"Helloooo!" I called with my hands over my mouth. "Is anyone out there?" But only the echoes of my voice replied. I had been walking around for minutes, but only the drying corns met my desperate eyes. Wherever I looked, I could see nothing else. The only thing I could hear were the laughter of the birds and the sound of my brushing against the leaves. There were some dark insects too, though I dared not go near them.
"What if they speak, though?" I laughed at my own insanity and shook my head.
My headache returned, worse this time. I wasn't sure of the primary reason why. Perhaps it was the thirst, the hunger, the fear, the heat, the smell, the light, or all of it combined. I tried to soothe it with my sweaty fingers, but to no avail. Even my legs were straining, and the soles of my feet were dirty. All the pain I had ignored was catching up to me now. I couldn't proceed any further.
"But I can't give up," I said to myself, panting. "No way."
So I walked ahead, dragging my feet against the dusty lands, my vision blurry and my arms weakening. Suddenly, before I could become unconscious, I slipped. Looking down, I saw a swirling hole of mud. At first, it was small, but it gradually grew larger. Before I could escape, the thick mud swallowed my feet. I lost my balance and fell onto my back. I could no longer move. Then, all of me was swallowed, and I fell into oblivion.
I looked up at the narrowing light until it closed and darkness became my sole company. I tried to climb up, but thick mud surrounded me, causing me to slip back down each time. I attempted once more, but it was futile. The trap itself seemed impossible to escape, and I had already lost my strength.
I gave up and sighed in defeat, sitting on the ground, feeling hopeless and exhausted. I felt like a rabbit stuck in a hole, surrounded by nothing but mud and a huge root. I covered my nose with my hands when I smelled something, like a decaying body. The smell grew stronger, and I struggled to breathe. I felt suffocated, like someone trapped inside a balloon devoid of air.
My eyes widened, and I let out a wail when, out of nowhere, a slimy and throbbing creature slithered around my feet and legs. I felt the little, wriggling things against my feet and tried not to panic, despite feeling like I was losing my will to live.
Squinting my eyes, I tried to make out what was underneath me, and when it somehow became clear, my heart almost burst at what I saw.
"Aaahhh," I cried out.
A centipede! A freaking giant centipede with a smiling mouth but no nose or eyes. Its hundreds of little feet were like worms wriggling on salt. Panic surged through me, and shivers of electricity ran from my feet up to the ends of my hair. I outstretched my arms and hit it with all my might, but it was swift. I ran away and tried to climb up once more, but the mud pushed me down effortlessly. I tried again and again, but I ended up back where I started. My heart raced, and all my muscles quivered in disgust and fear.
Its mouth, filled with thousands of triangular teeth, opened. "Fear not," it said in a voice so soft and heavenly. "I mean no harm." But its creepy grin belied its words.
Slowly, it crawled across me, and I cried out in a deafening scream. "Don't come near me!" I shouted. "Stay away. Go away!"
My back hit the furthest point I could go. I gathered handfuls of mud and threw them at it, but it didn't budge. It continued traversing the distance between us with grace. My chest tightened, and my vision darkened as it finally reached me. Its squirming feet caressed my feet, creeping up to my legs.
"Don't," I gasped. "I said go away." I was drowning in my own tears as I screamed. It encircled my waist, trapping me against its fatty skin. My hair stood on end as it tightened, and I felt the violent throbbing of its veins. Its chuckle reverberated around my ears.
Its sticky, violet tongue lolled out, its steely teeth awaiting, and its deathly smell shoved its way into my nostrils. With a swift motion, it licked along my neck. "Yum," it said, its voice sounding like that of a toddler with sweets.
"No, please," I begged, "Nonono." I frantically shook my head left and right.
The centipede's mouth opened wider, aiming directly at my whole face. I tightened my eyes and silently prayed. I thought, "This is what you want, Louise, right?"
Of course not. I still had to return home.
"Do not tempt me," it whispered. "The taste of terror makes me addicted."
The slimy tongue's tip was busy stroking my jaw when, above us, a sudden boom shook the place where the centipede was enjoying its deluxe breakfast, which happened to be me.
"Intruder!" The centipede exclaimed.
When I opened my eyes once again, the racing balls of rainbow-colored fire were quickly approaching toward us. I could feel their blazing heat as they neared. They seemed to have their own facial expressions of fury and fun. Suddenly, the hole cracked open from above, and a burst of water spilled down on us. In no time, it filled the place, and I swam up to the awaiting hole of light. A force held me, but I broke free. My vision recovered, and I found myself hanging inside a watery bubble, with a giant corn holding me so I wouldn't fall with its leaves.
A red figure appeared out of nowhere, walking towards my location. It was her, the one who had put me in this filthy place. I closed my eyes instinctively as another explosion erupted. Heat filled the nearby surroundings. The rows of corn burned into ashes, while the centipede, once a formidable predator, now burned in a white hue, crawling down its former sanctuary.
I was paralyzed as the figure with a hood over her head finally approached me. With a tap of her slender fingers, the bubble covering me popped mutedly, and I descended slowly to the ground until I was standing on my own feet. Her awaiting hand grabbed mine, and she whispered in silence. The next thing I realized, a cottony group of clouds scooped me up, and I ascended gradually back into the marvelous sky.
She was flying without a need for these soft clouds. She remained silent for a moment, leading the way towards nowhere, so I entertained myself with this newfound comfort. The unearthly feeling was like lying under the softest pillow, as warm as a newborn. I was still not accustomed to these impossibilities that defied the laws of our world's nature. But eventually, I knew I must accept them, this magic, sorcery or whatever they called it. Especially when my going back home was no longer certain.
Later on, she finally showed herself, and before my eyes was a gorgeous lady with mesmerizing forest-green eyes. Her skin was as fair as snow, akin to porcelain. Her reddened lips stretched into a timid smile.
"Assure me you're okay," she asked in an evangelical voice.
All I could do was nod, albeit affirmatively. Despite experiencing all that dreams and nightmares could ever be, my brain still refused to acknowledge that all these weird and bizarre things could happen in this world.
Her eyes sparkled. "Hold on tight," she said, and I firmly gripped the edges of the softly-made cloud. "Don't be afraid," she added, and gradually, our speed increased as we drifted across the endless horizons.
I could not believe what lay below me: the forests, the seas, the mountains. I felt like the Queen of this world, soaring above, ruling everything in sight. How I wish. But my fantasy never went beyond that. I didn't belong here. I wasn't supposed to be here. I was meant for my world and only there.
Suddenly, a raging whirlwind chased after us, as fast as ours, destroying everything along its way. The lady cursed under her breath, and we descended into the nearest forest. I almost fell when we abruptly turned left, then right, up and down, as we avoided the wrinkled branches and large leaves of the colossal trees. The light could not penetrate down here, and we were greeted by shadows and who knows what else.
"Hold still," she said, assuring me. She looked over her shoulder at me. "I swore to not let anything happen to you." She returned her gaze back ahead. "So I won't."
Everything that was happening seemed to affect her minimally, while I was here, clueless and unsure of the wisest thing to do. I gripped the clouds fiercer as we soared higher, until the trees below seemed to have been reduced to mere bushes. Just as I was about to feel relief, we suddenly fell.
I burst into a high-pitched scream as the clouds underneath me instantly disappeared. We were hurtling down, being pushed by a powerful force invisible to both of us. I reached for the bright Sun, hoping that it could save us from our descent. I could even feel the mighty air below us because of our fast falling.
There was a soft thud. I wasn't immediately able to guess what happened, but when I felt numbing pain in my lower back, I belatedly realized that I was lying against a floating carpet.