"It's been a week since I moved into Kinsfield."
"Still, I have found nothing about the town's history. Besides talking to m'visitors, I take a stroll down to the library to research. Even if I couldn't find anything, I do like spending m'free time reading other books, like 'Life Under the Sun', an autobiography of a momtrepreneur living in Arizona. When I'm not reading, or researching, or talking, I usually just sit in m'rocking chair and listen to 'Ain't No Sunshine' on a cassette tape. Sometimes, I just ponder how other people live their lives. Do they spend their time reading like me? Do they sit and listen to music? I have yet to discover what other humans do. I haven't been in this world for too long to understand the ways of these whipsmart mortals." Minne wrote in her journal.
Wait...
"DAMMIT! Why did I write that in my diary?!
It looks like I'm talking to m'self! Now I just wasted a page in this precious notebook." she complained to herself.
"I met Marc again yesterday. He was going back to his house from Archway, and he seemed pretty happy. I'm sure his spirits were lifted when he found out that those girls will bully him no longer." Minne wrote.
Anyway, like every typical Saturday, she strode across the road going to Bookkeep, the local library. And, like every typical Saturday, Minne was greeted by Melanie, the cheerful librarian.
"Oh, hello Minne! You're back as always. Whaddya need?" the little jovial book-keeper crowed in joy.
"Greetings, Melanie. I would like to take a 'deeper look' into the History section. I need to confirm something." Minne requested as Melanie slowly gave her a... key?
"Alright, Minne. You've been asking that same question for a really long time now, and I'm starting to get a bit concerned. Let me pass a lil' secret that the previous librarians and I kept for a LONG time. And when I say 'long', I truly mean what I say." she warned.
Minne just stood there, skepticism in her eyes, clutching the rusty silver key while saying:
"Thank you."
She then tottered away from the counter in shock, since it looked like all the joy was sucked out of Melanie's happy little body. Her voice became a monotone mess, her eyes stopped blinking, her mouth became as still as a statue, and her hands were twitching. TWITCHING! Twitching as if she had tremors!
But before the marken left her line of sight, she called again:
"Minne!"
"I wanted to give you something before you drift into whatever lies ahead." she exacted as she handed Minne a crumpled piece of paper, with faded text, too unclear to read.
"O-okay, thanks." she awkwardly stuttered as she walked out of the library and retraced her steps back to her hut.
Minne took a step inside, and felt overwrought.
She felt like she had just seen a ghost.
She doesn't know where this uneasiness is coming from, and why it's here, but she just feels it.
Minne took the crumpled paper to her polished tree-stump table and examined it closely.
Suddenly, her eyes started to twitch as the paper started to founder.
The ground began to quiver.
The skies went black in terror.
All the houselights in the hut have turned sanguine, as Minne's hands began to tremble.
All the plants began to wilt in sadness.
And all the people began to fade...
...as if everyone just vanished from this world.
Minne was flat-out terrified.
"Is this what happened to the history?" she doubted.
The earth itself began to fissure, the seas began to flow wildly, the environment began to heat up, and stalactites started continuously falling from the sky.
"Am I going insane?"
"Am I going to die?"
"God, help me."
Minne stepped out of her hut in search for any living beings.
"HELLO?! IS ANYONE THERE?! PLEASE HELP ME OUT!" she cried in agony.
"ANYONE?! NO ONE?! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE HERE!"
"I'M TERRIFIED! WHY ISN'T ANYONE HERE? AM I REALLY ALL ALONE?!"
Minne eventually gave up trying to find any form of life, as she doesn't think there is any.
...until she saw a plump figure in a red cloak.
"HELLO?! WHO ARE YOU?! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY?!"
Granite spires, taverns and tents, and a red palace started to rise from the ground, out of nowhere. The cloaked figure then hid in the palace.
"HEY! STOP RUNNING!" Minne screamed as she tried to chase them, until...
Minne heard a loud bang.
A sound that would make when two smooth surfaces crash into each other.
Her head started to screw with her body.
That was when she realized that the blunt end of a stalactite fell straight on her head.
It hurt too much.
Minne felt like she was in the bowels of hell.
Her fatigued body then fell to the ground under her will.
"Tell me this is just a memory..." she wept to herself as her vision started fading to black, while seeing the red palace collapse.
...
She woke up, lying down on a hospital bed.
"Ugh, what h-happened..?" Minne groaned as a nearby nurse sauntered towards her.
"Old lady, you were found screaming in the middle of the town, then you suddenly collapsed."
"I remember everything, AND I'M 34, I'M NOT OLD!" she bawled to the nurse as she reached for a nearby water bottle.
The nurse lent her the bottle as she drank the entire thing.
"Dammit, the whole town might think I'm insane, or I was on drugs. How did that even happen? Oh, right. I looked at the crumpled paper Melanie gave me and that whole sequence happened." Minne thought.
"Hey, discharge me already. I need to go back to where I was before." she demanded.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot since you're already scheduled to have a head CT scan later at 17:00, unless the surgeon in charge cancels it."
"JUST LET ME OUT!" Minne gawped as she stood up from her daft bed and...
"AUGH! WHAT THE HELL?!" she raged as her head throbbed in pain so bad that she fell to the bed again.
"Ms. Ardene? You have a visitor." a different nurse informed her as Marc entered the room.
"Hey, are you okay, ma'am?" Marc queried.
"Please explain to me what happened in your point of view." Minne asked.
"Well..."
"There was a huge construction project near the edges of the town, so the ground started vibrating. You stepped outside your hut as you screamed 'Hello? Is anyone there? Please help me out!' I blinked rapidly in confusion, wondering if whatever I saw was real. 'Anyone? No one? Don't leave me alone here! I'm terrified! Why isn't anyone here? Am I really all alone?' you cried. Your screams were so agonizing it made my heart feel so heavy. You then pointed your trembling finger to one of the merchants walking in the north-center of the road that was walking back to his shop. 'Hello? Who are you? Why are you running away?' You gasped for air as your eyes started going balls everywhere, as if you've seen a ghost and you were trying to catch it with your eyes. 'Hey! Stop running!' You bellowed as you started staggering towards the merchant entering his little shop, as one of the townsfolk gave you a good whack in the head to try to make you go 'not insane'. It looked like you were talking absolute drivel. That was what happened." Marc explained bemusedly as Minne's eyes started to squint in uncertainty.
"That was what it looked like to you?" Minne wondered as she picked up her blanket and slammed it on the bed while standing up.
"But seriously, I really need to get out of here. I do NOT need a head CT at all, I'm fine! I'm Minne! What could go wrong with Minne?" She joked sarcastically.
"If you say so, ma'am." the nurse conferred.
Minne was discharged by a surgical intern.
She ran like the wind back to her hut, not even considering to take a cab.
As soon as she got there, she panted in exhaustion, and then quickly checked if the paper was there.
It wasn't.
Only a combusted mess remained on the stump table.
"What the hell? Why isn't it here?" she growled to herself.
"Eh, I should forget about it." she then accepted the fact that everything that happened today was an "unnecessary hallucination".
"Tomorrow will be a whole 'nother day."
