The Life Of A Lone Traveler

Inbetween

One day the boy took the steps necessary to go to The Outside. He had just returned to his sanctuary after a day worse than most. His father had gotten that glint of rage in his eyes- the glint that only comes when he's on one of his benders. He grabbed the boy and threw him into the nearest wall, causing dust to fall from the sheetrock. The boy had taken it, with no emotion in his eyes, which only infuriated his father to a point beyond measure. ¨What makes you think you're better than me you worthless piece of shit!?¨ He had screamed. Even in his normally sobering rage, he had slurred his words. His father had slapped him and returned to his stupor. The boy went to The Outside, but today he felt none of its normal comfort. He only felt the true horror of this place, and for the first time questioned his motives for returning to this place. He no longer loved the Pressure, instead it terrified him in all its monstrosity. He knew he had to leave; this place had poisoned his heart, he had to go. NOW. He took the first step and almost took the second. He saw Home, in all its splendid glory, but he also saw all that was wrong with it. He looked behind him and saw The Outside, a stark contrast to the heavenly scene in front of him. He took a step.

This step took him directly to his left, for he knew that those two worlds were no longer his to walk. He looked behind him and almost screamed when he saw the glow. He looked closer and saw it was in the slightly deformed shape of his feet. He walked on, believing he was now ready for the surprises that awaited him.

He had been walking for a time, perhaps it had only been a minute, perhaps days. He had no way of knowing if it was day or night. The boy had originally been terrified, but had quickly realized that this place, a place he had begun to know as Inbetween, was outside of either worlds' time. He simply dragged on, his only way of knowing that he's progressing was seeing one foot go in front of the other. He had noticed the floor for the first time since he had begun to walk the endless plains of Inbetween, that the floor was a gritty, sand-like gray material that was displaced with each step he took. There had been times when he thought he had seen a huge figure in the distance. He quickly dismissed this as a hallucination from the exhaustion he must be feeling. It must be fake, he told himself, nothing but shapes made by my tired mind. Only, he didn't feel tired, hell, he didn't feel anything really. He ignored his momentary discomfort and kept walking ahead. One foot in front of the other.

After a great many steps the boy saw that the looming shape in the distance was growing, which disproved his earlier belief that it was simply a hallucination. He made it his landmark and he began trudge his way towards it. As he got closer he realized that what he had been seeing was a tower that kissed the sky of this desolate place. With each step he took he uncovered another secret. First that it seemed to go on forever, second it was made entirely out of a stone that is black as night, and third, that it looked as though it was nearing the end of its existence.

He arrived at the tower with growing anticipation, perhaps he would find someone to share his time with, or maybe a terrifying monster. Either way, he believed he was prepared to face what awaits him inside. Walking up the stone steps he noticed that none of the gritty material that makes up the ground of Inbetween had found its way onto the stone. He approached the great wooden door, a door so large it should have taken six men to push it open, but when the boy pressed upon its surface it swung open on well-oiled hinges as if it weighed no more than a feather.

The interior was dimly lit, the light seeming to come from nowhere. The stone was oppressing, making the boy feel true claustrophobia for the first time in his life. He enjoyed it, for it reminded him of The Outside before he had realized the pure poison that world is. The tower was not furnished, it only had small alcoves from time to time where one could rest. The boy felt the stone and it began to steal his heat almost before his skin ever touched it. He knew what this place was, he knew it was the anchor for the two worlds, a place that has certain characteristics of each of the two worlds. As soon as he entered the tower he had felt an almost loving embrace, not quite that of a parent, but that of a less caring family member. He was wary of this place however, he had learned his lesson since The Outside and had no ambition to repeat his previous mistake. The boy spent a time inside the tower, again there is no way to truly measure time Inbetween, but knew to leave once his heart had grown cold.

Making his way away from the tower, and the footprints he had left behind, the boy contemplated the existence of such a place. He wondered silently if it could fall, surely not, if it fell the two worlds would surely be doomed to collapse under their own weight. He knew however, that the tower had seemed to be on its last legs, and worried for the future of the worlds regardless of whether he inhabited either any more. It never occurred to him, however, that the Inbetween would suffer as a result of a collapse as well.