The Voices - A Short Story Collection {English}

Monsters

@/djenne.g on Instagram

There are monsters nearby... you cannot rest yet.

I listen to the voice inside my head and force myself to stand up. My body screams in protest.
It wants to give up.
But I can't give up.
The shrieking sounds in the distance grow louder and louder. I pick up my sword and run.
Yes, I'm aware that I can't run forever. They'll catch up anyway.
However, I know that deep in the forest lives the one person who can help me.

My legs are moving, but I'm afraid that when I stop, I'll collapse and won't get back up.
'Don't give up just yet', I tell my body.
My ex-girlfriend should see me right now. Fighting monsters, trying to save the world.
With the emphasis on "trying".
Look. Do you ever decide on doing something - like, I don't know - saving the world without considering what could go wrong?
Yeah... I should've thought this one out.
I wasn't "the chosen one". Our village has been waiting for one of those.
I got tired of waiting and decided to take matters into my own hands.
This is the last time I do something on a whim.
Every villager knows about the cabin in the woods, but no one knows for sure who lives in it. There have been rumors about this mysterious magician inhabiting it.
I've been imagining my first meeting with the magician. Will we be immediate buddies? Will I scare them away? And what would I tell them?

The cabin looks bigger than I expected. Older too. Almost the entire exterior is decorated with ivy.
I stand in front of it for what feels like hours before I dare to knock.
No time to lose, Kayla. Focus.
My fist hits the wooden door and then... silence.
The monsters have stopped making noise. I only hear the sound of the bristling trees and my own heavy breathing.
Suddenly the door flies open. I stumble backwards and fall to the ground.
A person wearing a large dark blue cloak stands in front of me. Their eyes filled with surprise.
'Oh gosh! I didn't mean to startle you!' The person says. The potion they're holding disappears into the cloak pocket.
They bend down, which makes their dark brown dreadlocks dance around. 'Let me help you.'
I hesitate before taking their outstretched hand. I mumble a 'thank you'.
'My name is Djenne. She, they. Potion maker extraordinaire.' The potion maker says, while flashing a toothed grin.
'Kayla. She, her. Trying-to-save-the-world-without-dying extraordinaire.'
Djenne laughs at that. 'I knew someone would visit the potion maker eventually! Come inside  come inside!' She turns on their heels and makes their way through the cabin.
She walks as though they can take on everything. The confidence is almost to be jealous of. When she reaches a long table they stop. The trays on the table are filled with different ingredients. 'So stranger, what do you want?'
I frown. 'Help?'
Djenne reaches in their pocket and gets out the potion,  which she then puts on the table in front of them. She pulls off the cork. 'Let me rephrase. What do you want from me? Why come to me? I'm not the only magician out here.'
'No one knows about you, except that you seem to have defeated a lot of monsters before. Which is what we need. I need you to defeat the monsters that are threatening the city.'
'How would they know? How can you be sure?'
'Well.. didn't you?' I suddenly worry that I might've come to the wrong address.
Djenne laughs. 'Yeah, I have. However, not like the ones we are about to face. Luckily we have each other!'
'Each other? You mean that I'll join you?'
Djenne turns around to the shelf where they have her potions on display. She grabs a bag that hangs on a screw attached to the shelf and quickly fills the bag with potions. 'Exactly. Why else would you carry a sword?'
'Defense! Not offense!'
'Well...' Djenne is still gathering the potion she needs and doesn't look back at me. 'there is a first time for everything right?'

I wait silently, not knowing if I should offer my assistance or let them do her thing. When Djenne is done collecting the potions, they walks over to the far right of the dark wooden poseur table. I gasp at what lays on this table: a wand.
'I know. That was my reaction too, when I received my own wand. It's pretty darn cool.' Suddenly they stop.
First I don't understand what's wrong, but then I hear it too. A roar.
Djenne looks at me. Their gaze stern, but bold. 'We gotta go.'
Panic raises in my throat. What is she planning? 'W-wait, what? Why? I feel pretty comfortable here!'
'We are gonna pay the creatures a visit.'
'Nah! No way!'
Djenne grins. 'You came here wanting to be a hero, right? Well, let's be one!'
She wasn't joking. We are literally running towards the danger. They're way ahead of me because I'm 1) scared to do this and 2) not used to running that much.
Shivers race through my spine. I can't do this.
Djenne slows down a bit so that we run next to eachother and they grab my hand. She looks determined. Fierce.
It suddenly feels like, by holding my hand, they gave me some of her confidence.
We're going to save the world!
_______

Prompt: There are monsters nearby... you cannot rest yet.

Thanks to Djenne for giving the first prompt and being so excited! When I saw this prompt, I immediately knew where I wanted to go with this! I'm pretty proud of how it turned out! 

The Voices in this story are the ones inside of Kayla's head, telling her she needs to keep going. She's conflicted, because she wants to save the world, but she also thinks she isn't capable to do so. She reaches out to Djenne thinking they will save the world on their own, but they have faith in Kayla. My message with this story is mostly that you can always reach out to someone for guidance, but you can't let them fix your problems for you.

Thank you for reading!