Chapter 9: Coruscating Light into Symbols
Dizziness partially woke Martin up as he entered an illusory dark place. His vision, little blurry, as it took him a few moments to adjust to his new surroundings.
He found his self-sleeping on the floor. It was not cold. Well, it felt more comfortable than his bed, actually.
"My bed... Sigh..." There's another of his sigh. "My soft bed, my soft pillow, Mr. Grizzly. Sigh..." He couldn't help but remember his things in his room. Who is Mr. Grizzly? He makes Martin sleep comfortably when he's afraid. Yep. you heard it right.
Shaking his head to remove such saddening thoughts, he moved and felt refreshed to be able to move on his own. To wake up from a long slumber is worth a celebration. He is already a soul so every waking up is a blessing, right?
Martin tried to say hello but no sound came out from his opened mouth. He tried other words and he also clapped, but still, no sounds were heard.
'That's a bumper. I couldn't crack a joke then," He usually doesn't joke around. It is not that he is not funny, it just... nobody expects him to be one.
The deafening silence did not worry Martin, 'I experienced more horrifying things.' He thought.
There is no one there but countless doors and specks of familiar rainbow light can be found, both on his left and right. It looked like a hallway of doors, but vertical. No, a tower full of doors.
'Yep. A tower full of doors.'
There are so many that there are also doors on the second, third, and fourth floors and beyond it. Standing nearer the north of the ground floor, he presumed, he circled his view around the tower.
He tried to count how many doors are there, but whenever he nearly counted all of it, it seemed that there are more doors beside it, under, and above it.
It is yet another mystery how this unscientific place holds numerous doors that never ends. So, he stopped the fruitless endeavor and prioritized the place he is currently in.
'Soul disperses, so I must find a source of wind. If there is none, then will I be safe,' If his schoolmates will hear him, will they be speechless? Is this the MArtin they all knew? the serious-looking one?
The lighting here is more like a mellow one. Not too bright and not too dim. Just the perfect hue to comfort the feelings.
The doors, in general, looked mottled with a hint of rust, indicating how long of a time these doors stood here.
However, some of the doors have different shapes and vibrant colors. There are also varying images of different sizes formed by lines coruscating together and creating symbols.
'Coruscating because... there is no other term suitable,' again, satirizing himself seemed to be his newfound hobby. Not that anyone could blame him.
There was a small door with a plant symbol formed by green-like filaments vibrating with life, 'Just a leaf,' he thought.
One of the doors, the height of Lebron, is showing an image of a torch composed of spark-like fireflies that can conjure illusory fire capable of obliterating anything.
Another one is forming a sign of a coin and a mountain of gold; a different middle-sized door has a scissor as its representation twisted around with red strings; a crystal ball that is showing some vague images in an elephant proportion and many other doors.
The door with scissors is slightly bigger than the doors beside it. The crystal ball shows very blurry images nearing silhouettes. They seemed to make a story. That is what Martin thinks.
There was a door that has doors behind a door as the symbol; a fume of purplish smoke; a baton hitting a lump of cloudy substance, maybe a soul. Their only similarity is that they all have effervescent colors and a complete set of lines coruscating together forming a whole image.
On the other floors above it, there were also images of many things posted on its surface. A door of humungous size had a three-legged crow perching on the sun, another has a palm with red-eye on its center and even a whistling train.
After moving his eyes on some of the doors on the first floor, he moved his eyes to the next one.
The doors on the second floor are more numerous compared to the level below, which only have more than a dozen of doors.
And above the second floor, there were also other images, but the distance between them prevented Martin to see clearly what was on the doors.
However, the imageries on the second floor have dimmer colors as if they are not complete. Their symbols need more lines to fully show what was supposed to be there. And the doors above are more dimly colored than the previous floors and more lines are missing and so on.
He can vaguely see that the higher the floors, the lesser light until the doors are locked and chained with no light at all.
There is only darkness on the very top of him. Not even the rainbow lights could reach it.
He is trying to find an exit in all of these 'entrances.' Obviously, he failed. There seemed to be no end to these doors.
Then, he put his attention to the floating rainbow light. The lights from his body floated away when he woke up and joined the light there.
He remembered the glowing rainbow lights. First, it appeared when he was walking to join the embrace of his family. Then, at the tunnel where broken and unnecessary possessions existed and flowed around. Now, these lights are also in this tower.
'Maybe these lights are the ones guiding me and calling me here,' Martin thought but he did not see nor realize a very thin endless red string was tied to his body to somewhere unknown.
"Creak..."
While spectating this world-class view, the silence was broken when a door behind him creaked and sluggishly opened up a few inches.
He turned his head and looked at it. It was a door with a sarcophagus with an open lid where a skeleton laid inside wearing a bony crown on top of its head as the symbol. Black gas spewed out from the crevice of the slightly ajar door.
It was the door in the most northern part of the ground floor.
It was unknown to him, but this particular symbol appeared when he was closing his eyes and under enlightenment in the tunnel.
He slowly walked to it step-by-step as he watched the spewing of black gas increased as bounded malignant ghosts as entities emerged from its crack trying to lose their restrictions. They are trying so hard to get out as if they want to spread maliciousness around the world.
MArtin knew it is dangerous to open such bizarre doors. But, something is beckoning him over.
Curiosity gets the best out of Martin and just before he could try to open the door to know what is behind, another sound of squeak akin to old doors was heard.
And when his gaze landed onto that new door on the other end, he saw the essence of spring. He saw budding leaves growing slowly and then bloomed so beautifully that illusions of birds and butterflies and bees are singing.
'Maybe my eyes are failing me. Animals and insects can't sing. I don't know, maybe a dog can.' He wanted to say something but the rule of no sound inside these tower of doors still applied.
He could not find other similar objects to compare but he knew it was spring—blowing life. He is sure of it. It is the essence of spring.
"Speaking of spring, sigh, my spring has yet to come. I wonder if someone misses me out there."
But, he is still a teenager in mind and body. He remembered again his puppy love. His raging hormones sometimes is hard to contain. Crushes and puppy love are very normal in his age.
Before he could fully see what is emerging in the slit of the door of spring, another door was opened and on the heels of it, the more creaking sound followed suit.
He turned his head in so many directions and those directions, movement is evident. The silent theme inside was changed. Banging doors and clumping of locks and chains deafened him. At last, sounds were heard.
'Sounds, how I miss it... Dang it,' he still couldn't speak though.
Right there and then, he understands it, this is the place that is calling him.
#Oppurtunity