Beyond

Seraina: Where the Roses Are, is Everywhere

The roses formed a crown around my head, pinching my scalp and getting tangled into my pale blonde hair.

Then I felt hot liquid slide down my face like water on a muddy slope. It fell in my eyes, uncomfortable red hot, and stinging.

"Well, I think you've had enough for today." I heard the fairy's voice, sweet and sugary to the ear, so much so it made my mouth water with the thought of jams, and honey, and marmalade. "I'll open the portal for you, okay?"

Then the roses slid back to where they came from, dragging across my skin and ripping my clothes, so there were red lines dripping all over me. A now familiar gray portal opened in front of me in the water.

Without noticing at first, I lost my balance, and stumbled headfirst into the portal, which never, ever sounds like a good idea.

I landed back in another world, thrown onto the ground. Dirt and whatever else I landed on got into my wide cuts, forcing me to let out a scream.

It echoed through the sky and never truly died away for the whole time I lay there in the hot humid air. I felt the whole song of everything around me was on diminuendo, getting quieter and quieter the longer I waited for things to fade to black.