The Incredibly Consequential Life of Charlie Zappala

Chapter Four: A Wrinkle in Reality

Charlie ears worked first, but they couldn't discern what the sounds were coming from. Light filtered through their eyelids, color and intensity different from their apartment or the city outside. It burned like intense sunlight. Far different than the gray February air that they should've been met with.

Something soft and cold touched their face.

Charlie jerked back to full consciousness, jolting upright and batting whatever was touching their face away. They opened their eyes, immediately squinting to adjust to the light. Eventually the scene revealed itself to them.

Everything was bright and gold.

Perhaps that was an exaggeration.

Charlie blinked.

Nope, everything was still gold.

They were in a large, circular room, ceilings so high it was only a guess how many stories the encompassing building must have had. In the other direction, floors laden with spotless marble rich in pattern. To Charlie's left side stood a row of floor to ceiling windows. The panes were delicate but sturdy, shining gold like everything else in the room, complimenting the bright blue-white light invading from the outside. Large vines and potted plants filled in empty spaces. On Charlie's right, a sitting area with a large, golden bookshelf and a velour chaise lounge too ornate to ever be comfortable. Charlie themself was seated in a large, rounded bed atop sheets made of red velvet.

"What the actual fuck."

"Uh,"

Charlie's head whipped around. They hadn't noticed the girl sitting in another chair off to their right side.

She had a soft, heart-shaped face and unmired eyes. Crisp, shining bronze hair draped across her shoulders and cascaded past her elbows. Thelight from the opposing windows bounced off her dress, giving the fabric an unmistakable reflective sheen. It was lilac. Charlie was surprised they remembered what the color lilac even was. Her back was rigid but her shoulders relaxed. She held a damp cloth in her hand.

There were a lot of things Charlie wanted to say in that moment, but all that came out was a, "Dude."

She became stiff, expression unreadable. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry. I mean, I'm not. I'm just really confused here. Can you tell me where I am?"

She placed the cloth down on an overly-detailed wood carved night stand beside her. "Right, I suppose it might be a bit alarming. Waking up in the middle of a new place, that is." She stood up and traced the perimeter of the bed, soft soled shoes gently tapping against the marble as she stepped. "I want to apologize. I didn't realize you would be taken with such, er—force." She sat at the foot of the bed, back turned to Charlie. "I just thought you would be more willing to come."

"That didn't answer my question at all. That just gave me, like, ten more."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "You're in the castle of my father, in the kingdom of Anteluvia."

They stared. "What."

She turned to meet them. "Pardon?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not sure I understand."

Charlie dug their fingernails into their thumb, trying to grasp some sense of reality. "I don't get it. I don't get it." They pushed themself off the bed and onto their feet. Their legs were weak and wobbly. They grabbed the edge of the bed to stabilize themself, but the perfect, plush piece caved to their touch. Once their legs gained some sense of independence, they took careful, deliberate steps toward the wall of windows.