Penetrating into a Book Part One

The world is a dark dark place and no one realizes this but me. I would have never guessed that I would ever say that statement.

My name was Cole McKnight. They don't know that I am already dead. I don't know how I died. Everything, so far is just a mystery. All I know is that I might not ever see the world again.

From the beginning, nothing seemed off or wrong. No one could have guessed what would happen. It was any typical day of my normal, boring life. However, it was Halloween.

This year, I decided to dress up as an artist because I loved to draw. I felt like I could express anything in my artwork and just be free. It was a school day and I was running late. I rushed into the kitchen and literally shoved a breakfast bagel down my throat.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Cole? Can you not eat slowly?" yelled my mom.

"Sorry mom, I'm late for school". After saying goodbye to my mother, I ran to the bus stop and found out that I had missed the bus by 5 seconds. The bus driver did not even wait but I should have known. He had a bad reputation of ruining everyone's day.

Right away, I sprinted back to my house and asked if I could get a ride. She grabbed her keys and we were off.

Unlike my father, who was a terrible man, abusive father and hateful person, Mom was caring, loving, and sweet. Most of the time, she had to drop me off. I would always miss the bus and the driver was just being the awful person he was.

So I finally arrived at school, barely making it on time and was walking to art class, room 209. I was walking along, minding my own business when I saw the four boys I absolutely did not want to see in the morning.

Ever since elementary school, Derek made fun of me, from not wearing decent clothes to the activities I was interested. Today the main showing was the costume I was wearing. As usual, Derek and his three hooligans ganged up and started picking on me. But bullying was nothing new to me. My father, teachers and classmates liked to tyrannize me. Many times I tried telling people, such as the principal and counselors but it seemed as if no one ever cared for me. And I could never be able to tell my mother for she already had too much stress on her mind. I couldn't even dare to fight back, I was terrified of getting hurt.

"What a stupid art boy!" exclaimed Derek and kicked me in ribs. The pain was excruciating. It was as if I was I was drowning in my own body. The rest of the gang all cheered on and encouraged the leader.

When the bell rang for school to start, they all cackled like hyenas and dashed away. The one thing that made me most fearful of Derek was the gruesome cut across his left eye. I had invariably wondered how this menacing animal received such a well deserving scar. There was in him a dream where he would rule everyone and kill whoever comes in his way.

Throughout my childhood, I never had any true and loyal friends, no one to comfort me, no one to understand to me. To me, everyone was as blind as a bat. Despite my mother, no one saw my true colors or how amazing I really was. Though it may not seem, I was probably as normal as any kid my age.

But that day, I saw someone who I could fully relate to. I had never really noticed him at school before but then again, he had similar characteristics to me.

After school, I noticed that Derek, with his crew, was battering a scrawny, gaunt boy on the fields behind the main building. It was Dylan, a kid in my art class.

. Tired of seeing the bullies picking on people not their size, I had decided to square up and show them what I could do. Enough was enough. I felt particularly heroic and courageous.

I went up to the group and demanded that they let go of the boy. He was quite beaten up and needed to go to the nurse.

"Oh yeah, what are you going to do about it, art boy? Gonna paint me and show me in the gallery?" Derek laughed. " Get back to do drawing or whatever."

Somehow, this was the turning point for me. All the horrible memories I had bottled deep down inside, started bubbling up and taking control over me.

I looked around and saw a big, sharp rock lying right next to my foot. I picked it up and hit Derek in the head as hard as I could. Right away, the other three thugs bolted. Derek had fallen to the ground and was breathing abnormally slow. I couldn't even start to think of what I had done and the consequences that followed.

Dylan was shouting my name, telling me to get away, but I could not think straight. Everything was foggy and I could barely hear. Dylan started grabbing me and holding me up.

Faintly, I heard police sirens and all I wanted to do was get as far away as I possibly could. There was nothing on my mind except running and escaping. I started to sprint into the dense forest and even the fear of getting lost and not finding my way back didn't stop me.

After almost sprinting three miles, I decided to take a short break. I was panting really hard, so tired and thirsty. When I looked down, I saw that something had been buried into the hard packed soil. Curious, l bent over and reached for the item. It turned out to be some sort of journal or book. I opened to the first page and it stated, "Open the Book and Never Come Out." I flipped to the next page and there was a name written in the corner: J.R.R. Tolkien.

In the blink of an eye, the world started to disappear. Everything was vanishing in mid air. One moment something was there and the next, there was no trace of it. All the things I had seen just seconds ago was gone.

But right after, it was as if I had entered a new dimension, a new time zone, a new era. This place was petrifying. All I know now is that this is just the beginning of my escape. I have to get out. I just know that I cannot die in this region.