A Land of Tales and Dreams

Detectives Among Us

WEEK 92

Prompt:

Ten thousand years of searching, and still no trace of her.

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I was surprised she'd managed to run from me for so long. I mean, I did scare her last time, but it was by accident. Still, that separated my sister from me.

Astrielle, I miss you so much. Please, for the love of God, or the gods, or whatever it is that people believe in—please come back. Not wanting to linger, I chose to get out of the river. But the sound of the water made me want to stay and think about her. This had been the longest game of hide and seek in human history.

"Oh, Astrielle, where are you, sweetie?"

"We will find her."

"Who the hell are you?" I asked the mysterious voice.

"Detective Anthony. I was assigned to work on the case of Astrielle's disappearance three days ago."

"Det—what? What in the name of high heaven are you? And what are you wearing?"

"I will have you know that this is a very fashionable suit."

"Fashionable suit that looks like it's from the 90s, okay."

"Are you calling me old?"

"Yes, in fact I am."

"Back to where I came from," the old detective said with a serious face, "I have some evidence that points to the real culprit."

"Show me it then," I scoffed, not fully trusting this 90s-dressed so-called detective.

The detective looked nervous before shouting "Squirrel!" and running off. I stood there, speechless from what the detective did. The next moment, I felt something hard hit me at the back of my head, and I passed out.

I woke up, and something hard hit my head again.

"Who did this to me and made my head hurt so bad?" I grumbled.

"It was I, your sleep deprived roommate who can't sleep 'cause a certain someone keeps narrating their imaginary noir detective film."

"Um... what??" I asked, not knowing if I should be confused, concerned, or both.

"Don't ask questions," my roommate said, landing another blow to my head.

The cracks split the face of the floor like freckles on someone's face, and we all fell into a deep, dark void. Suddenly, light shone through the void and revealed a wonderland of chaotic colors. A bright green quadrilateral stood up menacingly, waving a spear in my direction.

"It's hurting my eyes."

"I don't care if it's hurting your eyes, stab it," my roommate said.

"I'M NOT STABBING ANYTHING."

"C'mon it'll be fun, just a little stabby stabby."

"Stop, I don't want that."

My roommate grinned. "But stabbing is therapeutic."

"Who said that?" a man—perhaps Detective Anthony—asked.

"I think it was purple," said Orange.

"Where's Blue?" asked Red.

"I think Teal stabbed him earlier."

"We should call the police then!" Red cried.

"Yes, call the police!" Orange agreed.

"Who has a phone?" someone else, no doubt named after another color, asked.

"Wait, there's a telephone booth over there. Maybe we could use that!"

Before the police could be called, however, the world exploded. The end.