The Book of Paradoxia Whispers

Paradoxia I - Part Two - Chapter Sixteen: Mabel

"Curiosity can take oneself into a whole new dimension. But never forget, that Curiosity killed the Cat"

"Huh? That's it?", said Mabel in a confusing manner as she was reading the book

"It can't be!", she said as she started cycling through the remaining pages of the book... all blank. Just plain white paper, no words, nothing...

"Why did it end so quickly? The story hadn't even begun!", Mabel said to herself as she slowly closed the book. Still confused in her bed, the sun began to rise

"Woah! I've been reading all night? I need to wake up for school soon...", Mabel did not sleep at all, she just kept on reading without stopping. The sun's rays started to enter Mabel's room shining the room completely. Mabel's face started to warm up with the heat of the sun's arms. Blinded by the strong power of the sun, she slowly got out of bed. She wasn't tired or weak at all, she was up and full of energy as if she had slept all night

She still had the unfinished book in hand, she looked at it and said, "What a shame, it finished oh so sudden. Oh well, I'll return it to the library later on today after school"

She threw the book on the bed and started to walk towards her bedroom door but she stopped and thought, if her parents, moreover her father, had seen the book lying innocently on the bed, she would be severely punished for it, so, she went back to her bed and placed the book underneath the bed's covers covering the book so to prevent her parents from seeing it

She went to her bedroom door and opened it to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth and have a quick morning shower. She closed her bedroom door, slowly so as not to wake her parents up, as she turned round, she froze

Pitch black everywhere, no hallways, no doors, no home...

"What is going on?", Mabel asked herself

Everywhere was black, not a single blob of colour. Dead, black, nothing

"Mum? Dad? Anyone?", as she said that a white spot appeared. She slowly approached it, then another one, then another one, and then another one! White spots appearing out of nowhere! The whole black area dissipated, now everywhere was white

"Um, hello?", Mabel slowly started to worry. She started running to try and find the edge of this... room. Nothing, it was as if she was running in a wide open space. Then, all of a sudden a crack could be heard, Mabel froze in place. Another crack, it seemed to have come from above her. Yes, she could see a crack started to form, cracks started to shape around her, then, the white shaped dome collapsed around her

Mabel screamed her lungs out. Now, Mabel was in another place. It seemed like she was in space. Galaxies and stars all over. She was surprised that she didn't fall, then, suddenly doors started emerging from nowhere

"Where on earth am I!?", Mabel slowly walked towards one of the doors. She dripped the door's knob and slowly opened the door. A breeze of air blew through Mabel's face, she could see a bustling city, with people like her walking but completely ignoring her

"Um, excuse me?", a voice said

Mabel immediately slammed the door shut and turned around to see a young boy, probably the same age as her, give or take a few years

"Can you help me? I'm lost", the boy asked

Mabel at first was reluctant to answer but then she said, "So am I, I'm lost too", the boy giggled and then said, "So we're both lost. What's your name?"

"Um... M... Mabel"

"Mabel? That's a nice name!"

"What's your name?", Mabel asked the boy

"Arthur, my name is Arthur", the boy said

She immediately froze, "Arthur? Are... are you by any chance from the kingdom of Fable?", Mabel asked

"Yes... I am. How did you know?

Mabel stopped to think and then said, "I've read about you..."