Lovely Short Stories

The Nothing

There was something out there. She knew it. Now, she wasn't afraid of the darkness. What darkness? The space darkness? The never-ending void of darkness? Or just, the lights out kind of darkness. Well, whatever it was, she wasn't afraid of it. She was afraid of what was in it. What could be crawling, slithering, or walking inside of it. Someone to take her maybe? She sighed. Maybe. She wasn't afraid of her dark closet. Just what could be in it. She wasn't afraid of her bed. Only when the lights weren't on, and all that was under it was a limitless, dark, daunting abyss that seemed like it had no end.

No, she wasn't afraid of those silly ghost stories. She was just...merely interested in what would happen if they were true. What if one was prowling beneath her soft, safe, bright bed? What if she were walking to it in the midst of a dark night, and something seized her ankle. What if that being were to haul her under her bed like she were nothing but a sandbag.

She shook her head, returning her focus to the blank paper beneath her arm, wishing these questions would inspire her to write something, anything down. She wished for the boring, dreary words in the lingering textbook to be more entrancing, so maybe she could get something done. She looked at the paper once more, noticing the bonus question down at the bottom for the first time. Why may children, and even adults, be afraid of the dark? She bit back a snarky comment, not even questioning who it would be directed to. The paper? Her teacher? The question? The teacher, paper, and question all together, or just...the nothing.

She looked up at the clock, longing for this class to be over. She gazed once more at the paper, and when she had looked down, the lights flickered. She knew there was going to be a storm, but she deeply hoped nothing major would occur.

Then again they flickered for a second time. Then a third. Now a fourth. And again, and again, until finally, they shut off. Her eyes widened, her breath quickening, her heart racing. She gazed up at her teacher who was calming the class down, reassuring everyone but her that it was just the wind that killed the power. She glanced around the room, thinking it was rapidly getting darker, and the room was getting smaller, and smaller, like it was going to trap her and everyone else in a small box.

She tried the breathing exercises her mother showed her when she got frightened, but they weren't helping. She tried taking a deep breath, but only ended up choking instead. It was almost as though something were squeezing her lungs to the point where they couldn't take in much air. There was a tight grip on her shoulder and the gentle voice of her teacher speaking to her, but it all just sounded like it was traveling through a blizzard.

She choked down a sob, as she forced herself to stand up. Her legs seemed to have crumpled from bearing the weight of the heavy cage around her lungs, and her drooping arms, for she went tumbling to the cold, tile flooring. There were more muffled voices, like they were yelling, most likely to call 911 for help.

She blinked once, feeling a piercing cold tear roll down her face, dripping onto the floor. She blinked again, taking a second to reopen her eyes, as they felt like they were turned to stone. She laid her head down gently on the smooth tile, taking one long blink, letting another tear fall. The final thing that was seen by the girl were the lights flickering back to life due to the backup generator. She gave a small sigh of relief before falling into a deep, peaceful sleep. The Nothing had been vanquished once again.

Then, she dreamt. She dreamt that she was in a world where darkness wasn't a thing. She dreamt that she was running around with her best friend. Her best friend who had been lost to the hands of another country. She dreamt that he was here with her, running around in a lush field of tulips and daisies. She dreamt a dream that would never come true. Where her best friend was with her, and pixies allowed her to soar through the shining blue skies, her hair streaming behind her.

She didn't want to leave this world, for it was a world that she knew would never be a reality. She didn't want to go back to the bitter, dark, cold reality where her best friend was away with family in another country. She wanted to stay in this world where she was happy, and skipping along a riverbed in a nice periwinkle dress, with a lace belt around her waist. The ribbons from the lace belt swaying up and down from the gentle breezes that passed through.

They ran, then skipped, and ran again until their legs gave out from beneath them. They stopped by a hill where they rolled down, laughing with glee. This world was happy and bright. But in the real, cruel world, you could not roll down a hill laughing and yelping with glee without having a middle-aged woman or man give an unforgiving glance over in your direction. But that was the real world. The world she didn't want to go back to. In this world, she could do anything she wanted with no remorse. Instead of being judged, people would instead join in on the bright, happy times you've created.

That was this world. The world she never wanted to leave. The world that could never be possibly true, for pixies and unicorns don't exist in the harsh, dark world that was reality. She never wanted to go back there. This was her heaven, and she wasn't going to wake back up. This place, the world, this universe, was one that she refused to leave.

This universe didn't have countries or goodbyes. This universe had large pieces of land all connected by large bridges formed of sugar glass and lined with cakes of all sorts. Instead of saying goodbye, it was always a "See you later!". If someone were to say goodbye to someone, they were to be forced back into the cruel world where countries were like prisons, and people were trapped behind borders, unable to see their loved ones.

Her world, her universe, her heaven, was something she prized. The bitter real world was one that she wasn't going to wake back up for. Instead, she insisted to everyone in her happy world that she would never go back. That she would stay there forever, where she had endless energy and never needed to sleep. She looked over at her best friend, and took his hands into her's, as they rested in the middle of a field filled with daisies and roses galore. A soft breeze wrapped around the two teenagers. The girl looked deep into her best friend's emerald green eyes, promising him one thing.

"I won't ever leave this place. This place holds you within it, making this glorious universe heaven. I will not wake up to see The Nothing, instead I will stay here to see The Everything. This is one promise I vow to keep."

The boy smiled, but instead of picture perfect teeth, it was a dark, endless abyss. The Nothing. The girl screamed and realized that no matter where she went, The Nothing would follow. The black drifted out of his mouth, and crept up her legs, then torso and arms, until it reached her face. She let out a blood-curdling scream, but the scream was swallowed up from The Nothing.

She embraced the dark abyss, feeling the heavy cage around her lungs once again. She floated around in space, but this space was different. It held no stars.

"You are the cause of The Nothing..."

No.

"You have broughten pain and grief to your parents, and your brothers and sisters."

No...

"You. Are. The Nothing."