The Melted World - Worlds of Creators: Book One

7 - Facing ghosts

Colin wanted a way to escape the terrible reality in which he found himself. Feeling so powerless, though, death hovered on his head with the buzzing of a fly probing a corpse. He walked on the sand, entering the mirror-like water. Each new step took him deeper, diving his body in the dark sea. When his head submerged, he breathed, and nothing entered his lungs. Intact, he could live underwater if he so desired. But his human senses captured little of the ocean's vast expanse, its slimy floor muddy and dark.

Something touched him down there, something pressed against his body. Out of reflex, his body flinched and he pushed it back. If he were to die, he had to be sure of his attacker, and so he went back to the surface, water running down his body without making him wet. OOOO emerged with him, just a few steps behind.

It pressed its body against Colin again, pushing him to the ground. He resisted the creature's force, struggling to stand up.

"Get off me! What are you doing?" he said.

"I'm trying to fit in!"

"No, I don't want it! You only make things worse to me."

With a hard push, Colin released himself from OOOO's touch. The creature insisted.

"Like I said, I'm not an expert in human behavior, but you cried, and I wanted to fit in! That's what you need, isn't it? We share a world now, so we must fit in!" it said.

"I can only fit in with other people from Terra, not with you."

He ran faster away from OOOO, who watched their distance increase with perplexity. It hopped closer, and then stopped, because Colin turned around and threw sand at it. It got closer again and a half melted cell phone hit its head. Colin increased his speed, watching ahead of him, in the horizon, the World Voice's great blue pillar that understood him.

"You shouldn't go this way, should you? Hey, come back! Let's go the other way. We must run from the Voice, must we not? It has power over us, Creators, too. I did it to make Lara give up of Terra, and it was surprising even to me. Amazing, isn't it? Yes, dangerous too!"

Colin's newfound immortality allowed him to run madly, not one bit tired. At his top speed, however, he was no match to OOOO's hopping, who surpassed him with ease. It followed him, trying to divert their marathon elsewhere.

"Are you running to see more of my world? Because that is nice, and I want to join in! But, hey, you should wait the World Voice go the other way... If we go this way, it will be too strong. I can't take it for too long, you see? Unless you want to check if you are strong enough. Then it would be interesting, wouldn't it? Are you strong enough?"

Colin ran with the determination of a blind man, raising his chest high to invoke courage, being brave against OOOO, not the World Voice. The effect of his decisive expression, though, impressed his peer.

"I see, you're going to face it, aren't you? It's going to be incredible! But... But I can't go along, I don't want to melt. Can I watch from a distance? Yes, I'll watch, and you'll resist it, won't you? You won't melt?" it said.

Splotches of melted wood and concrete flew under their feet, debris falling down only to blend again in the world's soup. Leaving the beach area, they entered an avenue that continued towards the great pillar, the World Voice which became wider and wider in front of them, extending its glow to the infinitude of space where stars once sparkled. OOOO lost its constant smile. Colin ran by its side with unabated pace.

"You shouldn't go there if you're sad, should you? No, you would resist even less. You would see no reason to live. And Creators only die if they want to, you see? That's how the Voice melts things. Why don't you go back, then? Huh? You'll melt, won't you?"