Imitation Eiffel Tower

Chapter One

Sara is watching a young, dark-skinned boy, digging near a network of holes, in a field, at the bottom of a hill. In the distance she sees the imitation Eiffel Tower, lit up against the night sky. She could see clusters of houses, and other buildings too, but she didn't recognise them. Was she dreaming? She'd been known to sleep walk, but she'd never woken up outside before, and she didn't exactly feel awake — there was something surreal about her surroundings.

Streaks of lightning traversed the sky, many of them hitting the top of the imitation Eiffel Tower, which was about twice the height of a two-storey building. She climbed to the top of the hill to get a better look at the lightning and a sudden flash nearby illuminated two figures in the darkness. Feeling shocked and full of terror, Sara bolted down the hill towards the boy digging holes. The shock got her heart beating and she realised she was very much awake, but where was she? What was going on?

The boy stopped digging and turned towards her, then started moving his hands and chanting in an unfamiliar language. Sara can feel her memory fading, how did she get here? What was going on? Suddenly, an old woman appeared, and snapped her fingers. Sara felt her mind become more clear, and she once again could recall the events of the night. The boy asked the old woman for help with his labour, but she declined, saying that she was much too miserable and much too old to help him.

Sara looked around and noticed a slim, middle-aged woman, alongside a tubby, teenaged boy. The old lady gestured to the tubby boy and explains: "the witches used to stick chewing gum all over him before I discovered him, no wonder he's so tubby". Sara looked at the network of holes surrounding them and reasoned that these new characters had emerged from them. But who were they? What was the old lady talking about? She remembered the dark figures she had been running from, and wondered if they were witches. She was freaked out by what had been going on, and the two ladies and two boys seemed to be caught up in an argument, so she slipped away, towards the streets of cobbled stone and the assortment of buildings surrounding the imitation Eiffel Tower.

She had made it halfway down a street when time seemed to slow down. She turned around and saw two hooded figures moving their hands around as if they were performing some kind of enchantment. She felt as if she were on the verge of falling asleep, then found herself wide awake again, back in the field with the holes, on the outskirts of the town. She was more confused than afraid, but decided that she wanted to get as far away as possible from these "witches", so she ran down another cobbled street, and managed to get further than she had the time before, until she again felt the familiar feeling of time slowing down, and felt the drowsiness overcome her, as she regained consciousness at a new location, in another street.

The next few hours became a blur, with Sara running down streets, sometimes recognising locations she had been already passed through, and continually being enchanted by the witches. She reached a crossroads between three streets and stopped for a moment to consider which direction to take. She saw the witches approaching from the street she'd just come down, and didn't even try to run away. She awaits the familiar feeling of time slowing down, but nothing happens. She starts to back away down a different street and feels the feeling wash over her, so she reacted by stepping forwards again. She noticed that the crossroads formed a sort of circle, and figured that the witches had no dominion over her here.