Spirals

the little girl

~~~

Saturday.

10:33:56 A.M.

~~

I had a dream today.

I had a dream that I was alone in a dim place that felt like a waiting room. I was sitting on the invisible floor with nothing but a long, white cloth around my waist. I examined the space around me, finding nothing, and I examined my body, and every scar upon my flesh had become a cavity of dark, chilled matter again.

HI!

I turned to find the voice, knowing immediately who it was, and I saw the little girl from the windy hills in front of me, materializing.

"Where am I?"

DUNNO! WHERE AM I?

I sat confused and said nothing.

I SEE YOU HAVE MORE SINS UPON YOU! YOUR TUMMY'S ALL SPOTTED NOW.

"Ah... I am sorry," I said. "I... I thought I could kill it. I thought I could kill the being in the center and I failed."

YOU DIDN'T FAIL. YOU CHANGED!

"But I can still feel it inside of me. It hunts me when I am weak and it wants to play with my body."

The little girl was silent for a moment. Then she waved her hand, and a folded handkerchief appeared between her fingers.

I MADE THESE FOR YOU A LONG TIME AGO! I THINK I SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT YOU HOW TO MAKE THEM TRAVEL TO YOU.

"What are they for?"

FOOD FOR WHEN YOU'RE HUNGRY.

"But I am never hungry in spirals—"

WHEN IT IS HUNGRY, AIDEN.

"How do you know my..."

I replayed her words in my mind, and I realized the significance of the cookies I had so easily brushed off in the ocean's submarine, and I became embarrassed.

"I feel stupid," I said.

IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT! I DID NOT KNOW WHAT YOU DID NOT KNOW AND I COULD NOT TELL YOU ENOUGH BEFORE OUR TIME WAS UP. APOLOGIES!

"Uh—"

NOT ALL IS LOST, THOUGH; COOKIES ARE BAKEABLE! YOU CAN MAKE SOME YOURSELF AT HOME WITH THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS!

"What are these ingredients you mention?" I asked, interested.

THEIR BASE IS NOT MATERIAL! YOU WILL HAVE TO TRAVEL AGAIN TO FIND THEM.

"A slight problem..." I put my hands together and pointed them at her. "I cannot."

YOU CAN! EVEN IF YOUR AVATAR DIED WITH HIS TUMMY RIPPED OPEN, YOU CAN MAKE A NEW ONE AND TRAVEL EXTERNALLY!

"You make little sense to me—"

YOU TRAVELED INTERNALLY AND FORGOT WHO YOU WERE AND WHAT HAPPENED AND DIED. IF YOU LEARN TO TRAVEL EXTERNALLY, YOU CAN PICK REALMS AND SHIFT THEM ABOUT, INSTEAD OF THEM PICKING AND SHIFTING YOU. THEN YOU WILL COME ACROSS THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS!
"Externally... Well, what if I become trapped? What if they take me away again?"

THEN THAT'S WHAT YOUR HUMAN GUIDE IS FOR!

"Guide?" I thought over my family and my friends and everyone I knew. "Where? No one in my life even knows about the realms. No one even knows what goes on in my head."

WELL! YOUR REALMS ARE CORROSIVE FROM THE INSIDE OUT, AND THEY'VE ALREADY FINISHED THE INSIDE PART! BETTER START TALKING IF YOU DON'T WANNA BE A CORPSE!

"What?"

YOU NEED TWO HUMAN TYPES TO TRAVEL SUCCESSFULLY AGAIN.

I waited for the little girl to continue her sentence, but she did not, watching me carefully with her wide, empty eyes instead, tucking her lips into a delighted smile as if she were holding back some unbearable secret. I became exasperated then, and sighed.

"Well?"

THIS IS THE FUN PART BECAUSE OF HOW HARD IT IS FOR YOU!

"...Okay."

IT'S QUITE INTERESTING—

"Might you let it out already?"

OF COURSE!

YOU NEED ANOTHER HUMAN TRAVELER TO RELATE TO, AND YOU NEED A GOOD HUMAN GUIDE! WITHOUT THE TRAVELER, YOU WILL BECOME CONSUMED. AND WITHOUT THE GUIDE, YOU WILL FOREVER BE A WANDERER. BOTH MUST KNOW OF YOUR TRAVELS. THESE ARE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR SAFE TRAVELS.

"Another traveler and a good human guide... I don't get it."

AH, LET ME USE HUMAN TERMS THEN!

The little girl paused for a moment and frowned.

I AM NOT THE BEST AT UNDERSTANDING INTERDIMENSIONAL CULTURES.

"Same," I muttered.

YOU NEED A HUMAN THAT UNDERSTANDS TRAVELERS... OR... YOU NEED A HUMAN THAT IS KIND TO YOUR BEINGS... THAT CAN LISTEN TO YOUR TRAVELING STORIES... YES. THAT!

"I get it."

NEAT! AND THEN YOU NEED A GOOD GUIDE... MASTER, OR SUB-MASTER... A TRAINED HUMAN TRAVELER... WITH GOOD SHOES...

"What?"

OR... WITH A GOOD IDEA OF WHERE THE GROUND IS...

"A..." I stared at her in disbelief and felt a bit of anger spark within me. "A counselor."

SO THAT'S THE WORD!

"You want me to talk to a counselor."

WOULD BE NICE, RIGHT?

"No." I sighed and crossed my arms. "It is expensive and my father will have to pay for it. I do not want to add yet another burden to his list. I... I have added enough."

HUH... I DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOUR FATHER HAS TO PAY A PRICE? IS HE BEING PUNISHED? WILL HE DIE?

"No, he... Look, traveling and cookies sound amazing, but I will unfortunately have to decline your offer."

ALRIGHT THEN! SIMPLY LET THE HUMANS AROUND YOU KNOW WHEN YOU WAKE UP TODAY!

"Wait..." I felt myself grow nervous. "Where will I be waking up?"

YOU LEFT AN INTENSE CREATION BEHIND.

SO... YOU ARE NOW IN A HUMAN HOSPITAL!

A rush of fear came through me then, stiffening up my body, and my heart sped up, and I began to think of every possible thought and every possible criticism my family and my parents would have when they saw me.

"No, no this cannot be happening. What will they think? What did they think? I should not be here, I should not be alive—"

WELL, I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD! THAT'S WHY I NAGGED BEFORE YOU COULD BRING ALL YOUR REALMS DOWN WITH YOU!

"That... that was you? You were the warm feeling?"

I HAD MY FINGERS CROSSED VERY TIGHTLY!

"Why? Why were you there? Why did you save me?"

SHALL I BE HONEST?

"Please."

I DON'T WISH TO DIE.