Six

I wander up past her throne and kneel down as I examine her nasty glare. The humming of the wind plays on repeat in the background, its sharp tune cutting into my brain. Her darting eye enters my soul paralyzing me, leadening the ambiance of the surrounding area. I stay on my knees, refusing to get up. She lingers above me waiting for me to make my first move. I don’t know her intentions or what she is hoping for. I focus my concentration back on the wind because it is more soothing than addressing my reality. Everything was striking me in the head, wounding my thoughts, making me incompetent. Not allowing me to produce decisions.

“How did I get here?” That thought floats around in my head for a while. What choices throughout my life lead me to this point? The noise starts to shift to waves with a faint cello in the background. My dad is positioned towards a monstrous wave. Prodigious blue beauties are plunging down deep in front of him, leaving a stunned look in his eyes. No memory of this pops into my head. A woman briskly rides out on a flamingo, she seems to be pregnant. Waddling around trying to get comfortable while gently comforting her baby. She rides along with her galloping pink plumage, which is a little out of the ordinary. It's my grandmother? A force takes her and thrashes her into the ocean fast and astoundingly. My eyes melt back into my head turning everything black. A moment of silence covers me causing my body to shiver. 

 My hands unfold. Six cubed rocks drop into my unraveled fingers, clinking together when they reach my palm. Each one is a different color. I squeeze them feeling as their power invades my tense body giving me a sense of accomplishment, sense of potential. I didn't do anything to deserve their helping hands. She's treating me well, giving me gifts of all sorts. Becoming my friendly neighbor I rely on for sugar. My brain shifts back to my trance. My grandmother enters a new dimension, with new people. A new atmosphere, green gracious land floating around her. A strong muscular man stands diagonal to her on the other side of this settlement. His long beard and broad figure make him look like a bodybuilder trying to benefit everyone with his gifts, his abilities. What did he do to deserve these things? What can I do to earn such rewards?

My grandmother plummets down into nothingness. She ends up in a wizard's magical expanse. Miles and miles of black abyss. He grips onto a portal to another chasm of reality. My head starts to throb. I squeeze the cubes until my fingers develop indented patterns on them. A vivid picture of this man flashes through my head, then I hear a murmur of the name Gabe. I don't know anyone by this name, so this wizard has to be him. He chats with my grandmother for a while, creating a bond, a friendly coworker sort of bond. Nothing they talk about seems to be sparking a memory to me, why am I forgetting stuff? Or did this stuff never happen? They trust each other, she puts her faith in him not suspecting a thing. Gabe throws the portal over my grandmother and devours her with it. My heartbeats start to speed up, I feel trapped. I can't get out of this loop. I lay my hand down, it makes contact with my chest allowing the rhythmic patterns to flow through my arm.

 A strong scent of orange citrus flows in and out of my nose. The place has the aroma of a small hometown cafe. My eyes start to open and I see her crouching next to me with an owl in her hand. It has hints of red in its fur with breathtaking auburn eyes. She hands it to me and tells me to kill it. I will be saved from these horrible images if I just lay it down for bed in a white blanket, peacefully. Air passes through my nose making me receive another whiff of orange peels that slices through my throat. I drop my hand off of my chest reaching for the owl.

I put the rocks in my pocket and comfort the owl in my arms, preparing it for what is yet to come. She tells me to go. I wander to where I originally entered at the beginning of this horrid journey. Standing at the door I gaze off into the distance. The dandelion sunset gets smudged up by the fog and slight sleet, making it look like an unfinished painting, waiting yet to be detailed. I walk back to my house, grab an ax and try to assassinate this poor owl. I lay its petite body on a wooden stump before I knock its head off. I start to wind up my arm when I see my grandmother sorrowfully screaming for her life in a sunflower field. Then I chop its head off with a puissant blow. I drop my weapon watching a little pool of blood form on the stump. 

I go into town to pick up a horse, I'm going to my grandmother's house. I plan on telling her everything that has been happening. Two years of nonstop torture and insane scenarios infecting my head. I grab the horse and start on a forthright journey. My hand gets encased in freezing powder as it drags itself off of the saddle, creating a spot for me to sit. I haven't envisioned anything yet, so I have a more positive mindset. The yellow sky turns to a burnt orange. The fog lowers to my feet revealing the finished painting. The finished journey. Out of nowhere, my head starts to pound, I brush it off, knowing I have done my duty and have nothing to worry about. I grab a crumbled cookie out of my rough black pocket, and vacuum it into my mouth, trying to remove my hunger. My head pain takes over my whole body and I start to shut down. I tumble off my horse and everything goes black. Complete darkness. I wander up past her throne and kneel down as I examine her nasty glare.