In the Absence

Heat clouded my vision, the colours around me, a dizzying blur. I stepped into the nearest building; a small takeaways, to get away from the pounding sun. The tiny space was rather dodgy looking but there stood a cheerful man, with grease splatters on his round stomach, ready to take my order.

Fishing what few coins I had out of my pocket, I grabbed a drink from the nearby fridge, and deposited both on the counter. As my measly offering was accepted, a flash of colour caught my eye.

Upon closer inspection, the flash revealed itself to be attached to a head, which was attached to a tall, wiry body of a boy around my age. Blowing my fringe out of my eyes, I decided he must be a confused tourist that was turning towards a suspicious ally. I decided I would follow him.

“Who are you?” The tourist snapped as I rounded a corner I had seen him disappear around.

“Easy there mate, the names Brody, you looked lost, is all,” He looked as if he didn’t believe me and I laughed when I realised why.  At 16, I was a well built bloke, with wild black hair, and a manic air that seemed to follow me.

“Well, Brody, I really must be going.” Suddenly he turned and disappeared through a apparently solid brick wall. My eyes bugged out, but still I pressed my hand against the hard surface. At the absence of resistance, my mind turned numb, and I stepped through.

I entered one of the strangest places I had ever seen. ‘Okay, first question, where am I?’ My brain scrambled for an answer as the first etchings of panic started to slip through my numbness and my eyes scanned the room. The room was constantly changing, first an elegant ballroom, then a small pub, next a club with an electric feel to it, sounds changing with the rooms. My fright escalated.

The people matched the strange surroundings, all wearing different attire. All moving differently, some quickly walking, no, I amended myself, the people moving were, in fact, not touching the ground. My alarm spiked some more.

To answer my first question, I asked the nearest person, for I had to believe they were people, where I was. He answered with a feral grin.

“Well, boy, I’d be happy to show you around.” My blood raced, but suddenly a lovely woman in a long silk gown pulled the man away, and calmly answered my question.

“Oh, sweet Lady Fate, why do you let Nick into the living?” she asked of no one in particular, “We are in the other world, m’boy, and you-” the rest of what she was saying pounded in my ears, untranslatable. My terror had reached an all time high, and my body couldn’t cope. As my eyes rolled back in my head, I glimpsed a strange flash of blue, and asked my next question. ‘How am I supposed to get out of here?’