’s strange little melody and a grumbling voice was coming from behind the desk.

“I’m coming, i’m coming.” It sounded like a female’s voice. There was what sounded like a shift of papers and a small clicking sound. Then the bell stopped ringing. Up from behind the desk popped a small person. She was strange. Instead of the sunflower-blossom head she had a bell, but she still donned the petal-dress that the girl assumed all FlowerFolk wear. Hers was all white with strange gold markings on the bottom. The markings looked somewhat like runes, but none that the girl knew. The bell-girl’s cloak was caramel-brown and lay draped across her back like a cape, unlike Lelani’s green cloak that went over her shoulders.

“Let me guess, you need CloudShoes, correct?” The bell-girl sounded annoyed.

“Yes. And it would do you some good to be happy for once, Marigold.” Lelani said back.

“I would if that queen of yours would be overruled already! Maybe then I could regain my true form and ascend to the FlowerFolk’s village instead of being stuck down here. It does get boring selling shoes all day.”

“Oh, don’t say that! You know the Queen will allow you to go back to your home one day. It just hasn’t happened yet for some reason.”

“Twelve Dream-Terms, Lelani. TWELVE! All because I tried to help a traveler escape her ‘Royal’ Highness.”

“Do not speak of Queen Delphina that way, Marigold! She could be hearing us right now, at this moment. Who knows?”

“Oh please. Who cares if there's some kind of camera hidden here,” Marigold said. “I hope you get overthrown!” she added, looking at no one in particular. The girl was confused. Queen? The Flowerfolk have a Queen? And apparently her name was Delphina. Lelani never told her about a queen. She was just about to point this out when Lelani spoke again. This time to her.

“Do you have any DreamCoins?” She asked. The girl shook her head.

“Not even a Nine?” The girl shook her head again, reaching down and petting the dog, who she almost forgot was there.

“Huh. You really are underprepared then. I take it you don’t have a watch either.” Lelani looked at the girl’s wrists, which were bare and slightly pale, dried blood on the tips from when she was picking at her once-bloody ears. She was silent for a second, looking deep in thought.

“No matter. I have some extra, thankfully. How much for one pair?” Lelani took out a small handful of gold and midnight blue coins, some larger than the other.

“Four Chims, one Shin and three Nines per pair.” Marigold said, obviously bored. Lelani took three small Nines, which are small with a silver moon and midnight blue background on the front and a bronze sun and gold background on the back. Then she took out a large Shin, which is gold with a black eye on the front and a black sun on the back. Finally, Lelani took out four medium-sized Chims, which are midnight blue with a black eye on the front and a black moon on the back. She gave them to Marigold, who went to one of the shelves and grabbed a pair of CloudShoes. She came back and put them on the desk, taking the money. The girl and Lelani walked out, the girl carrying the shoes.

“So, you need to put them on over any other footwear you have. There isn’t any distinct opening, so you can just step on them and your feet will sink right in.” Sure enough, the girl’s feet slipped easily into the shoes.

“Now, all you have to do is jump, and you’ll start flying upwards slowly. Once that happens, you just need to walk in any direction and you’ll be able to stop flying upwards. It’s pretty simple once you get used to it.” The girl picked her dog up and jumped, feeling a sensation similar to being in an elevator going up. She saw Lelani on the ground still. [How will she get up? She doesn’t seem to be wearing CloudShoes] the girl thought. Suddenly, the green cloak on Lelani’s back came off, revealing that what the girl thought was a cloak was actually wings. Lelani flew up in one quick motion and was level with the girl.

“Come on! I want to show you around!” She grabbed the girl by one arm and started half-dragging her towards some houses, which the girl hadn’t noticed before. She regained her handling on Lily, who had started to slip out of her arms and nudged Lelani. She looked at the dog in the girl’s arms and laughed.

“You brought your little companion? She’s cute, but you seem to be having a hard time holding onto her, and I don’t want to know what’ll happen if you accidentally drop her. Here,” Lelani took a cloud from the air around them and flattened it out, making it like a kind of dog bed. “Put her in here. She’ll be safe. Don’t worry.” The girl put Lily in the cloud-bed and she laid down, comfortable in her new environment. Reassured, the girl smiled and pet Lily before allowing herself to be dragged by Lelani through the village, where there were many houses with yellow walls and grassy roofs, some of which were

“First things first, all newcomers must see the Queen for approval of entrance. If she fancies you, then you can wander around Last carefree. If not, well, I'm actually not sure what happens if she doesn’t like you, as I’ve always been called out of the house. Oh, that reminds me! I should tell you that I'm the daughter of the Queen herself.” The girl didn’t know how to react. So she tried not to, just in case Lelani got offended. “Confusing, I know. Especially since I was just talking to Marigold, who hates anyone related to the Queen. Luckily, she doesn’t know about my heritage yet. Anyways, we’re here!” In front of them was a small castle made from a large pink rosebud. On the sides, there are large white angel wings, which flap and hold it up, although it bounces the castle up and down slightly with each wingbeat. At the entrance, there was a petal of the rosebud facing outward, which made a sort of walkway for the FlowerFolk to land on. They landed softly, slightly bouncing, and walked inside, where there was a large, clear floor with lights on the bottom where the top of the stem is. Overhead, a large petal acted as a roof to keep out rain. In front of them was a large throne made of weaved grass with a light pink primrose petal as a back cushion. On the throne was the FlowerFolk Queen, who was wearing a darkish-pink and white flower dress. On her back like a cape similar to Marigold’s was her vibrant green wings, adorned with yellow buttercup blossoms. Around her sunflower head she wore a crown weaved from buttercups. She was stunning.

“Hello, Lelani. It seems you brought a traveler with you.” The Queen had a regal voice; not too low, but also not too high-pitched. It fit perfectly with her accent, which was slightly thicker than Lelani’s. “May I see them?” She gestured towards the girl, who walked over, unafraid and calm.

The Queen was silent, looking towards the girl for a little while. Finally, she spoke.

“Very well. The girl I like. She can stay. Perhaps we can celebrate her coming with a feast? I reckon she would be starving after her travels through the rest of Bizarre.” The Queen snapped her fingers and right in front of the girl lay a feast, complete with DreamCakes, Starbits and many other foods that looked absolutely delicious. The girl started to eat, but every time she tried to take a bite, the food disappeared. Sadly, she put the third piece of food she took back down as polite as she could and stepped back from the table.

“What’s the matter? Aren’t you hungry?” The girl shook her head. “Oh well.” The food disappeared. “Why don’t you sleep for a little while, then?” a bed made from flower petals with an angel feather blanket appeared on the far side of the room, opposite from the girl. Yawning, the girl laid down and went to sleep with no worries as the Queen was very polite and would keep her safe.

A little while later, the girl was woken up by a loud noise. She sat up, looking around and found the cloud bed, where there was no dog. The girl got up, checking every corner for the dog but she couldn’t find her. The Queen was still in her throne chair, but as it was now dark something felt more eerie about her than comforting. Queen Delphina was shrouded in shadows that made her look more threatening, and her beautiful sunflower blossom’s petals were jagged and slightly drooping. Her dress was more ragged and darker, although the white was still there.

“You’re awake,” she said, sounding slightly surprised. “Well, I wasn’t expecting you to be up this early. Come over here, so I may see how well you slept.” The girl walked slowly up to the Queen in the darkness, careful to not show the dread and fear that suddenly bubbled up in her chest. She knew something was off- but what? And also, where was Lily? The girl stopped in front of Queen Delphina, who looked at her for some time again. The girl thought this was very strange.

“Good, good. I must ask you something, dear. What is your name?” The girl felt a sense of foreboding, as if danger was near. She shook her head and pointed to her neck. Hopefully the Queen will believe her. “You cannot speak?” The girl shook her head again.

“Well, that’s unfortunate, for the only way to really be trusted in Last is by telling me your name. If not, then there will be consequences. So, why don’t you write down your name?” A bright white paper appeared in front of the girl with an angel feather quill. She took the paper and quill, but didn’t write her name. Instead, she wrote some random squiggles that looked like a kind of signature. The Queen snatched it as soon as the girl finished but seemed mad.

“I cannot read this, silly girl! Write it out better!” She thrust the paper back, crumpling it slightly in the process. The girl wrote more scribbles, this time slower, but still jumbled together. The Queen took the paper again, and shrieked with fury: “YOU COMPLETE IDIOT OF A GIRL!!!” She threw the paper at the girl, who flinched, but stayed where she was. “No matter,” she said, more calmly. The Queen grabbed somewhere next to her. “I’ll just force your name out of you.” Out from behind her chair was Lily. “Now, if you don’t say your name or write it down, your little friend is mine.” The girl was surprised and full of fear, but she knew what she had to do. On the paper she wrote down a random name she made up. Then she gave it to the Queen.

“At last! Your name! Now I will have even more power!” Lelani walked into the castle, just in time to hear the Queen’s last sentence.

“You gave your name to her,” she said. “So that’s what happens to those other travelers, huh? You take their name and use it for more power. Marigold was right!” She grabbed the girl’s arm. “We need to get out of here, now.”

“I’m not done with you yet!” The Queen said the name written on the paper, but nothing happened. “A FAKE!! IT'S A FAKE!!” She shrieked. And then she did something unthinkable. She snapped her fingers and a small hole appeared under Lily, making her fall into it. It wasn’t deep, but she was yelping and whining to get out. Tears formed in the girl’s eyes, but she wiped them away, willing herself not to cry.

“LELANI MEADOWGROVE!!! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!” but Lelani kept a firm grip on the girl as they ran out of the castle. Just then, Lelani fell to the ground, screaming in pain. The girl was scared, but tried to step back to help Lelani.

“NO!! YOU MUST GO! GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE SHE TAKES YOUR POWER, TOO!!!” She stopped screaming and lay deathly still, all her power gone. The girl finally couldn’t take it anymore and cried, large tears falling down her ghostly pale cheeks. Her friends. Her only two friends, dead and trapped, never to be seen again. Queen Delphina walked out, wings unfurling behind her, although they looked withered now, all black and sprouting thorns. Her crown was now thorns and her head a black rose as well as her dress.

“This could have all been avoided,” she whispered. “My daughter, your companion. They could have lived if you only gave me your name....” She walked closer, and the girl inched towards the edge of the petal. “You’re really silly, girl. No Not-Dreamer can survive that fall.” The girl ignored her and jumped, CloudShoes making her go even further upwards. The girl ran forwards, towards the ground and began to very slowly go down. The Queen also jumped, her wings making her go even faster, and she grabbed at the girl, but the girl dodged, so the Queen only took one of her shoes instead. Almost instantly, the girl began to fall at a faster pace towards the ground. Screaming, she tried to even out her balance, but she couldn’t. The Queen lunged at her again, taking the other shoe and the girl fell even faster towards the ground. She closed her eyes and braced for impact, hoping her death would at least be quick.

Impact never came. The girl opened her eyes, confused and noticed everything around her frozen in time. The Queen, the houses, everything. Right in front of her was a plain black door with a gold plaque simply labeled “ShadowStill”. She opened it and walked inside, but she couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black and eerily quiet. The girl wandered around, hoping she wouldn’t run into anything. A bell started ringing out the same little melody the girl heard in Marigold’s shop.

“A village of Eyes,” an unknown voice said.

“A village of Fire,” another chimed in.

“And one just right” Now three voices were saying the rhyme at the same time.

“If you can find the seventh hill’s wire”

“The land of dreams”

“For those without them”

“Beware traveler”

“Twelve strikes”

“On the hour”

“Be gone traveler”

“Don’t lose your head”

“Or you’ll be worse than dead” The voices hissed the last line of the poem, and the ringing stopped.

“Hello.” In front of the girl was a man with a black and white striped shirt and black pants. He was floating in the air, but he came down when he spoke. “You seem to have something troubling you. Am I right?” The girl nodded. “Perhaps I can help you, as you are not like the other travelers. You see, you have been in the Land of Bizarre for quite awhile. More than the amount of time it takes for the gateway to close. Strange.” He paused to think. “My name is Shararin. Now, I may be able to help you, if you wish, for a cost.” The girl was intrigued, and wanted him to go on. He could help her! Although, she didn’t have anything to offer to him.

“I will give you a one-use gateway to go back to the waking world and you can have your companion back. All you have to do is tell me your name.” The girl was torn. She wanted to go back home and see her dog again, but she didn’t want to give up her name. Thinking about seeing her family and seeing Lily again was too much, so she agreed. “Ok, tell me your name, girl.” She said it quietly. Shararin raised an eyebrow, and she repeated it a little louder. “You need to say it louder than that.”

“My name is AZALA!!” she shouted. The man smirked.

“Well done, Azala.” and then Azala woke up, sweating from the events that had just happened.

She got up from underneath the maple tree she was sleeping under and went inside, where she saw Lily. She petted the dog happily and then went upstairs to her room. The clock read 3:00a.m. It’s been three hours since she fell asleep under that maple tree. Azala went to lay down on her bed when she heard a crumble under her hand. Picking up the mysterious object, she lit her electronic candle and found that it was a simple piece of paper. On it read:

“A village of Eyes

A village of Fire

And one just right

If you can find the seventh hill’s wire

The land of dreams

For those without them

Beware traveler

Twelve strikes

On the hour

Be gone traveler

Don’t lose your head

Or you’ll be worse than dead”

It was the poem the voices were singing and the bells were chiming. Azala suddenly heard the bells ringing out the melody, although there weren’t any. There were the voices, singing the poem over and over again until she couldn’t stand it anymore. Just then, everything went quiet. She closed her eyes and saw the bright colors of Bizarre and all of the FlowerFolk in Last, but they looked odd, with dresses and suits and wings similar to Queen Delphina’s. It was all creepy, so she opened her eyes again and saw shadows moving, and high-pitched laughter. Azala ran out of her room and back outside, where she started screaming, the voices not stopping their laughter and singing and the shadows who were coming closer and closer. As they came closer, they merged into one which took the form of Lelani. She looked like a miniature version of Queen Delphina’s evil side, except she had large, black claws. Azala screamed and tried to hide, wishing it would all go away, but of course it didn’t. It never would and she should have never given up her name or all this wouldn’t be happening. She should have never gone to Bizarre in the first place, but that wasn’t really avoidable, was it? Thoughts and regrets circled around Azala’s mind The singing and laughter grew even louder until she couldn’t hear anything else and she pressed her eyes shut so hard she could see spots of color. But that was alright, she would do anything to not see Lelani as evil as Queen Delphina. Her mind was hollow and empty of everything except the never-ending blend of laughter and singing, and her eyes were aching but she paid no mind to it. After a while, the spots disappeared and so did the laughter and singing and her thoughts and her emotions and everything that made her herself until she was just an empty void that could see nothing but darkness. No thought, no emotion, no pain. And eventually her void disappeared too until all that was left was her soul, but even that wasn’t for long before she vanished completely, never to be seen again.

Young Adult
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