Such A Small Thing

Pages 13 to 15

And so we went from door to door, tugging and pushing, trying to turn the doorknob every which way, until Garry decided to try and kick one of the doors in.

The moment his boot connected with the door, it swung open, making him fall into the room.

I side-stepped him as he got up, rubbing his head where he hit it when he fell.

I looked around the room. There was color. Not just black and white, but all the colors of the rainbow. It was so beautiful.

"Wow," Garry says from behind me. "It's so colorful."

"It sure is," I say. I'm starting to feel slightly dizzy, though.

"Should we move on?" I ask, even though I don't want to.

"Sadly, yeah. We probably should. Maybe one of these doors will lead to a way out."

I sigh. "Let's hope so."

I follow as Garry taps the doors with his boot. There are a few that don't open, but the ones that do don't lead anywhere.

Except for the last one.

Garry taps the last door with his boot and it swings open, just like the rest of the doors had, but there is not a room behind this door. There is a staircase. It is red and blue, the colors of our petals, as if it is inviting us to go up.

"Come on, H, I'd rather not lose you. Get on my back," says Garry, bending down so that I can climb onto his back.

"Uh, okay?" I say. I'm glad that I won't have to walk for a little while. I'm tired.

I climb onto his back and wrap my arms around his shoulders, as much as I can. He holds me up by draping my legs over his forearms. I lean my head against his back.

He stands up and moves up the stairs. I see red and blue pass us as we move our way up the stairs.

My eyelids start to close on their own and I try to fight off the tiredness. To keep myself busy and try to keep myself awake, hopefully, I direct my attention to his coat again.

I think it is made from a jean-like type of cotton that is very hard to obtain in this day and age.There are a few areas on his coat that are faded in color, probably from having stains removed too many times.

My eyelids start to droop again, and I watch the walls as we go up. How long is this staircase?

My eyelids are heavy. Damn my stupid ten year old brain for only being able to function on a specific amount of sleep.

My eyelids close and I can't open them. I won't fall asleep... I won't fall asleep... I won't... fall... asleep...

(Garry's P.O.V.)

All of the sudden I feel a dead weight settle upon me, even though it's not very heavy.

I can see what I think is the top of these stairs getting closer with each step I take, when I realize that H is sliding off of my back.

Stay calm. I just have to lower myself down so she doesn't fall and hurt herself. I wonder why she's slipping?

"H? H, are you okay?" I ask as I sit down on the stairs. She doesn't answer.

I support her back as I move a step down so I can turn to face her. As I do I see that her eyes are closed and her head is drooping.

"Hey H, can you hear me?"

She still doesn't respond. She must've fallen asleep or something. Poor girl. I wonder how long she was wandering around this place before she found me?

I don't want to leave her here by herself, and I want to see what's at the top of the stairs, and we can't stay here, so I'll have to carry her up like you would carry a baby, since she won't stay on my back.

I pick her up easily. It's a good thing she's so light or I probably would of ended up falling backwards down the stairs.

I continue up the stairs, and when I get to the top it's another room, except it's not really colorful and there's a door to one side, and a bookshelf in the middle.

I walk over to the opposite side of the room and lay H down on the floor, which is a dark red. I stand up again and take my coat off, laying it on her like a blanket. No need to let her freeze.

I look at her. She's curled up and her face is relaxed. She looks so... cute. Almost like my sister.

I go over to the bookshelf and look through the books. They're all about the paintings and sculptures. I decide to read one and see if maybe any of them have any clues as to how to get out.

I only know how I got here and even that's confusing. I had been wandering through a museum and went through a door, thinking that maybe it led to another room. When I got in and closed the door behind me, the lights went out and the floor disappeared beneath me, leaving me to fall through a dark hole, then landing in this world. The rest is a blur of running away from monsters and trying to keep my rose safe, which got me where I was when H found me.

I start reading and see that the book is about the history of the paintings. This is gonna take a while.

(H's P.O.V.)

I wake up in a room with a red floor and blue walls. How did I get here? Where is this?