The Shining Light

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room.

She didn't know anything about the outside world, but she could sneak a peek of it via the window of his chamber. She looked out the window and saw a gorgeous blue sky with white clouds passing by; the glass had a tiny gap in the corner. Esmeralda, as she was also known, heard the kids laughing and playing off in the distance. She could see them running on the hillside covered in green grass and hear the birds singing to one another. She ate and drank every day, but she would always remember that this room formerly belonged to him. Then the vault opened and served her food, a casserole with rice and water. She sits in this room for her own mental health because her husband, who was imprisoned for a terrible crime and later committed suicide. Esmeralda had not left the compound in the last five years due to her inability to deal with the deaths of her husband and her mother, who passed away in the same room.

She glances out the window or occasionally takes a stroll to the green room, which uses a button to generate virtually any landscape you can imagine, including the ocean, beach, hills, snow, sunset, and more. She hadn't made many friends there because it was a mental health hospital and institute, and its primary purpose was to provide women with emotional, mental, and physical support.

"Esmeralda, would you like to go for your walk today?" questioned a frequent worker who looked after Esmeralda, her name was Jasmine. Yes, Esmeralda said, "I want to see the snow." “Okay, let’s put your snow coat on then” replied Jasmine. Even though the weather was constructed as a virtual room, Esmeralda had to dress accordingly. Esmeralda and Jasmine enter the hallway, which is lined with red and brown brickwork and has a timber floor. They continued past the foyer and came to a corridor with a few rooms. They entered the virtual area, which was already in snow mode with snowflakes falling to the floor. Esmeralda was absolutely thrilled and was spinning about like a child to allow the snow fall on her.

Then the room started to move, and she ran into a snowman who joined her in play as they threw snowballs back and forth. Then Mrs. Snowman appeared and greeted Esmeralda before inviting her to the house for tea. Esmeralda was currently enjoying tea with Mrs. Snowman, who had set out a lovely tray with a lovely tea set and a matching pink flowerpot. Would you prefer Red Velvet or Oolong tea, Esmeralda? Esmeralda asked Mrs. Snowman, "Red Velvet please," and "How was your day?" Mrs. Snowman said, "Oh you know sweetheart, we are so busy these days because of Christmas, we had to buy toys for the little ones, and we are throwing a dinner, you are most welcome to come”.

Esmeralda, who was having too much fun with Mrs. Snowman, called out Jasmine and said, "I'll be right back, I'm going to get you your lunch." Esmeralda had forgotten she was even in a virtual room. Esmeralda continued sipping tea with Mrs. Snowman and nibbling on some biscuits that were placed on the saucer despite Jasmine's efforts to draw her attention.

Esmeralda was told by Mrs. Snowman that they had run out of tea and that she would be returning shortly with more. Esmeralda smiled and nodded as she drank the last of her tea when she saw something glittering out of the window, coming from outside the house. As she moved closer to it, Mrs. Snowman yelled, "Esmeralda!" and said, "Where are you going? I saw something outside the window, it's coming from another window, what is it?"

Mrs. Snowman responded, "Oh no sweetie, you cannot go over there, it is off limits, even us snow family don't go over there, it's unsafe. Oh no! We need more biscuits", said Mrs. Snowman, "I'll be right back, sweetie, don't go far." The refills of tea would stay warm until you touched the cup, so Esmeralda poured another cup for Mrs. Snowman before pouring her own.

She set her cup down, but still the bright light across the street kept winking at her. Unable to resist, she stood up and left the home. Esmeralda started to cross the street, and as she got closer to the light, it seemed to be speaking to her as it continued to shine brighter and brighter at her.

As she approached, she heard someone shouting her name, "Esmeralda, Esmeralda." The door was made of gold, and the home appeared empty but was made of beautiful wood. She peered through the window but saw nothing, then she peered through the other window but saw nothing as well.

When she returned to the door's front, she heard a faint cry, "Esmeralda." It turned out that Mrs. Snowman had been trying to call Esmeralda but had been failed. Mrs. Snowman made sure that none of the kids or her husband ever crossed that footpath since, unfortunately, doing so would cause them all to melt.

When the door opened, Esmeralda turned around to see Mrs. Snowman frantically trying to signal her back to this side of the sidewalk. Esmeralda then heard a voice say, "Come in, come in." She looked at the house and saw that the door was still wide open, and she felt compelled to enter. She moved a few steps closer to the home, hesitant to go inside, but suddenly the snow that was surrounding the house began to pile up around her feet, forming a barricade.

Esmeralda was being pushed into the home when the second wave of snow formed a wall. As the wall rose and encircled the house, Esmeralda could see Mrs. Snowman scrambling around in distress and unsure of what to do. The door shut loudly inside the home, leaving Esmeralda—or so she believed—alone.

She attempted to glance out the window to see if Mrs. Snowman was still there, but it turned out that she couldn't see anything past the wall because everything was white and completely frozen. Then the door to another part of the house was unlocked, leading her to a strange area where the small house appeared to grow down a hallway. The marble hallway had candles strung along the shelves, and as she passed each one, the lights came on.

Esmeralda went down the hallway as she turned to check behind her and noticed the side of the home, she was on was disappearing. As she continued down the hallway, she noticed a light behind the last window.

To be continued..