A Collection of Short Stories

D A L I A

(Written: 2-8-22)

Lilly stared at the door with her eyebrows furrowed. Where was she? It's been almost 30 minutes? Wouldn't she be back by now? Her foot tapped anxiously against the floor and she blocked out the teacher's lecture to focus on the closed door.

Good going, new girl. Lilly thought to herself. You've already sparked my attention. The new girl, Lilly couldn't remember her name, was a normal girl. Or so it seemed. She was quiet and despite being at the school for almost a week, she hadn't made any friends yet.

"Lilly," Hearing her name being spoken, she quickly turned to the source of the voice. It was her teacher. "Can you go check on Dalia?"

So, that was her name! Dalia. "Sure." Lilly stood from her seat and walked out of the class. She sighed when the door was fully closed. She'd be getting a break from class and would find out what was up with the new girl.

Lilly walked into the girls bathroom and was met with silence. No one was standing around the stalls gossiping or vaping like usual. She was relieved at that. But, it was almost too quiet. Eerily quiet.

"New girl-" Lilly quickly corrected herself. "Er- I mean, Dalia? Are you in here?"

Silence.

"The teacher wanted me to check on you," Still nothing.

Maybe, she's in the bathroom down the hall. As Lilly turned to leave she caught sight of something on the mirror. She was confused about how she hadn't seen it before. But, she was more worried about what the writing said.

Come finD me, wALk closer. You're curIous Aren't you?

Lilly noticed two things about the message. There were unneeded capitalizations. And when she inspected it closer she realized, they spelled out Dalia. The second thing was the color of the writing. It was a mauve color. The exact color of the lipstick Dalia had been wearing before she left.

Lilly wanted to run out of the bathroom without a second thought. But, the message was right, she was curious. She walked closer to the mirror and reached out to feel the sticky lipstick. When her hands touched the mirror, a bright light shined throughout the bathroom. It was so bright she needed to cover her eyes.

She quickly opened them again at the realization that she was being pulled by someone or something. She couldn't see what was doing it, but she could see where she was going. The mirror had a large hole in it that seemed to lead to another world. And, even though her brain told her to kick the person or thing and make a run for it, her body felt paralyzed. She couldn't move.

As she was thrown into the mirror, she couldn't help but wonder if she was going insane. She landed on the ground with a loud THUMP! She looked behind her and all she saw was the hole closing up, trapping her in...this world. She was surrounded by plants and vegetation.

It was hot and she could feel the sun beaming down on her. She had gotten a massive headache, but decided to stand up and look around anyway. She hadn't seen any sign of life so far, despite the occasional bug or squirrel. No people.

"Am I going insane?" Lilly asked herself.

She was suddenly hit in the back of her head making her fall over. She quickly turned onto her back to look at whatever had attacked her. A person stood there, holding a large tree branch over their head, breathing heavily, and seeming as if they would be ready to strike her again, if necessary.

The person looked shocked to see her and as Lilly's vision began to blur she was able to see the person lower their branch. Right before she passed out she was able to make out who this person was.

"Dalia?"