The Player In First Place: The Last One Standing PART 1

"It doesn't count if you're already planning your defeat. If you're not willing to play by the rules, I won't go easy on you just because we're friends. You shouldn't have came in 35th place, maybe we could've known each other for longer.... Aline."

"The last one of us to finish the race is a rotten egg!" Cried Hannah as she pushed Liora aside and started running in order to give herself a head start.

"That dirty little cheater!" Grumbled Liora with affection, wiping her strawberry blonde hair out of her face, as she scrambled back up on her legs and started chasing after Hannah who was starting to disappear between the mass of running kids on the platform.

"Well I guess it's time for us to start running too; wouldn't want to be a rotten egg." Dana looked sideways at Aline who was walking peacefully and enjoying the cool breeze that was offered that day. Aline turned to look at her, she nodded and said "don't mind me, start running, I'll catch up to you guys soon enough..." Dana nodded smiled and took off, calling back to her and warning her to start running soon.

Aline looked at the sky with her deep blue eyes, watching the sky as she tried to recall the song she was replaying in her head before she was interrupted by her friends.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped. This song wasn't supposed to gain an audience.... Yet another lost memory of my stupid brain." Aline sighed, and started running, Wanting to catch up to her friends more than becoming a rotten egg. She quickly blended in with the other running kids.

****

"....And you came in Place 35! Congrats!" Called Teacher Jacob, smiling a wide stupid cheery smile while sticking a sticky note on Aline's forehead as she passed the finishing line.

"Please head over there, where all the students who finished the race are. Wait with them until the 100th student finishes the race. Then we'll take you finalists and give you your grand prize!" Teacher Jacob added. Aline didn't like his big stupid smile, He knew how much his students hated running, and his lessons. Yet he arranged a running competition for students to 'enjoy' themselves. Aline didn't get what part of running was enjoyable. Especially when the most hated sport teacher was there to greet her at the finishing line.

"Yes sir," Aline said politely, staring at her Teacher's big blob of a belly in a jumpsuit.

How was it fair to make students run while he chilled under the shade with a cool drink, sticking sticky notes on students' foreheads? He was definitely the epitome of evil.

Aline turned away from her teacher and headed towards the small amount of about two dozen students gathered under the shade of the storage room roof.

Aline joined the group, wandering if any of her friends were waiting for her yet. She knew that Hannah and Liora probably got tired and decided to walk and talk instead, Dana most likely joined them. Aline couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that she was the only one who took the rotten egg statement seriously.

"You know, being in place 35 isn't something to brag about, there is no need to stick that note on your forehead."

Aline blinked in surprise, snapping back to reality after spacing out. Infront of her she saw a tall girl with tanned skin and reddish brown hair, next to her was a shorter girl with big green eyes that tilted downwards and short brown hair.

The tall girl suddenly smiled,

"Just kidding! I also got mine on my forehead, although Nina here got it on the back of her head, it was a hassle to take out all the hairs."

Aline looked at the two girls, wondering why they were talking to her all of a sudden. Although she figured she didn't mind it while waiting.

"What numbers did you get?" She asked, the tall girl, wondering how many more students they had to wait for. The tall girl revealed a crumbled note in her hand, with the number 55 written on it in the same scribble that was Teacher Jacob's handwriting. "Nina got place 45, she was rather fast today."

"I see." So it means we already have more than half of the students here, waiting won't continue for long, I wonder when will Hannah, Liora and Dana arrive.... Aline thought. Glancing at the students who were waiting to pass the finish line, she saw a tall boy with black hair and brown cat shaped eyes getting a note with the number 65 attached to his forehead. However she didn't see any of her friends in the line.

"What's your name?" The girl called Nina suddenly interrupted.

"Aline" said Aline, "You are Nina right?" Nina smiled and nodded.

"Aline is a really pretty name! Wouldn't you agree Lian?" The tall girl nodded.

"Definitely." She smiled warmly.

"So you are Lian." Aline said, Lian nodded, although she didn't need to.

"All the students who scored from 1 to 100 please come this way!" Teacher Jacob called, standing infront of the storage room and waving his hand to gather everyone's attention.

All the students who scored from 1 to 100 gathered around Teacher Jacob in the entrance to the storage room mumbling to each other, all Wondering what surprise they might get inside the storage room.

"What do you think the prize will be? I think it might be some candy." Lian whispered to both other girls as they gathered around their teacher.

"Okay, now everyone will get inside the storage room to receive your prize, it will be cramped, so we have to be mindful of others! We will get inside one by one, so don't push-"

"Ow! What was that?" Aline flinched, she felt someone pushing her, yet when she turned around she didn't see anyone making their way through the crowd. She looked down at her wrist which suffered the bump. It was red, and some of the skin peeled off. "Huh,when did I get scratched?"

"Scratched? Where?" Nina asked.

"Oh nothing, someone just pushed me and I noticed I probably scratched myself."

"Can I see?"

"Here sure." Nina was looking at Aline's wound, completely ignoring Teacher Jacob when Lian nudged them both telling them to go inside.

It was really cramped inside the storage room. Teacher Jacob barely managed to fit in. And everyone had a hard time breathing.

"Okay, Listen up! In order to get the prize, you must place your note in your pocket, or tuck it in your pants. Make sure not to lose it no matter what! Then, one by one, you will open the door that's over their, and cross through it to the other side! Are we clear?"

"There's a second door in the storage room?"

"No way, I thought there was only one!"

"It's probably just a cupboard where they store all the stuff, didn't you wonder how come 100 students and a fat teacher could fit inside such a small space?"

"Shut up, the only thing preventing you from being fat is your height."

"Yeah man! You probably weigh more than him!"

Now that Aline thought of it, it was pretty peculiar. One wouldn't expect so much space in a mere storage room.

"Now, now, students. I didn't bring you here to measure the space in the storage room. Do as I tell you to, you'll understand it all soon enough."

There was indeed a second door in the storage room, Aline had a strange feeling as she saw kids walk through the door, one by one, no one of them returning to say that they met only wall.

"What do you think he meant by 'other side'?" Nina asked, she seemed to feel uneasy as well.

"Maybe there is a hidden passage to the shelter through the storage room?" Lian suggested, as they moved forward towards the door with each student who disappeared within it.

"Maybe..." Aline said, the feeling of uneasiness attacking her stomach, as it crawled up her chest bit by bit.

"We will soon find out..."

That 'soon' came earlier than expected.

Aline halted as her turn to cross the door came. She turned to look at Teacher Jacob of whom was standing next to the door, and said.

"Why do we need to cross this door? Can we do something else instead?"

Teacher Jacob pursed his lips, "You have nothing to worry about." He said, and added as if he read her mind "real life is not a fantasy, just cross the door to the other side, and you'll see what a pleasant surprise is waiting for you." He smiled warmly at her, reassuring her to cross the strange door.

Aline nodded, and opened the door, closing it behind her quickly.

It was rather dark, however rays of sunlight sneaked through small spaces between the wooden walls, allowing a bit of sight to Aline's eyes. The small space she was currently in looked more like a storage room than the room she was in before, around her she saw buckets and brooms stocked up on each other. There were boxes and cleaning materials stored away neatly as well. Aline started walking across the wooden floor, the only sound she could hear was the sound of her own footsteps, tapping across the floor.

The air was dusty, and smelling of mold as she passed by a stock of mops. She realized she was in some sort of tunnel, that extended to a longer distance than she remembered the storage room was.

Maybe I'm just overthinking things.... Aline thought, and stopped to look at the dust specks that were floating in the air under a ray of stolen sunlight. Real life is not a fantasy.... Stop feeling so uneasy. she looked around her and kept walking, focusing on finding the 'other side'.

Finally, after what felt like an awful lot of time. Aline reached what seemed to be the end of the tunnel, the wooden wall before her had a fresh smell, beyond it she heard the faint sound of birds chirping and wind rustling through leaves. The rays of sunlight that peeked through the spaces between the wooden tiles looked cooler at this place than at the beginning of the tunnel.

Aline's heart pounded furiously in her chest as she reached her hand for the cold handle. Where was she? She didn't know the storage room led to some kind of forest. What kind of surprise was she going to meet? Aline lowered her hand, and stared at the round door she was about to open, numb. She knew it was foolish, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of uneasiness that was lurching in her stomach.

"Real life is not a fantasy, just cross the door to the other side and you'll see what a pleasant surprise is waiting for you."

"That's right... That's right.... Teacher Jacob may be annoying, but he definitely isn't a witch who is planning to eat me. Just cross the door, everything is probably just your imagination..."

Aline took a deep breath and turned the handle, The door opened with a satisfying click.

When Aline opened her eyes, it was like all her senses had reawoken in a magical world as her fear left her.

***

Aline stepped outside, the world surrounding her seemed completely different than the world she came out from. Birds were chirping in the well groomed trees around her, while the leaves of the trees rustled peacefully guided by the perfect breeze that was blowing to the sound of nature. An elegant carved path of black rock extended through the space between the trees. ahead of her, Aline saw a few stairs the led to another path of black rock through the bushes. Looking at the inviting place that seemed like heaven, Aline immediately felt like finding a soft spot on the ground and sinking into a deep deep sleep.

The door behind her closed in a sudden slam. Tainting Aline's heaven as she turned around quickly to the tree she came out of, and tried helplessly to open the round oval door in the center of the bark. Alas, as already stated; it was to no avail. A poisonous feeling of lonely fear crept through Aline, seizing her heart, and making her wonder... Where are all the other kids who crossed the door before her? Was the next kid going to come out of that door?

It was at that moment, that Aline noticed the small stone statues on either side of the path staring at her. Lifeless yet alive at the same time. The face carved in the stone of each statue was identical; a long nose, blank eyes, short forehead and a closed mouth. Those blank eyes seemed to follow Aline no matter where she turned.

Aline heard a click of the door behind her. She turned around so quickly that she almost bumped into the boy emerging from the door. Aline and the boy of place 65 looked at each other for a moment, before he turned to look around him in astonishment.

"Where are we?" He asked, turning back to Aline.

"I don't know.... Do you mind moving a bit?" Aline asked as she made her way towards the door, she didn't like the way the statues stared at her, and wanted to return back to the storage room. As she reached the door, an emerging figure pushed both Aline and the boy to the ground.

"Yo Dude, don't just stand here! You're not letter people pass- whoa.... What is this place?" Asked a brown haired boy with bright green eyes in awe. He looked around him like a child watching a movie for the first time. Aline and the boy of place 65 stood up, rubbing their behinds.

"Why are it you two here? Where is everyone else?" The brown haired boy asked, looking at them both.

"Now that you think about it... Why were you the only one I saw when I came out? Did the other students go somewhere else?" The boy of place 65 looked at Aline, as if expecting her to know the answer. Aline shook her head. "I was alone when I got here..."

The door behind them opened again, Lian, Nina and a few more students emerged from the door, looking around with astonishment. As they all stepped on the path, the door closed behind them in a loud slam. A girl and a boy looked around in fright, and turned back to the door, intending to open it again.

"It won't open once it closes on this side." Aline said to them softly.

"Then what are we to do? Are we stuck here?! That cupboard was really weird and scary! Where are we?!" The girl yelled, tears threatening to flood her eyes. Lian suddenly put a reassuring hand on the girls shoulder and said, "don't worry, let's focus on finding the other students first. Maybe they're waiting for us somewhere with a surprise." The girl hugged Lian as Lian smiled. She turned to the rest of them and said. "We should stick together since we don't know where we are. Let's try following the path to the left, if that doesn't work we'll come back here and try the other paths. And if that doesn't work, we will return and try to figure something out, okay?"

Everyone nodded, Aline felt relieved that other students were around her, it made the statues a bit less creepy in her opinion.

"We should use the Statues as a way to mark our path." Suggested the boy of place 65. Liam nodded and ordered the students to pick up statues and set them on the path.

The group started walking, very close to each other and wary of their surroundings, jumping at every little sound they heard.

As they progressed like they planned, Aline started feeling a little more at ease, which wasn't to her liking.

"I have such a weird feeling.... Like this place is making me feel at ease... It's almost scary." Nina mumbled to Aline as they walked side by side, each carrying a creepy statue of their own. Aline nodded, feeling a bit more relieved that someone else knew how she felt. A bird chirped in the distance, making someone cry out for their mum in despair.

"Anyways... What do you think the surprise is?" Nina asked, Aline looked at her. Honestly, she doubted any surprise, but of course she wouldn't say that to Nina. Instead she said; "I don't know, I think food like Lian mentioned earlier." Nina nodded, looking down at her feet, there wasn't much conversation between them afterwards.

"How about we play something why we walk? It's awfully silent don't you think guys?" Lian declared cheerfully to the group as the sun started setting behind the trees. No one was eager to talk, let alone play a game, however the thought of remaining silent as it became darker terrified Aline and her group to the core.

As it became darker, they were distracting themselves in a game of 'Yes, No, Black, White'. Aline scored 15 points while the boy who was scared earlier scored more than 50 points. Lian was the worst, since she was careless and didn't pay attention to what she said.

They were all starting to feel better, as the short lamps alongside the path lit up, allowing them to have a yellowish light in the dark evening.

".... What are the colors of the zebra's stripes?"

"There are two colors, one is a very bright color, and one is a very dark color that absorbs all the light."

"But what are the names of the color?"

"I can't say for sure."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know the names."

"Then how will I know what color it is if you can't tell me? There are plenty of dark and bright colors!"

"Okay, the dark color is the color of the floor beneath us, and the light color is as bright as the statue I am holding."

"Oh I see... So you were referring to the colors black and white?"

"Precisely."

"Gosh.. You are too good at this Nina."

"No, you just suck Yoon Ho. Get better at it if you want to beat me."

"You think I suck? Look, I just made you say a word you weren't supposed to." Nina was taken aback in surprise, she opened her mouth a few times to argue back, but the sound of laughter cut in before she managed to speak. All the students in the group turned their heads towards the direction of the sound, it seemed to be coming from further ahead down the path.

"Let's head there, it's getting dark, maybe those are our classmates." Lian suggested, the lost kids nodded and, followed Lian, who was following the sound.

Aline followed the red brick path to a wider clearing in the shape of a square. there were tables with food, lamps providing lights and many kids laughing and talking, taking one portion after the other.

Aline recognized the kids as the other students of her school, there were about 80 of them. It seems they have found their schoolmates.

The group members let out a sigh of relief, Lian smiled in satisfaction and turned to Aline and the rest.

"I was right! We found them! It seems that this was the surprise! A pleasant one wouldn't you agree?" She flashed a smile and Ali e couldn't help but smile back. The girl who cried earlier hugged Lian and thanked her. None of the kids on the platform stopped to wonder, about the late hour of the night, or the food which kept appearing. Aline passed by a rather scary looking statue that the yellow light of the lamps gave a menacing shadow to it's well known features.

"Let's go grab something to eat!" Nina said, grabbing on Aline's sleeve and pulling her away from the creepy statue.

"Here have some of this! Vegetables are good for you you know!" Nina placed a large portion of broccoli with sauce on Aline's plate as Aline followed her quietly.

"You know you're so quiet, it's almost as if you're not here." Nina said suddenly, turning around and smiling friendly at Aline.

"I just don't have a lot to say." Aline answered, adding some sweets to her plate and deciding she'll get rid of the broccoli later. Nina frowned at her and said, "You're rather strange... I like it though, I can speak as much as I want and you'll listen."

"I guess."

"Let's go sit over there," Nina said, and pointed towards a surprisingly empty table surrounded by lamps.

Lian joined them as they say down to eat, she and Nina talked happily as Aline let herself wander around, trying to make sense of what was happening around her.

All the kids in the clearing were feeling satisfaction after filling their stomachs, even the kids who were acting wary before couldn't resist the temptations of food. Everyone was feeling at ease.

Aline rubbed her eyes, her eyelids felt very heavy all of a sudden. Aline's body prepared to collapse at any moment from exhaustion; funny, for she didn't do anything to make her feel tired.

"Be careful Aline, it seems like you need to sleep, let's head to the cabins." Lian said, catching Aline and helping her out of her chair. Nina nodded, looking tired as well. The girls left their table and headed after the herd of tired kids who kept walking on the path.

"Where are we going? What cabins are you talking about?" Aline asked anxious, she tried desperately to gather her strength and stand up for herself, alas she couldn't.

"Shh... Aline, you're very tired, don't worry." Nina whispered softly, petting Aline's head. "We'll arrive there soon so you can sleep."

Aline believed her, she let herself settle down on Lian's back as she looked around through the dreamy blur only a truly tired person can see, at other tired kids like herself who's friends decided to help them out.

It suddenly seemed so clear, the cabins which were right ahead of her.... The fact that they just crossed into some weird forest through a mysterious door in the storage room.... How the black floor suddenly turned into red brick....

A frightening sense of peace filled Aline's thoughts, like soft petals falling to the ground and being swept away by the gentle breeze. Aline closed her eyes and felt herself falling into a deep deep sleep.