Archived

The sun was fading to a soft peach glow when I awoke in a daze under the old pear tree. Golden fields of Marigolds stretched to the horizon, glowing softly in the magic light of golden hour. When had I come all the way to Grandma's place? I couldn't have walked ten miles without knowing it, could I? The heatwaves have been known to play tricks on people, I suppose.

I can't recall how long I've been asleep, or how I got here in the first place. If I'm even really here right now. This could be no more than a beautiful fever dream.

Laying in the soft green grass below the ancient tree I begin to search through the hazy memories of my day. The last thing I remembered was a bright green pulse of light emanating from the old barn behind the schoolhouse. It had been locked up tight as long as I can remember, but today the doors hung suspiciously wide open. I couldn't resist a chance to find out what they've been guarding so carefully.

Rumours had been tricking through the school for years of secret laboratories, student torture chambers, and even a hidden military bunker deep underground. I never bothered to give much thought to the rumours, until today. It had seemed infinitely unlikely that anyone, nefarious or not, would choose our crappy little town for anything that exciting.

Curiosity got the best of me and I snuck up closer to the crumbling barn, trying to steal a glance at whatever or whoever was emitting the ethereal green glow. The air grew colder as I skittered closer to the open doors. I could see now that a nearby pond was completely frozen over. The junior classes 4H bull had retreated to the farthest reaches of his pen in an attempt to escape the slowly expanding chill.

If I wasn't so terrified, I might be relieved. On a regular summer day the chill would have been a welcome gift, were it not so out of place.

Wracking my brain harder, I recall stepping inside the old barn. The walls were glazed in a layer of frost, sparkling as though the building were made of shattered diamonds. The green light emanated from the walls themselves. It felt as though I had stumbled into a wonky fairytale.

In the centre of the room stood a single table. In the centre of the table stood a small suspicious package wrapped in brown paper. Attached to the package was a note.

“All knowledge must come at a price

Pay to play

Or walk away”

What kind of knowledge? I wondered. Is it the truth about what's going on here? Or something more?

With shaking hands, I carefully unfolded the brown paper wrappings. Inside was a white box that flipped open to reveal a perfect slice of chocolate cake. The fudgy scent of freshly baked cake steamed out of the box, enveloping the frosty room. Somehow the cake was still warm inside this icebox.

Everything about the scene screamed TRAP, yet I felt an uncontrollable urge to trust this mysterious confection. The cryptic note implied an exchange. Knowledge for some unknown price. I'd come too far to walk away, I could only hope this knowledge wouldn't come at the ultimate price.

I looked around but found no fork or utensils on the table. Picking up the cake, I shoved it in my mouth for a huge and rather unladylike mouthful. As I chomped down the warm fudgy goodness my head begin an to swim. Images swirled through my head, disconnected at first, then forming a cohesive stream. Flashes of people from all throughout time zip past my eyes and I felt as though I know them. Each face was suddenly familiar as though I've known them all my life. Memories of their lives filled my mind. For a moment I became each person, sensing their emotions and memories as easily as my own.

Everyone who has been chosen by the barn lives within its walls. Their memories remain, trapped in this construct built by ancient visitors from another world. They left it here to collect knowledge and learn about our ways. The barn is merely the most recent facade.

I remember everything now. I never left the barn. The fields around me are nothing more than a memory, a final resting place. We wait here, each in our own little worlds, reliving the past and preserving our knowledge for a benefactor who may never return.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this story please consider leaving a little heart and sharing it on your social media accounts!