I awaken to find myself in a small bedroom, my breathing restricted as dust and mold permeate the air. My eyes shift to the ceiling and I notice large posters of military men hanging every which way; but I am unable to read any words written on them. My eyes shift to the floor as I notice old clothes and various military memorabilia scattered everywhere, while dust continues to float silently in the air. I see a faint red light beaming from the corner of the room, towards an old window. As my eyes focus on the light it fades away slowly. I try to get out of the bed but my legs feel heavy underneath the blankets. As I remove the bedding I notice that I'm in the same clothes as before, but they're dirty and scorched. My head feels numb, but slowly gains consciousness of my surroundings.
I try again to move out of the bed, but my legs falter and I hit the ground with a loud thud and dust moves around me in a cloud. I lift my arms and grab the side of the bed, trying to pull myself up. It feels as if my legs are completely numb, practically like they aren't there at all. As I gaze down they seem perfectly fine. I look up from my fallen state and realize how cramped the room really is.
I slowly crawl over to a large mirror propped up against the wall and stare into my reflection. I have no legs in the reflection, but when I look down, my legs are as they always are. I sit and pull up my shredded jeans and notice there are no scratches or bruises anywhere on my physical legs. Apart from my damaged clothes and my legs missing in the reflection, I see the body of a regular twenty-year old young adult. My red hair is slightly darkened by ash, but my dark brown eyes scattered freckles are still noticeable in my reflection.
I turn over onto my back and stare at the military posters hung amongst the walls and ceiling. Some are different from the rest, but I still can't read anything. The letters themselves move back and forth whenever I try to focus on each word. The room itself looks like it belonged in a black and white war film, filled with matching attire and props. I glance over to the window; I can barely see the clouds and sky above through the dust. There is a faint blue, red, and yellow tone amongst the clouds, almost as if someone has used a camera filter, dimming the overall brightness of the sky. But as if to end the peaceful silence, I jumped as a voice came from behind the bedroom door. "Honey, it's time for breakfast. We're both waiting on you. Make sure to wash up before you come down."
All of a sudden the room starts to spin, twisting and turning, changing colors and repeating vivid patterns and shapes. It feels as if I am being held upside down, blood rushing to my brain. I grab my head and move it around in circles, my body tensing and my stomach feeling queasy. Then, just as quick as it started, the spinning stops. I open my eyes and realize I am in another room. I sit before a regular wooden table, completely stunned. Ugly dark yellow wallpaper with green birds and twigs surrounds the entire room. I glance over to my left and I see a large bald man, dressed in a white dress shirt and a black tie reading a newspaper. He lets out a large grunt as an equally plump woman shuffles over from across the table. She has bright blond hair, pinned up in hair curlers and is wearing a silk pink nightgown. She slowly pours the man a drink, and shuffles back to the old-timey stovetop oven.
I realize that this room is a kitchen, and as I do smells of baked goods and breakfast foods fill the air. The woman speaks with her back turned towards the table, "Sweety, it's so nice having you home for once. You have no idea how much your father and I have missed you." The man grunts softly in agreement as he continues reading his newspaper. The woman eagerly turns towards the table and places down a plate that is completely empty, and the room falls silent. The woman whispers quietly, "Give me your hand sweety it's time to say our morning prayers." As she goes to grab my hand her fingers slip right through me. She holds her hand in the air as if we're connected, but my hands are still firmly on the table.
She continues, "Oh holy one, grant us thine blessing today. I thank you for the safe return of our son from this dreadful war. Give peace to all those who have suffered, and guide them towards salvation. In *&//#'s name…" Towards the end of her prayer the name cut out as if it was radio static.
As she opens her eyes she turns to me, her eyes glow red and she makes a devilish grin. Her head tilts to one side as it starts to drip, her skin falling onto the table as if it was liquid, exposing the muscle and bone underneath. She stares directly into my eyes and says, "Oh look what we have here? A little boy who fell out of the sky...now how did that happen? The savior will not be pleased with this, oh no no no..." Just then a hand slams on the table, "We should hand the boy over immediately! The savior must know about this!" The man screamed aloud as his body extended itself growing towards the ceiling. He grew higher and higher as his limbs grew lankier and lankier. His entire face was wiped clean of any features. His long arms reached towards me, as I tried to leave my chair I noticed a dark pool of sludge forming underneath. The dark sludge oozed out from under me as I tried to free myself. I tried to scream out in horror but my voice was gone. I looked towards the sky as the same red light from the window beamed upon me.
From the bottom of the chair black sludge made its way up my legs, body, and into my mouth, causing me to choke. I gazed upwards, eagerly staring into the light...
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I woke up covered in sweat. "STOP," I yell as I quickly rise forward. I freeze once I realize where I am. I'm in the same room as before. The same awful smell and dust fills the room. I grab my head and heart as I start to panic, "What is going on here?! Who were those people? Where am I?!" I jump out of bed and run over to the mirror alongside the wall. I scream into my reflection, "Am I dreaming? How can this be happening? This is all a bad dream!"
Out of utter desperation I punch the mirror, shattering it to pieces on the floor. I fall to the ground and begin to cry, blood beginning to pool around my hand.
I stare at the shattered class on the ground and I see a reflection. But instead of my reflection, I see another person staring back at me in a strange uniform. He is dressed in a uniform that is green and black, and a rifle in hands. He salutes me as a large explosion engulfs him from behind. He stands still, silently saluting as his body burns and his skin melts off. His body is boiling and burning due to the outrageous flames.
I fall backwards and scream, as the smell of blood and fire fill my nose. I curl myself up into a ball as I hear loud gun shots while still being inside the room. As if explosions are being set off next to me left and right. Through the explosions I hear a deep and raspy voice say, "You cannot escape me James. I will find you." As the voice finishes the room goes quiet.
After a moment I open my eyes and look back into the mirror. I see the same man from before, crawling forward, his legs missing. His face is covered in dirt and blood, obscured and burned. He reaches out to me, begging me for help as I stare in horror.
I pull my own hands backwards, terrified of the reflection in the mirror. I bring my bloody hand to my face, shielding myself from my reflection. As I lay on the floor crying, I hear footsteps at the door on the other side of the room. I immediately hold back my tears and hold my breath.
The door handle turns and I hear a soft voice say, "Honey are you awake? I've made some breakfast for you if you're hungry. If you can make sure to wash up before you–" As the door opens I realize it was the same woman from before, still dressed in her hair curlers and pink silk robe. She gasps aloud as she sees me laying on the floor, covered in blood and surrounded by broken glass. "Oh, my! Sweetie what happened to you? What-!", she yells while running over to me.
I raise my bloody hand into a fist and scream, "Don't touch me! Get away from me you monster!" The woman stops dead in her tracks and says, "Honey, I don't understand, what are you doing? What did you do?!" She tries to come closer and I yell, "This is all a dream isn't it! I must be insane! Why is this happening to me?!" The woman tries to come closer but then yells, "Jeb, come in here quick!"
Just then a large man bursts into the room and flings open the door. He is dressed exactly like the man before. He rushes over to the woman and says, "What in the world is going on here?!" As they both move closer towards me I hurriedly move backwards into the mirror. My bloody hand crushes the glass underneath me, making small crunching sounds as I wince in pain.
The man yells, "Stop son, you're hurting yourself! We won't do anything to you, just calm down alright!" As I put my other hand in front of me to block them, the woman reaches out and hugs me. She whispers, "Please dear, calm down, you're safe. I promise Jeb and I won't hurt a single hair on your precious little head."
She leans down and embraces me in her arms. Pulling me closer and gently places rubs the back of my head. The man comes over and gently takes my bloody hands.
They help me up and proceed to take me over to the bed on the other side of the room. They gently place me down and the woman whispers, "Honey it's alright…shhhh." The woman then leans to the man and says, "Jeb go get the first aid kit, he has glass all in his hands." The man runs out of the room and the woman softly rubs my bloody hand.
We sit in silence for a moment until the man returns with a red and white box, "Here Mary, there should be something in here that should help." The woman opens the box and proceeds to effortlessly remove small pieces of glass from my hands. Without speaking she carefully wraps up my wounds and places my hand gently onto the side of the bed.
She looks towards me peacefully and says, "There, now you should be right as rain. You made us worried sweetie." I stare at them in silence as she brings the man closer to the bedside.
"Sweetie…" she says, "Do you know where you are? We found you in the middle of a field, your clothes were burned but you were completely fine; at least before you got glass in your hands." She let out a small laugh and the man continued, "Son, you scared us half to death. We have no idea what you were doing in the middle of that field." Memories of the fall came flooding back to me.
I remember looking towards the sky, but not remembering how I ended up there in the first place. I faintly remember hearing a laugh…or maybe…I can't remember. My memories start to get fuzzy as the man and woman looked eagerly at me.
I gather all my strength and quietly say, "Yeah…about that. I guess I don't remember…Thank you for wrapping my hands though…" The woman sat there perplexed and said, "Of course sweetie, take all the time you need. Can you at least tell us your name?"
As she spoke my memories got fuzzier and fuzzier, the only thing I could remember was, "My name is James…that's…that's all I can remember I'm sorry." Everyone sat in silence for a moment until the man said, "Well, nice to meet you James. I'm Jeb, and this is Mary." They both smiled and Jeb tried to shake my hand only to realize I'm covered in bandages.
Mary leaned forward and said, "James sweetie, I was just about to finish breakfast. Take your time and come down when you're ready, if you can… All you need to do is go down the stairs on the left, and I'll have some delicious food prepared just for you." As Mary begins to leave the room she says one more thing, "Oh! The bathroom is to your right. I've left you a change of clothes beside the vanity. I guessed your size, considering you're such a small thing. Wash up and try not to break any more mirrors this time, ok sweetie?" As she finishes speaking they both finally leave the room; leaving me here in silence.