The Dreadful Dreamer's Collection

Beyond the Castle- February 5th, 2023

In the foggy mountain range of a dense pine forest was a sanctuary for the small population that remained on Earth. The sanctuary was an old castle that held within it resident's halls, schools, libraries, and restaurants to give the remaining people a sense of normalcy. It was decorated with lavish tapestries and leather chairs. The castle was safe and home to a large number of survivors, for the outside world was dangerous.

It all began after I went to my boyfriend's residence to visit him and tell him about my day. I had just gotten out of a Music Studies class where we were listening for similar rhythms in today's music to music hundreds of years ago. Of course no new music has been produced since everything took a turn for the worse, so we used older music from a few years ago. While I was explaining my day, he decided to call one of his female friends while I was still speaking. He ignored me as if I wasn't there, and so I yelled at him and left immediately. I was so furious I didn't know where to go, but I managed to come to the Grand Staircase at the entrance of the castle which was now transformed into a lovely lobby and help center. I took a seat in a maroon leather chair and opened my textbook to read. After a moment, a sickly skinny man came stumbling by with a keyboard under his arm. He caught his foot on the lip of the elegant rug and dropped the keyboard, causing some of the keys to pop loose. I went over and helped him round up the keys. He went into a room behind where I was sitting and closed the door, but left a little slit as he did not fully close it. I went over quietly to the door and peeked in the crack to see what was happening.

The man on the other side had the keyboard laying down on the table in the room with a large kitchen knife barred in his hands. He was yelling nonsense at the keyboard and started slicing it into pieces. The keyboard squirted blood as if it was a living thing, and the knife and the hand of the man were also bloody. He then jerked his head up and saw me in the crack of the door. I turned around and ran, and I took a risk by going beyond the castle and beyond the gate where I know he wouldn't follow me. I ran and eventually ended up on a dirt road surrounded by the dead grasses that used to thrive. Still running and with my head turned around toward the castle, I unknowingly bumped into somebody who was also on the road.

I turned to see what had happened. A deformed woman in rags had dropped all of her wool and fabric she held in her hands because of my carelessness. The caravan of people with her gasped in horror as they, too, had innumerable amounts of textiles in their clutches.

"You must pay!" A vulgar man hollered from the back.

"Follow us!" Another hissed. And so they tied my hands on a rope and led me down the dirt road, chanting some words and rolling out their textiles as a trail for me to walk on as we neared their encampment.

"You have ruined our materials and for that you must pay!" As we entered the village, one of the men covered in bulbous growths and sharpened yellow teeth led me up a set of stairs and onto a platform. The villagers gathered around to watch the ceremony.

"You can choose one person to be here with you today." The ugly man announced.

"My mom." I muttered quietly. And so the man nodded and then my mother appeared beside me.

"Next order of business is letters for your loved ones. In case you die, how many Grieving Notes will you need?". I thought long and decided three would suffice. The man pulled out an indescribable square shape from his pocket and starting tearing into three pieces. The object howled out in pain as three pieces were ripped from it.

A single layer of pink fabric was laid down on the floor below and the crowd made a semicircle around it. I had to jump. But I cried. I cried because of the horrible circumstances and how dumb I was and oh if I could just say goodbye to everyone...

I turned and saw my mother not shaken up. She did not cry but nodded toward me. She knew I could live the fall, and so I thought. I did know how to fall. I peered over the edge and jumped to the pink fabric below.