The Fourth Wall Breaks

2 - Where am I?

The seat beneath her was cold and she had a strange urge to throw up as the pressure in her ears built. She looked up as the seat belt sign turned off and looked around bewildered, "Am I on a plane?"

"What? How'd you think you were going to get there? Swim? Ughh, teenagers" The man on her right spat. She looked across at him thinking I wasn't talking to you!

A girl with brown hair walking through the isle stopped at my seat and tapped me on the shoulder. "I'm sorry. Your leg is in the way, can I get through please?"

Kisha looked at her leg quickly and moved it realising she had been sitting facing the isle because she didn't want to see or talk to the man next to her. "Oh. So sorry."

The girl didn't reply but quickly rushed into the toilet. Seeing as no one else was walking down the isle she replaced her legs in the walkway refusing to sit properly if it meant seeing that stingy old man next to her.

"I'm sorry, excuse me please." a deep angelic voice floated to her ears. She looked up embarrassed into the face of a handsome tanned male wearing no shirt. Blushing she looked down as he continued, "Your legs are in the way." So much for no one else was coming down the isle.

Kisha moved her legs out of the way but quickly called out to him as he walked, "Hey wait."

"Hmmm?" He hummed as he turned.

She had meant to ask for his number or a name or anything that would allow them to speak again but instead what came out was, "Are you related to that girl from earlier? The resemblance is uncanny. If you were female I'd say you were twins." He smiled, an action that practically melted Kisha. Both of them she had seen were quite beautiful.

"Yeah. She is my twin, but I'm not a girl."

"Oh," her blush deepened as he began to walk again before stopping and turning back.

"You weren't in my dream." He said shaking his head as if trying to get something out. "I'm sorry, truly, I really am." and with that he finally left.

For some reason though she couldn't help but continue to watch him as he walked to the toilet door and knocked. He looked a bit panicked and may have said something, but from back here she really couldn't tell. The door opened and he shoved his way in before the girl could come out.

Kisha stood suddenly looking at the book still clasped in her hands, The Perfect Combination. She wondered why this book had come with her but not the other, and where the gold bangle on her wrist came from when suddenly all the lights in the craft went off. No, she thought, I'm going to die.

If she had the ability to see in the dark she probably would have noticed as the twins exited the toilet room. If she had the ability to see she may have been able to read the book in front of her and known what would happen next. She didn't need it though, she now knew where she was and she knew this part quite well; this is where their father dies... and the plane crashes.

Panicking she opened and closed the book in front of her frantically attempting to go home. The plane shook, "There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home." She opened her eyes, expecting to be at home but was disappointed. "Dangit!"

The aircraft trembled again followed by a tumultuous noise as the back of the plane disconnected from the front. "There's no place like home." The wings caught fire. "There's no place like home." Her body was dragged into the air and out the back end of the plane. There's no place like home! Falling through the sky she dropped the book which immediately smashed into her left arm and she crashed into her window seat as the golden bangle on her arm burst into light.

"Holy crap!" She screamed as she hugged the cushions on her seat. "What the hell was that?" Her heart was pounding in her chest and her breathing was erratic.  With wide eyes she looked down at the floor which now had both the books - The Perfect Combination and The Fourth Wall Breaks.  

After calming down she picked up her new book with a look of amazement. Running to her shelf she pulled out another book and opened it in excitement. However, when she opened the book in her other hand she found herself still standing at the top of the stairs, a metre or so from her window seat. "Ughh!" she growled as she threw the books.

Her thoughts at that moment are hard to describe. She was frustrated that she didn't know how it worked or how she had ended up inside her book. The most saddening piece was when she doubted it was real. Things like that happen at times when one experiences something mind-blowing or unusual; the mind tries to rationalize your thoughts and soon amazing experiences become all but dreams. There is then of course the possibility that they don't think it's real but cannot doubt that it was. In such cases you'll find they generally deem themselves insane and slowly become so while trying to prove they're not. Sadly, this is the exact thing that happened to innocent Kisha.

"Stupid books! It was probably some real detailed dream I got from reading too much. I can definitely say that's the last one I ever want to have!" She said this but inside she knew she had been there. Her eyes slid down to the floor where her books lay. Surely, she couldn't leave them there. Bending over, she once again picked up her books from the floor. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - the title of the one on the top of her pile read. Kisha had always found Alice's story entertaining but would hate to have been Alice herself. Being lost in an unfamiliar world where the natural laws don't apply wasn't really on her list of places to visit - especially if she was going to lose her head.

Lying down on the window seat she opened Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and begun to read. She had only read to the end of the second paragraph before her mind was drawn back to her strange experience. Curious once again she pulled the book on top of the one she was already reading and opened it.

On the first page (after the title page) she found words now black - not gold - written all the way down the page and onto the next. She had only read the chapter heading before realising the book was once again blossoming with golden light.