Trapped

“Ally, take my hand!”

I could hear it all around me. The rocks crumbling in the cave, close to collapse. The hit to my head made it impossible to respond, like there was a lag between my senses and my brain, the fight or flight response dulled. ‘Move!’ I mentally yelled at myself.

“Come on, Ally. We don’t have much time.”

As if shaking myself out of a trance, my head jerked upward to look at my best friend, Wren. His bright red hair covered his furrowed brows which now masked the fear on his face. He struggled as he reached his hand out as far as possible to try to get me out. “You know I can’t.” I had other ideas. “Just get yourself out!” I managed to warn. At least one of us needs to get out alive.

“Ally, don’t be stupid.”

I looked up at the pebbles and stones raining down on me. It was almost over. A large rock made its way down, crushing my leg instantly. I yelped as my voice cracked, “Get out!”

“See you on the other side.” He managed to whisper before leaving. I knew he wanted to save me, but he’ll get his chance. It’s not over yet. With the pain still coursing through my body, I couldn’t get myself to think of anything else. I bit down hard on my lip to stop myself from screaming. My breathing hitched. Tears ran endlessly down my cheeks. ‘When will this end?’

And just like that darkness. It didn’t last long though. 

Within seconds, I was launched up from my bed, sweating and shivering. I clutched tightly onto my cartoon blanket as I attempted to calm down my breathing. ‘You’re okay. You’re okay.’ I chanted to myself.

Suddenly my alarm went off making me jump. You’d think after living this day a hundred times before, I’d be used to waking up right before my alarm, but no. I took a deep breath and scanned my room. Nothing was out of place. I got out of bed and walked toward the mirror, just staring. I sighed.

My golden brown hair was sweaty and strayed limb down my shoulders. I picked up my hairbrush and ran it through my hair like I always did. Morning routine - check.

Get dressed - check.

Breakfast with parents - check.

Irrelevant news talk with dad - check.

Heartbreaking hug and goodbye to mom - check.

This was the day she died. And she’s been dying over and over again.I must’ve done something wrong going after her killer because I’m stuck watching her die over and over again. It’s close to driving me insane. But it’s part of a bigger story - one which Wren and I keep repeating and need to get out of.

I walked out of my yard and over to Wren’s house to pick him up. The usual yelling and screaming had indicated nothing had changed. “Hey.” He greeted, slowly and carefully opening and closing the door behind him. “They’re still fighting.” I sighed. He was always an optimist, hoping his parents would finally come together. I knew differently. Hope is only a four-letter word.

“Shall we go?” I asked with a heavy breath.

He looked back for a second and smiled weakly. “Vamonos!” Both of us walked out. “So, by my log, we’re now looking for a flower of some sort.”

“Okay, what does this flower look like?”

“Great question.” He responded. I stared at him blankly, expecting an answer. He just looked forward. There’s no way this is happening right now. Please tell me he’s just pausing for dramatic effect. There’s no way I’m dying again to go through this… again.

He glanced at my confused face. “I don’t know what it looks like, but I know where we can find it. I’m hoping that’s enough.”

“Are you sure?”

“Believe me, I’ve watched you die enough times. For once, I’d like to get through this day.” He frowned. He was the only other person stuck in this time loop with me. At least I wasn’t alone, but I didn’t give a second thought to his feelings.

We continued walking as he led the way to an enclosed area of the local park. He jumped over the chained gate with ease, completely ignoring the red Restricted sign nailed to it. I managed to slowly climb a lower area of the wall, carefully avoiding the shards of glass placed there. Death by glass: been there, done that.

Fighting through the endless shrubbery on the ground, I followed Wren as he led the way. “Watch out for the -”

“Yeah, I know.” I mumbled. Death by poison: done that too.

“And the -”

“Got it,” I chuckled as I hopped over the tripwire. Death by arrow - you guessed it! Moving carefully, we passed the cave we tried to investigate yesterday. One I’d never thought would actually happen - death by rockslide.

Moving onto the other path, we came across a clearing surrounded by a canopy of tall trees. A whole garden full of colourful flowering plants. “You can’t be serious! For once, can’t it just be easy?” I yelled in frustration, my palms slapping my forehead. “How are we supposed to find the flower if we don’t know -”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the one.” I pointed my head in the direction Wren was gesturing to. A single purple flower isolated from the garden stood there, growing through an old tree stump. Its essence was almost alluring, demanding light through the thick canopy, like a spotlight.

The two of us trudged through the tall grass and stopped in front of it. “Casualty check?” Wren giggled, looking around for anything that could possibly kill me. If I die, we go through this all over again. No one wants that.

I walked the perimeter around the stump, taking my time to see if there was any sign of danger. This was it. This flower was the key to ending the loop once and for all. Not only would we be able to carry on, but if we time it right, we’d be saving two lives.

“Let’s do this.” I was determined to get this over with.

Wren took out a pair of scissors from his bag. He pointed it at the flower, slowly inching closer to it. “Just gonna carefully…” With one quick snap, he’d cut off the flower, closing his eyes as he did.

I can’t say I blame him. I was half expecting to -

“Ally!” I heard Wren scream. That was the last thing I heard before it went completely dark and silent. I felt my body fall lifeless onto the ground.

What? No! Not again. There was no trap. There wasn’t anyone waiting to kill us. No weathering storm out for us. No elemental event. No poison. No sign of any danger. I don’t understand! Everything was going right. We were nearly there!

With a sharp jerk, I woke up. Once again, I was on my bed, in my room, clutching tightly onto my covers, gasping for air. The same sweating and shaky feeling ran through my veins.

As I came to my senses, I expectantly waited for my alarm to ring. ‘Three… two… one…’ It beeped and I immediately shut it off, my hand not letting go. I was scared, frustrated, and angry. With a quick flick of my wrist, I threw the clock across the room.

“It wasn’t the flower!” I whispered to myself as I stared at the shattered pieces of the clock on my carpet.

Tears rolled freely down my cheeks at this point. How I ached to stay in bed and never leave. Was there even a way out of this horrendous loop?

I took a deep breath and wiped off the tears. Getting out of bed, I walked to my mirror and looked at the desperate and frustrated face that stared back. I sighed.

“Back to square one.”