When The World Breaks

Chapter Three

The Author stepped out onto a carpeted floor, she blinked for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the light. Where she was, was probably not what you were expecting, she stood in a small bedroom, the walls covered by bookshelves that were filled with books, stacks of papers, and worn notebooks.

The Author moved forward, placing the Book back into her bag. She moved over to a small bed that sat tucked into the corner of the room, it had a light green spread, and if she was being honest, contrasted horribly with the rest of the room. The Author sat down on this bed, and sighed, letting Kyle hop down next to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Nothing." She spoke, standing and starting to scan the selves of books.

Kyle frowned, "You're lying."

"Rule four," She pulled out a blue notebook, "I like to lie."

Kyle shook his head, "You don't have to remind me."

The Author smiled, moving her auburn hair behind one ear, "Where to next?" she turned, picking up a few more notebooks and papers clumsily. "We could go to the Dragon's Keep, or... a colony ship in 2057?" She began flipping through a notebook, "What about Medieval Europe? We could meet Anne Boleyn."

Kyle moved to perch on the desk that sat near the bed, knocking off some papers as he did so, "I thought that you were banned from the castle?"

The Author began picking up the spilled papers, "That was Dead in England, such a shame, but not too much of a waste, you should have seen the duke, he had such an enormous-" She was cut off by Kyle clearing his throat, "-ego." She finished, giving the falcon an annoyed look.

Kyle rolled his eyes, "That is not what you were going to say."

"Maybe," she teased, "you'll never know." The Author smirked, looking at the papers she had picked up, "Oh! This is a new one!" She sat down in the swivel chair beside the desk, "The Sky Will Fall." She scanned over the title.

Kyle cocked his head to the side, "Read it to me, then."
The Author cleared her throat, "'Sometimes –when I wish really hard– I can almost make out shapes in the black. Sometimes I can see what others can't. Sometimes I can hear what others won't." She grinned, "'And when I do, when I hear the voices; I know I am safe.'" She spun the chair around, using one hand to keep the motion going, "'The world is dark, and I'm alone without light to guide me. The earth has gone dark, it always has been, always will be.'"

A pause.

"'Light is such a rare thing, only privileged to the upper classes. They can be alive, they can truly see the world, while I'm stuck wishing on a nonexistent star. My mother told me that there used to be colors in the sky, and she also told me that the earth was flat.'" The Author smiled, "'So I don't know if she's a reliable source, but nonetheless, I still have hope. I still hope that one day I will get to see a star, even though it's unlikely I ever will. But wouldn't it be angelic? It would be absolutely angelic to see a star, even for just a second. I would quite like to see one before I die.'"

"That's good." Kyle hopped closer.

"I'm not done yet." The Author shushed the bird, and continued reading, "'Death is such a huge concept. I could never quite wrap my head around it. Death is immortal, he's a being of strength and weakness. Soon he will come for me, I can feel it in my bones. I can feel it in the way each breath is a burden, and the strain to keep my eyes open. My time will come, but not now. Not just yet.'"

Another pause.

"'When I was a child my grandmother died. Abuela was my life, she was my hope, I lived for her and her alone. Anna. Anna was her name. She was wonderful, always there for me. As I intend to be there for my own grandchildren. It's strange, it didn't hurt my heart the most the day she died, no, that was like a strange kind of fever dream. The pain came in all the days she stayed dead.'" The Author fualtered for a moment, looking at the page, you could tell she was surprised by what she had written, but it passed quickly, and she continued, "'If only I could see the shadow death casts, sadly, you need light to see the dark. Otherwise, the inky blackness presses against you, not letting you truly see what hides within it. I realize that I will never see clearly, that's just not a possibility. But if death would be so kind, if he was kind enough, he might let me see his glow.

"When people imagine death they think of black cloaks and grim reapers, but that's not true. Death used to have wings, or so they say. He gave them up for his cloak and his scythe. So yes; he is how you imagen him, but there is a kind soul underneath the fear that trials him.'" She continued, "'I stated before that death was immortal, but that's not entirely true. I know that now. I can feel him wrapping his cloak around me and taking me to where I can rest eternally, but before I go, I must say one thing: Death is not a being you should fear. He is sad,'" The Author paused and considered this, because she knew that she would be sad too, if she had to take souls away from their loved ones, and she had to check that the story didn't get significantly darker, "'but he is beautiful. He will last forever, and not at all. But one thing is certain about him, one thing that all the universe has seemed to agree on; he will end when the universe ends, he will vanish when the stars explode, and he will be no more after he has made his final claims. Freeing himself from the burden of immortality."
She found herself releasing a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding.

"'Death will end, when the last living thing has crossed into his realm, and that will happen when the last star goes out, when the only thing left is the barren wasteland of a world, and that world will end too; when the sky falls.'"

The Author restacked the papers, stapling them together before placing them neatly on a shelf.

"That was beautiful." Kyle nodded his head, moving to perch on the abandoned swivel chair.

The Author shrugged, "Not my best." She scanned the shelves once more, "I found it!" She pulled a worn green notebook from behind a pile of papers, "We have to do this one!"

Kyle frowned, "Read it."

"No," The Author gave him a teasing grin, "I want it to be a surprise."

"I don't trust you, last time you did that we ended up in world war four, and the Germans had killer rabbits and Queen Elizabeth came back from the dead but was actually an alien from mars."

The Author rolled her eyes, "That was fun! And only slightly braised off of an Episode of Doctor Who."

Kyle grunted, "You didn't get attacked by demonic bunny rabbits."

"This one is different." The Author smiled, pulling out the Quill and Ink, "And you can't change my mind."

"Fine." Kyle sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to win this fight.

The Author smiled, "Thank you."

Kyle rolled his eyes, "No problem."