The Maze of Nightmares

Five: Rose

Rose

When the walls shot up, separating them and the announcement played Rose's shoulders slumped. Alone again. Always alone. And now, she was alone in an unknown place with no idea what to do or where she was. All she knew was that if she got to the center, she could go home.

She sighed and trod down the right-most path she found, strategically deciding to not stick with only one direction. She turned left, then right, then went straight, then she found herself on a ledge. There was a mile-long stretch of water in front of her. After that mile, she could just see a hazy outline of the path. Rose looked behind her and saw a wall coming towards her. It was either jump or be pushed in.

So, she jumped. She was about halfway across when she felt movement in the water below her. Then she saw the fin. She began to swim as fast as she could but the fin was gaining on her. When she had less than four meters till the path, the shark pounced. Jaws filled with jagged, uneven teeth clamped on her leg. Rose screamed as pain shot through her. The shark dragged her underwater, her lungs filled with water, and panic overcame her.

As she was dragged down she wondered if anyone would miss her. No one at school would-she had no friends. Her family would be sad, but she was never very close with them. She felt limp and useless. Bitten in half by a shark. How annoying! Sharks almost never attacked humans. Why was this one different?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the realization that her leg was still attached to her. The shark hadn't bitten it off. That was illogical; a shark had the jaw strength to do that. She wiggled her toes on the leg in the shark's mouth. Then, she laughed. It was all fake. The shark wasn't real! It was an illusion. A painful illusion. She concentrated on the fact that it was fake and the pain vanished, the pressure gone.

It was all an illusion, just like Rose's smile. She had realized that it was easier to hide the fact that the bullies bothered her behind a smile. Her smile hid how lonely she was, how sad.

Free, she swam to the surface. The fact that it was fake didn't stop Rose from swimming as fast as she could to the path. Thankfully, once she was on the path, she was instantly dry. She raced away from the water. She didn't look back.