My mind spiraled into a whirlwind of "what if" scenarios, but none felt right. There was no way I could have been kidnapped; my mother had been with me until the very moment I fell asleep. I plopped down onto the concrete-like sand, grimacing as I rubbed my butt.
With no other options, I decided to continue my approach toward the overtowering walls. A magnetic force tugged at me, urging me to enter, but the path remained unclear. Time seemed to stretch endlessly; I must have been here for hours. "Hello!" I shouted into the emptiness, "Is anyone out there?" But my voice was met with only the gentle whisper of the breeze.
Impatient, I sat there, hoping to wake up soon. Flicking the sand around, "The sand seems to flow, but you just can't go." A voice echoed from all around, "It dispels you."
Confused, I glanced around, but saw nothing. "What do you mean?" I called out. "The walls, given how you are, may not consider you worthy," the voice echoed.
Already annoyed by the voice's riddles, "I don't have time for your games; either you help or leave me alone." I snapped; moments passed with no response from it, so I thought whatever it was vanished.
I felt a little bad for snapping at the voice after all; it was just lending me a hand, but causing me to stagger back into the hard sand was a taupe gray will-o-wisp appearing flying right from my chest. "Is that my s—"
"No, I am not your soul." The wisp cut off.
"Then what are you—nevermind that, what did you mean by 'it dispels you'?" I questioned, "Well, this place—everything here—is regulated based on your emotions," the wisp continued. "The more emotions you feel that are negative will affect this place in a way that seems almost not real; for example, frustration, which you seem to be really good at expressing, would cause everything here to resort to its original position, just like any other negative emotions." The wisp kept circling around my body, going in and out, sending thrills throughout me the entire time.
The wisp then stopped in front of my face, still seeing I'm confused by what it's saying: "Explaining simply time and space here will resort back to their origin form, so how about we try being happy or even better, clear-headed, since if you don't, we'll just end up in the never-ending spiral of your hotheadedness." Ignoring the wisps sly remarks, I began walking towards the imposing walls ahead with newfound determination.
To my understanding, I can't think of anything negative while trying to approach the walls, but that leaves a lot of things to be answered: what exactly would he consider negative? I thought.
"I don't think that will work, but lead the way, wise one." The wisp said while flying in front of me, "Didn't I just tell you to be clear-minded? And yet you're here overthinking." The wisp chided, "Overthinking? I don't think I was exactly doing that, more of things that are considered negative." I argued.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I feel exhausted and drained while my movements feel a little sluggish even though I'm sleeping.
which may be why I'm so cranky, but that doesn't make sense. I've never felt sleepy in a dream before; was that even possible? I thought, Well, this isn't a normal dream, so I guess anything goes—"Just don't think at all, these stunts of yours are really a hindrance." The wisp voice shot out, breaking my train of thought, "Fine, fine." I conceded, reaching those walls was my top priority.
Clearing my thoughts was rather hard.
Speaking of the fact that I used my first spell today, random jitters of happiness would appear whenever I even thought about it, causing my face to break into an involuntary smile, shaking off the feeling creeping up my face. I have to focus, I thought.
Taking a deep breath, I exhaled, trying to erase the turmoil within me. "Let's go," I spoke solemnly.
As we slowly approached the imposing walls, I heard a hum come into play.
Turning my head with a confused expression, but keeping my train of thought clear. The wisp looked at me even more confused than I was, "Whatever it is you're thinking about keep it to yourself," the wisp said, as if it was shrugging with its nonexistent shoulders.
As the walls grew closer, the humming only intensified, enveloping me from all directions. Yet it didn't seem threatening; rather, it felt oddly familiar, like I've heard this before, but I know I've never seen or heard the song, yet I couldn't help but feel safe. My whole body relaxed to the point where my movements became sheepish while my mind dulled and my body swayed with the song.
"Hey, what are you doing?" A muffled voice called out, "I think you might've gone mad!" The wisps' loud voice pierced my ears, breaking me from this trance-like state.
"You didn't hear that?" I asked the wisp whose eyes—if it had them—studied me.
"Hear what? Has your own influence on time driven you crazy or something, I'll have you know that only about thirty minutes have passed." The wisp continued, "Anyways, you've been walking into the wall… maybe you aren't the brightest in the bunch." The wisp snickered while his body bopped around the air.
"Wall?" I was confused until I looked to my right to see a jet-black wall towering over me. How could I not notice this? I thought as I placed my hand on its cold structure, "So how do we get in?" I asked the wisp, "Hmm, I'll go inside and form a gateway for you to enter."
The wisp vanished as its body went through the wall. "I'm not sure what to expect since whatever is inside these walls has always been darkness; the key to whatever lies inside may be you."
Soon a portal of taupe gray about my height and width formed. "I'm just supposed to walk into that?" I questioned, skepticism clouding my judgment.
"Isn't it a little too late to be doubting me?" The wisps' voice ranged disornately: "Come on, walk just through me; I'm doing this all to the benefit of you."
I continued to stare at the portal lines—or at least what I think they are—branching out from the center of the portal that flowed in an unruly motion.
The portal seemed to have its own gravitational pull as the taupe gray particles emitting from it pulled everything in about a three-meter radius and particularly begged me to come in. I simply poked the portal, and it warped to my touch, somewhat reminding me of a bubble.
"Hey! Don't touch me and hurry up." The wisp ordered, "In I go." I replied, walking in.
The entire portal warped as I stepped into its Taupe interior, reality around me swirled as my head began to spin. Colors—of the traditional rainbow—came into play and quickly flew past me. A white flash followed by true black, it all happened in a blur before reality finished unraveling.