My short stories

A Summer Fantasy

The sun cast a beautiful evening glow over the small coastal town of Seaborough. Sweet melodies of laughter could be heard along the sandy coast, the scent of the salty air dancing along. One of the coast's residents was a young girl named Emily Parker, who could often be found standing at the water's edge, watching the waves crash rhythmically against the shore, the familiar feeling of yearning for something more at the back of her mind. While all her friends were content with summer jobs and lazy afternoons, Emily longed for adventure - something magical that would sweep her away from the mundane routine of university studies and family obligations.

This particular evening, Emily found herself exploring an empty cove and tripping over what looked like an old but intact glass bottle. Curiosity got the better of her and she dug it out. It was indeed a bottle, but it seemed to be filled with a lilac gas that swirled in pretty patterns and shimmered in the sunlight. She pondered on what to do before deciding to open the bottle, allowing the gas to escape and diffuse like a mist, surrounding the young girl. She felt herself grow weaker as she collapsed to the ground.

~~~

When Emily finally woke up, she found herself in a completely altered world. The sands were a vibrant purple hue and the sky was a beautiful deep blue. Flowers she had never seen before grew in the sand and all kinds of colourful critters had made themselves at home. She ventured her way back to the main area of the beach and was shocked to see how many of the townsfolk had come out from their homes to see the beautiful change in the world. Two twins, a girl named Faith and a boy named Jake, waved her over. They were her friends from university and she was delighted to see them out of their jobs for once.

"Come and join us," Jake said.
Faith added, "The world has completely changed. The merpeople want to take us for a swim"
"Merpeople?" Emily asked.

Both twins nodded and pointed to the ocean, now a gorgeous shade of aquamarine, filled with merpeople and leaping dolphins.

"You're joining us, right?" Jake asked.
"Of course!" Emily replied.

Emily and her friends joined the merpeople and found themselves able to breathe underwater. They took the opportunity to swim to the seabed and visit the underwater kingdom of the merpeople. They played with the sea animals, attended a concert where one of the king's daughters apparently decided to skip, and even enjoyed a fireworks show while floating on a raft on the ocean.

The fireworks, they found out, were created by fairies. A fairy in red dipped from the sky to meet them, then whisked her little wand and turned them into fairies, guiding them into the sky and flying to their beautiful home of rainbows and magic. They played with the other fairies, watched a magic show and even found some goblins that attempted to steal their stuff. Even so, the fairies sent them packing before guiding us back home.

~~~

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

Emily slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in a room of white walls and worried faces looking down on her. Someone spoke to her, though she didn't register who. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

Emily didn't answer, or rather, she couldn't. She felt herself panic slightly. A nurse tried to settle her, saying, "Hey, hey, shh... it's ok. You're ok. You're a little... paralysed... from inhaling that fume. Do you remember?"

I did vaguely remember opening a bottle with a lilac fume inside it so I find myself nodding, albeit quite slowly.

"I see... the fumes basically paralysed you completely," a doctor responded, "That said, it shouldn't be long now before it wears off... It does take a little bit of time though."

For the next few hours, the nurses and doctors take turns watching over Emily until she heals from her paralysis. The entire time, Emily wished she could go back to sleep, if only to continue the adventures she had thought were real.