Distort the world into clarity

Chapter Four: A warm welcome

It was almost 3:00 when Beatrice decided she had finally finished doing all her research. She got up and turned around to go back to bed. But there was no bed. Surprised, Beatrice closed her eyes and opened them again. The bed was still not there.

The stress began to spread all over her body. She felt as if her heart was all the way up her throat. It was beating so fast. For a while her mind was quiet. She couldn't breathe or move. Her bed was gone. Not only that, but the floor had also vanished. All she could see was clouds beneath her feet. Her desk, chair and laptop were the only objects still standing, along with the walls and roof of her house. That was all. She had never felt more alone and isolated.

Her eyes were able to move at least. She looked around her very empty room and tried to get used to the new environment. Her mother had taught her a breathing exercise not too long ago, so she tried that. She listened with closed eyes to the sounds of her breath and slowly but surely her mind was able to think again. She was probably just dreaming, she thought. She just had to wait until she woke up, that's all.

She opened her eyes again. Everything still looked so real. The clouds beneath her feet felt so warm and fluffy... Which could be an indication that it was a dream, maybe, since clouds shouldn't feel like anything, they're just water.

Then, a brilliant idea came to her mind. Her laptop. It was still there, it was still working. She quickly sat down behind her desk and started typing again.

"How do I know that I'm dreaming?"

"Signs that you're dreaming."

"How to find out that you're dreaming."

Click, click, click. Her eyes scanned the articles quickly and efficiently. She got her answers. Beatrice just had to try to count her fingers. So, that's what she did. She looked at her hand and seconds later she was completely horrified. Beatrice was perfectly able to count five fingers on each hand.

The second shock didn't last as long as the first one. She was sitting on the cloud that was holding her desk up. It was still very soft, so she decided to lay down. It's always good to try to relax in a stressful situation, like when everything stops making any kind of sense. Beatrice was only laying down for a few seconds, but the fatigue got the better of her and she fell asleep. The clouds just felt so nice and warm.

Beatrice slept for quite a long time, she didn't exactly know how long. When she got up it was already day again. The first thing she noticed, however, was that the sun was barely shining. It was still quite dark, even though it clearly wasn't night-time anymore.

She got up and tried to think of her next move. It seemed as if she would be stuck here for a while, wherever she was. Dream or not, it was all very real to her.

The window was so close, she shuffled towards it. Little step by step, as if she was learning how to walk all over again. She opened her curtains and looked outside. For a moment, she wasn't as scared anymore. The sight was so incredibly beautiful, she couldn't even process the absurdity.

Fish were hovering through the clouds, fluffy clouds like the one her house was standing on right now. Her entire neighbourhood was still standing, but she didn't see any people. It was just Beatrice and all the fish, swimming through the air.

A pack of turtles was just now passing by her house. A little bit further away, one or two clouds, a few jellyfish were swimming upwards. Beatrice looked left and right, she saw swordfish, koi carps, rays and all kinds of colourful fish she didn't know the names of. It was astounding.

For the first time in a very long time, Beatrice just stood there and watched. Her mind was clear. All she could focus on was the miracle in front of her, the colours and the shapes. Nothing more.

It took Beatrice minutes before she snapped out of her trance. When she snapped out of it, she didn't feel nervous or anxious. Her heart wasn't pounding, her hands weren't trembling and her head wasn't spinning. She was calm. It was a nice feeling so she let out a small smile and opened her window.

"Goodmorning!" Beatrice had no idea who she was yelling to. The fish probably didn't speak English. It just felt good to yell. The absurdity of the situation didn't unsettle Beatrice any longer. No one would be able to say they yelled to a bunch of fish who were swimming through fluffy pastel clouds except for her. Her smile became a laugh. This must be either a very realistic and strange dream or just a complete batshit alternate reality. Either way, it was hilarious to her.

"Goodmorning, miss." One of the turtles waved its leg to her.

Beatrice opened her mouth and no matter how hard she tried, she could not close it. Did that turtle just speak to her? Just when she thought it couldn't possibly get any weirder...

The polite turtle had reminded her of something. Were there any other humans even left in this world? If she ran downstairs, would her mother be there? It didn't seem like it. She didn't see any confused people on the streets, or actually, on the clouds. She was sure that if there were other people left, they would've showed their confused faces by now.

Just to be sure, Beatrice decided to still take a look downstairs. Maybe her mother was still there and they could figure this weird stuff out together. Maybe she could apologize once more for her outburst yesterday... Maybe her mother was in the kitchen, telling Beatrice to get some breakfast.

Beatrice walked slowly. What if her mother wasn't there? She stopped walking. She was very close to the stairs now. Maybe it was better to live with the uncertainty that her mother might still be there rather than realizing that she's all alone in this strange world.

Beatrice grabbed the railing of the stairs. Her curiosity was stronger than her fear. She just had to know.

She ran downstairs, into the kitchen. No one was there. Next stop, the living room. No one. Alright, maybe her mother was still in bed.

Beatrice sprinted upstairs and opened her mother's bedroom. No one.

No one was home. Just Beatrice. She was all alone.

Beatrice could feel tears stinging in her eyes. Her mother was really gone. She felt a heavy pain in her chest. Her heart was pumping loudly in her throat again. Great.

"Calm down, Bee," murmured Beatrice to herself. "You just need to find an adult, they'll know what to do." She tried to pick herself up again. Panicking was not an option right now. She had to find help.

Sadly, Beatrice did not find what she was seeking. Even though she searched the entire neighbourhood, there was no living human soul nearby. Unbeknownst to her, there weren't any humans far away either.

She truly was alone in this world.

Sorry about the weird typo's in the last few chapters. Strangely enough, Wattpad's formatting combines some of my words, even though my Word document clearly shows a space between them. I checked this chapter before publishing it, so it should be good this time. Tell me if you find a mistake, though. I really appreciate it :). Thanks for reading!