The bus took off behind me into the white abyss. I watched the exhaust rise toward a blinding sky that went on forever. It was as if the entire world had become a perfect sheet of paper. But the ground beneath my sandals was as supportive as marble. Eventually, the bus vanished, leaving me alone at an empty bus stop.
My makeshift hobo sack rested against my right shoulder. My sprawling ginger beard brushed ever so slightly against my blistering hand that supported the hobo sack handle. I turned and looked around at the white void. It didn't surprise me because I had nothing to compare this world to. I couldn't remember anything from before the bus ride, just the reason I stepped onto the bus.
The bus stop had a small cement wall that spanned about six feet. It had two blue chairs that rested against it. They had a thick sheet of dust that had made itself at home. I turned away from the stop. I could see a box-like shape in the distance. I turned back one last time to the white void, then nodded away my hesitation.
As I approached, the square took shape into a small booth. It was made of grey steel that looked as if it had never seen weather. The roof was a simple sheet of aluminum with small screws holding it all together. A window illuminated with orange light from the center of the structure. The figure of a person came to the glass and stared wide eyes at me. I crept closer to contact it.
The person quickly flung the window to the side and immediately turned his attention away. I stood there waiting for instructions.
The person was a shorter male. He wore a tan, collared t-shirt with the word "ticket" embroidered across his back. He seemed to have his hair tied in a messy man bun.
"Cmon, I don't have a lot of time. You came prepared right?"
His tone was raspy like an old smoker. I kind of shrugged, not sure exactly what he was asking for.
"Okay well since you want to waste my time, I'll explain what you need in a list, and don't make me say it twice."
The man turned toward me; his eyes fixated on the paperwork that had appeared in his hands. He had a mustache that curled down to the bottom of his jaw. His face was close together like he had some sort of permanent squint.
"You are going to need to provide me with all your cards, license, social security, insurance, shoe size, waist size, last time you had interacted with a bird, the last thing you had drank, and frankly optional is the last name of your mom's last boyfriend."
I stood there wide-eyed. I wasn't even given a second to think before the man side-eyed me, dropping everything he was doing.
"Is time not that important to you? Must be nice."
I continued standing there awkwardly.
He turned slowly and clicked on a machine that rested against a wall. It slowly printed a small sheet of paper. Every second it took, the man looked like his eyes might implode from his head. I turned behind me to see just the white void. There was no one so I didn't quite understand the rush he had felt. I turned back to be met by the paper.
"All I need then is the reason you are order a ticket from this booth today."
I took a deep breath. My lips were dry and cracking. I opened them slowly to respond.
"I am here to die."
The man reached down and pulled out a small ticket. His demeanor became slow and calm. He exhaled a long-held breath. With his wrinkled hands, he handed the ticket to me.
"Enjoy the show son, and I hope you find what you are looking for."
He took the glass window and shut it behind him. The light that illuminated the shack turned off, leaving the shack to sleep silently in the white void.
I shuffled the ticket around in my palm. It was blue with a red border. The text read "Admission for One."
I took a moment to look around the area for my next destination. A few silent seconds went by before I thought of knocking on the booth for directions. As I turned back toward the booth, I felt my body sink straight down to the floor. I didn't even have a moment to think before I felt myself falling. I let go of my hobo sack as I could hear the wind blowing past my ears.
I felt a piece of my beard fly into my mouth as I tried to let out a scream. I could feel my stomach sink as I kicked into the air. The solid white ceiling was miles away from me in seconds. Before I could take in a breath, I felt my back slam into the ground, followed by the back of my head projecting straight into the ground.
As my eyes widened, I could hear chattering around me. The voices were soft, as they reached down to wrap around the back of my neck. All I could think was, "gosh those hands feel like a blanket."
I could see two figures, but their shape seemed a bit off from a person. The top of their heads almost looked like they had ears standing straight up.
"Wake up kid."
The voice was almost squeaky, like a child's.
I finally got my vision back, just to see two rabbits standing over me. I thought to myself, "maybe the voice is coming from behind me."
I rolled my eyes back to see nothing but orange and green dots.
"Is your head okay kid?"
I heard that voice again. I looked back to see the rabbits over top of me. One of them opened their mouth and spoke.
"Hello? Anyone there?"
I widened my eyes and quickly shot up to my knees.
The two rabbits hopped back on their hind legs. They had to be a good two feet tall.
The one on the left was a solid brown with a small buckle belt that had what looked to be a small, short sword. It opened its mouth and looked up at me.
"Whoa, you are a lot bigger than the kids that come through here."
The rabbit to the right had black and white spots littering its fur. They each had a small backpack with what looked like carrots sticking out. The spotted rabbit looked at the brown rabbit and spoke with a little higher-pitched voice.
"You think he was the one with the weird bag that fell from the sky?"
I looked down to see that I was missing my hobo sack. I also noticed the ground was covered with plants piercing from the dirt. Some were more orange than green. I made the connection between the carrots in the rabbit's bag and the field I kneeled in. The carrot field spanned endlessly in every direction. The horizon was covered by that same perfect white sky.
I looked up to see the sky from which I fell, miles above me.
The brown rabbit coughed to get my attention.
"Hey kid, let's get out of here and back to the house."
I stood to my feet and nodded. The two rabbits stood to my thighs as they hopped on all fours, leading me toward a small shack that lay in the flat field. My knees and back were covered in dirt, my beard holding small bits of rock and dust.
As we approached the shack, the aroma of something baking filled my nose. My stomach immediately growled as I realized I was starving.
The black rabbit twitched their ears and giggled. "Oh, good thing you're hungry, I spent all day on this batch of pies!"
I could not help but feel comfortable around these rabbits. The shack was larger inside than it seemed from its outside appearance. The well-taken care-of interior was homey and warm. The dark oak wood led to a beautiful kitchen that was a little small for me.
There was woven art and wind chimes across the walls and ceiling. Small frames held little messages that added a touch of calm to the home. The brown rabbit pointed at me to sit down at a table that was already decorated with fruit and settings.
There were six different plates set and waiting to be covered in food. The brown rabbit pulled a chair and hopped on.
"Let's start with some introductions. I am Skip, and that over there is my wife, Alice. We are the caretakers of the carrot fields here."
Alice laughed from within the kitchen as she pulled a pie from the oven. The sweet fragrance filled the room, making me almost want to drool.
"Obviously we aren't he only carrot farmers here, the fields go on forever practically." Alice projected as she set the pie on a platter plate.
Skip turned back to me. "Yes, yes. We have a few kids that have fallen from the sky just like you, just you seem a little older than the other batch. Anyways, they work for us, when they aren't playing around in the fields." He laughed as Alice brought the pie and set it in the center of the table.
A wind chime dinged by the front door as I heard voices approaching. The door opened as three kids entered, chatting amongst themselves. The strange thing that caught my eye is I couldn't see their faces. The three kids wore strange, woven helmets that were in the shape of rabbit heads. They had woven ears and two oversized buttons where the eyes would be.
There were three colors, a dark blue helmet with green buttons, a black helmet with bright orange buttons, and a white helmet with black buttons.
The three noticed my presence and stopped chatting. April stood up in the hallway as she spoke to them.
"Okay boys, dinner is ready for you."
She didn't acknowledge my existence to them as they had wanted. Instead, they quietly, one by one, sat down in their chairs.
Skip let out a slight cough and broke the silence.
"Allow me to say a graceful question tonight as we are all here together."
Skip closed his eyes and smiled.
"Are the things that happen around you really your fault, and should you keep those events heavy on your shoulders?"
The table was quiet. The question left a shiver in my spine.
"Let us eat!"
The entire family began to collect food onto their plates. I watched as the three boys grabbed at the food, teasing and laughing at each other. Skip and Alice began to chat and giggle at each other. I was nervous to grab the food that was generously cooked for me. It felt as if it did not belong to me.
A bright orange carrot sat in the bowl of fruit. I grabbed it and peeled the skin off with my dirty nails. I only ate enough to get the growling in my gut to go silent for the time being. As dinner ended, the boys and I helped clean. The home began to calm.
Alice kept glancing her eyes toward me. I was wiping the final plate dry as she hopped toward me.
"You will be sleeping here tonight. We have the room."
I began to nod my head no. It was too generous. I had not done anything to deserve this kindness. But she insisted.
Her ears twitched as the three boys ran down the hall. It was like a flash that had thrown me off guard. Three young boys ran naked out the front door.
One of the boys yelled out. "Last one in gets eaten by the Shadow!"
Alice sighed.
"Those boys are something for sure."
She looked up at me.
"Go follow them. They are going to the creek to bathe."
I held still. I felt a warm rush come into my face. I wanted to say something, I just couldn't find the courage to ask.
I nodded and walked out the front door. I had forgotten about the white abyss that shot light straight into my eyes. I wondered if there was such a thing as night and day. The carrots that spanned miles grew without any source of sunshine. No drops of rain to water the soil, yet it was cool and moist when I dragged my feet on top of it.
I spotted the three boys and their woven helmets splashing away in a small creek down the path. I wandered toward it, taking in the new world around me.
As I approached, the three boys' voices quieted down. They all turned toward me. I looked over the creek. The water was contained by strange river rocks that glistened. The hillside came up and created a small wall which I stood upon.
The boy in the dark blue helmet spoke out to me.
"What is that shit around your face?"
I was thrown off by the boy's voice. It was some sort of mountain accent. I assumed he spoke about my beard which needed cleaning urgently.
I combed my fingers through it as the boy in the black rabbit helmet spoke up.
"You gonna be taking my tool job tomorrow? If you are then you are cool in my book."
His voice was filled with youth. He stood shorter than the blue helmet by a few solid inches.
I turned my head to the question, making it obvious I wasn't sure what he meant by tool job. The two boys made their way out of the creek. I had not noticed but the boy in the white helmet had been staring straight at me. I was not sure how long he must have been staring, but it intrigued me.
The boy followed his friends out of the creek, and they began to walk past me toward the shack. The blue helmet paused this stride and turned to me.
"Be up when you hear the work windchime and be ready to rake carrots. We have a harvest coming up new guy."
I nodded as they walked their way down the path. I decided to take the open opportunity to bathe. I stripped down and walked into the creek. It was a comfortable temperature, so it was easy to sink in.
The water around me almost went black from the dirt that was washed away from my body. I lifted my hand and splashed at my beard.
I looked down at my wrists which had large, swelling scars. I wiped at them, getting the dirt cleared off my skin. I slowly transitioned from washing to closing my eyes and sinking my sore body into the water. I was close to sleeping, but I snapped out of it.
I sat on the edge of the creek, allowing my body to dry. My wrinkled and dry skin absorbed the water. My larger traps and shoulders felt the cool air close back up my pores. I took my clothes and put them back on. I took a deep breath and walked back to the rabbits' home.
As I entered the home, I could smell the fresh scent of candle smoke. The house was dark and quiet now. I could see Skip sitting in a rocking chair that stood in the corner of the room. On the table next to him sat the exposed short sword I had noticed before.
I approached him and looked at the blade. He turned up to me as I disturbed his gaze.
"You must be wondering why I keep a blade?"
I continued staring off at the fine details. The wooden handle split off into two curvy branches. The steel blade was about the size of my forearm. It had a small embroidery of a flower that sprawled its leaves to the pointed end.
"There are times where the windchimes will play a more, how do I put this? Unsettling tone."
I gave my attention to Skip as he stared off at the candle that illuminated parts of the walls, flickering shadows across his fluffy face.
"We made them because that's when the Shadows outside roam around the carrot fields. They stand there, waiting to hurt us. But they only can come out at those times, and when the windchime rings a all clear chime, it means the Shadows have vanished."
I took in the information, imagining what a "Shadow person" would look like. That is when one of the windchimes outside clicked together. It sounded like a bird chirp.
"That is the warning. The Shadows seem to stalk for about five hours. It gives us nineteen hours to be outside."
I turned toward Skip. I mumbled out a question that hung in my mind.
"Have they ever come inside?"
Skip exhaled. His long breath allowed shivers to run down my spine.
"We are completely safe. They can only hurt what is in the carrot fields, so you can rest easy kid."
Skip and I exchanged words for only a short amount of time before he dismissed me to rest. I was sent to the room down the hall, where the other boys lay in their own beds, side by side. I creaked to the farthest bed, which left four beds, two beds between me and the white helmet boy.
I wondered why they wore them. If it was to cover a hideous scar or if it had something to do with a tradition, I was unaware of it. The more I thought, the quicker I fell asleep. It felt as if the dark room kept my mind believing it was night, even though I knew behind the walls there was a bright field. I don't remember waking up once, or even moving in my sleep.