Random Stories I Wrote

Wandering Outside

If you ever decide to wander outside the forest, do it with caution and be under the impression that everything that approaches you is bad. I have been told the story of the imperial city multiple times, ignoring warnings and having imaginative fantasies of what life is like in this remarkable city. I have been outside the forest but only once. The imperial city's facade was fading. The reality was that it was not as pleasant as the fairy tales had written it out to be.

As a young child, I listened as the elders told us about how the scenery was magnificent and how wonderful the organization was inside the imperial city's walls. That was the textbook definition of this deceiving city. Unbeknownst to the young children who were also tricked by the elder's words, the high officials that worked inside this corrupt metropolis had ruined everything the founders had worked for.

Their determination to serve the emperor had driven everyone insane. There was backstabbing, sabotaging, and especially assassinating. Anything to be the right hand man. To us outsiders, going to the imperial city seemed advantageous. Every once in a while, there was a cart filled with newspapers that came from the printing press from the city. We had read an editorial that spread the propaganda that if you came to the city, your life would become a million times better. It seems extreme, but my friends were gullible enough to believe these false words.

One day, while I was picking leaves for a basket I was weaving, I stumbled upon a path shrouded in darkness. I heard a squealing coming from the end of the way so I walked towards the sound. When I came upon the noise, I noticed a truck with metal bars somewhat stranded in the middle of nowhere. I struggled to pull open the handles and fell back. I grunted and noticed something unexpected laying beside me. There was a tongue.

I screamed and scrambled back as quickly as I could. From a distance, footsteps rang loudly in the quiet forest.

"Who's there? Show yourself immediately." yelled in an intimidating voice.

From out of the shadows, a small person stepped out.

"Oo... what a fine specimen. The emperor will be happy to see you."

"What? What are you going to do with me?!?"

"Nothing, necessarily bad. Just take a little nap."

With that, the little person held up a tranquilizer gun and shot me.

When I woke up, I was in the truck with several others of my kind. Our hands were bound in ropes so I could not take off the fabric covering our mouth. Outside the truck there were an endless amount of towering buildings. From this, I knew we were inside the monstrous imperial city.

(This is the end. Intended to be a cliffhanger.)