And then I shot up from bed. The weather is acting up. I had a bad dream, but what was it? I can’t remember. . . Wait, where is she? Is she okay? I have to check up on her. I don’t know why, but I think she’s in danger!

This is what the boy thought to himself as he awoken from an unpleasant slumber, only to be confronted with these feelings of concern and uncertainty.

The boy gets up from his bed. He sees that it is dark out and that there is thunder and lightning outside, along with rain and strong winds. He leaves the house to try and find this girl. No matter where he looked, her presence was not seen, not even a trace. Later on, the boy randomly stops and sits down, and cries. As tears pour down his face, so does the sorrow filled raindrops.

Darkness hits, then morning comes.

The boy wakes up from his bed, disoriented. He remembers the girl, and almost repeats what he did last night, but then remembers that he indeed did look mostly everywhere for her. . .

But then the boy questioned himself.

Wait a minute. . . This girl could . . . could I have imagined her? Was she even real? Maybe it was all a dream. . .

The boy kept going down a thought train that eventually led to no where. He then decides to partially wake up and with half the effort, start his day. He noticed that the sun wasn’t shining as bright as it usually does, and that the sky wasn’t as clear as it would normally be. He didn’t have the energy to fix it, so he left it be.

He looked at all the things that were usually fun, but nothing seemed to tic. When he looked at these things, memories of a vanished soul invaded his mind.

He then thought,

Nothing seems to be usual. It’s as if everything’s changed, and I’m powerless to stop it.

His whole life had changed. He lived his day with a mental limp, that unfortunately did not go completely unnoticed.

The boy is sitting on a step, looking down in the dumps. A man approaches the boy from behind, and he looks at him for a moment, puzzled.

The man: “Hey kid.”

The boy breaks away from his thoughts, recognizing the man’s presence.

The boy: “Hey.”

The man: “For someone who’s young, you don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself.”

The boy: “That’s cause I’m not.”

The man: “You’re just starting. You’ve got a lot to be happy for.”

The boy: “Maybe.”

A few moments of silence pass.

The man: “You’re lucky to be in a world like this. Where you’re not forced to do anything, or to be anybody you’re not. It’s just us and what we want.”

The boy narrows his eyebrows for a minute thinking about what the man just said.

The boy: “Wait, what do you mean?”

The man looks questionably at the boy.

The boy: “I mean, about the world thing. You made it sound like there are other worlds out there.”

The man: “That’s cause there are.”

The boy: “Maybe.”

About 5 seconds pass.

The man: “So what’s making you like this?”

The boy: “A girl.”

The man: “Oh. . . I know those days. Breakup?”

The boy: “Not exactly.”

The man becomes slightly confused.

The man: “Oh?”

The boy: “She just, disappeared. I dunno where she is.”

At this sudden realization, the man becomes immediately interested, or rather, concerned.

The man: “Hold your horses. . . When did this happen?”

The boy: “When that storm happened. She left then.”

The man thinks carefully, but is on to something.

The man: “I think I know where she is. . .”

The boy is consumed in disbelief, but also in subtle hope.

The boy: “How? Did you take her?!”

The man: “No. . . I did not. . . But that storm, it could have very well been someone, or something, temporarily breaking into this world, potentially taking your friend with it.”

The boy: “It sounds crazy, but . . . if I don’t follow up on it, the story won’t progress right?”

The man looks confused.

The boy: “I mean, wouldn’t it be stupid if everything just ended here if I refused to follow up on this?”

The man looks very confused.

The boy: “Nevermind. So what’s next?”

The man: “Right. So I know of a place where we could potentially find this girl, located in a not so well known and accessible place. I’ll lead you to it.”

The boy: “Then let’s go.”

The boy and the man start walking through the not-so-happy town to what appears to be a building with “sugar shack” written on it. They enter, and inside is an old restaurant.

The boy: “This is where she is?”

The man: “No. Not exactly. . .”

The man then sees stairs leading to the basement, and then says “Okay, it’s this way.”

The man then takes a key out of his pocket, and opens the door. When he does, it opens to a beach, with the sea on the right side, a cliff wall to his left, and straight ahead a lighthouse in the distance.

The man: “It’s right over to that lighthouse.”

They walk to the lighthouse, and the man opens the door leading inside. Inside, is a dark and dusty storage facility. It looks as though it hasn’t been attended to in a long time. The area, as said before, is so dark one cannot see that far into the void. Upon this discovery, the man snaps his fingers and a light begins to circle the man.

The man: “Come.”

As the newly formed light shines away the darkness, the two venture forward. It becomes clear that this place holds archives. They come to an open part of the area, to the left a desk facing a wall with a little TV monitor that has a built in VHS. Straight down and to the right are columns of archives.

The man: “Yeah. . . Yeah, this is the place. I haven’t been down here in a good while.”

The boy: “What did you do?”

The man: “Just research, there’s loads of material down here.”

The boy looks at the TV, and then says: “You watch cartoons on this?”
The man: “It reads the archives here. The archives are composed of VHS tapes. They contain just about everything, every bit of knowledge and what not. . . However, there are some odd tapes without labels, and I believe these may contain wormholes to other worlds.”

The boy: “How are we gonna access these worlds?”

The man: “You’re gonna go. I’ll send you. Only thing is, I can’t come with you. This is your world, and I’m apart of it. I can’t leave, but you can. You’re an administrator, and I’m just a user, so to speak.”

The boy: “If I have to go alone, then I will. . .”

The man: “Very noble of you . . . She must mean a lot to you . . . Go ahead and sit in that chair over there, and then we’ll get started.”

The boy nods and walks over and sits down in the chair. He can feel his heart beating, and a slight fear and panic start to override his body.

The man: “Now listen. . . While this will take you someplace new, I can’t guarantee that it’ll be safe. It’s a foreign land that I don’t know anything about, but if you stay true to yourself, you’ll pull through.”

The boy takes a deep breath.

The man puts his hand on the boys shoulder, and says: “You’ll do fine. I have faith in you.”

The boy: “Thank you.”

The man smiles, and then says: “Okay, now stare into this screen.”

The man puts in a VHS with no label, and the screen is just white noise. As the boy continues to watch, he begins to grow drowsy, and starts to have the feeling he is being dragged into the TV. As the world around him begins to fade to black, he hears the following words.

“ Good luck.”

The boy regains consciousness to find he is lying on the ground. The grass is yellow and dead. He takes a moment to get with it, and then goes to stand up. All around him are these dark, dead trees, with no leaves or signs of life. He looks up and sees the sky is brown in color, and the sky is lit, but the sun cannot be seen. Around him, the air is dusty and by no means fresh. Imagine walking into an old, overworked factory. As he looks around him, he can see a blue mist appear, in the form of a trail, and it leads in a specific direction.

He see’s this, and begins to follow it.

Jeez. What is this place? Reminds me of some horror movie I seen awhile back . . . I hope I get outta here soon.

A few minutes pass, and something moves out of the corner of his eye, making a noise on a nearby tree. It looks white. As soon as the boy see’s it on the very edge of his vision, it seemingly disappears.

It’s at this moment the boy realizes, he is not alone. He starts to breathe much more heavily, with growing fear of his environment.

What was that?! Am I hallucinating? I have no control here. I’m merely a visitor, in another person’s home, uninvited. . . I just have to follow this blue mist, and I’ll be okay. . . Everything will be okay. . .

The boy continues to follow the mist, while deep breathing. As he does, he starts to hear drums beating in the distance, and chanting in the direction where the mist is leading.

I want to get closer and find out what’s going on, but I dunno if it’s the greatest idea. Will they help me, or hurt me.

Eventually, he starts to see a large fire in the distance, where he then hides behind a bigger sized rock nearby to get a better look at this occurrence. He sees a circular plain with no trees, and a bonfire with knee high white colored monkeys dancing around the fire. The white colored monkeys have dreaded hair that covers their face, like those white mop looking dogs. Hence, Mop Monkey’s. This appears to be a ritual of some sort. By this bonfire, the boy see’s an old, run down temple. It looks similar to the Aztec Native American temples used a while ago. The mist leads right inside the temples doors.

Could this be where she is? I’m gonna have trouble getting in without getting noticed. I can’t do much here.

The boy thought on this for a while, and then came up with an idea. He created a fake Mop Monkey, to instigate and get the attention of the rest of them to lead them away from the temple. He does this, and the imposter throws a small rock at the other Mop Monkey’s, which is then greeted with instant hostility. It then runs away, while attracting all of the Mop Monkey’s around the fire, to it, leading to a clear path to the temple.

As they disappear, the boy walks to the temple; and then he hears a loud screech coming from behind him.

One of the Mop Monkeys’ found him, and lunged forth, exposing its sharp teeth and disturbing face. It knocks him down, but he gets it off. He is panicked, and so runs for the temple door. He opens the door, and it leads to a backdoor in a separate location on the same world. Once he comes through, the door shuts behind him and it cannot be opened again from where he is at. Ahead of him is a small river leading straight down. It’s about 6 feet across in width. On both of the sides of the river, there are dead trees. There are also dead trees to the left and right before the river starts, and they aren’t letting anything through. The water is dark and muddy. It looks like someone dug a hole.

Do I really have to get in this? There seems to be no other way to go. Who knows what’s inside of this water.

As the boy peers over into the water, observing it and thinking, he is suddenly pushed in from behind. It feels like a person pushed him. He begins to panic.

What the-?! Oh my god! I’m gonna drown! I don’t know how to swim!

This is what the boy thinks as he lives to what he thinks is his last moments alive. The boy is being pulled down, and cannot move or pull himself back up. All he can feel is his body falling to the void below, as he struggles to hang on to life.

“ Relax!”

The boy hears a voice scream to him as he falls deeper into the water. He realizes it is useless to fight anymore. He knows this is where he’ll die, where he will become one with the water. Now, he’ll never see her again He stops fighting, and sinks deeper water. He tried, but one can only fight for so long.

He closes his eyes, as he lets the water fill him. He reaches a state of peace with himself and the world around him.

He accepts his fate.

. . . . .

???: “I said relax! It’s gonna be okay!”

???: “Sorry! It just stings a little.”

The scene cuts to the boy with a scrapped knee, and a girl helping him.

The girl: “I bet it does. What did you think was gonna happen?”

The boy shrugs.

The boy: “I dunno.”

The girl sighs.

The girl: “Well, you’re lucky it wasn’t anything serious. You could have gotten really hurt.”

The boy: “I know. I’ll have to think more next time.”

The girl: “You’ll have to.”

The girl makes some finishing touches on the wound.

The girl: “Alright, it looks like you’re good to go. Can you walk alright?”

The boy tests out his legs.

The boy: “Yeah, I’m alright. Thanks for helping.”

He was a little sore, but he didn’t want to show it.

The girl: “Of course. . . Be careful, I’ll see you later!”

The boy thinks of something.

The boy: “Wait!”

The girl turns around, looking puzzled.

The boy: “Are you doing anything later?”

The girl: “I was going to take a walk in the forest later, that’s about it. Why do you ask?”

The boy: “Well, I was thinking. . . Maybe I could come with you?”

The girl smiles at him.

The girl: “Only if you promise not to ride down anymore hills.”

The boy smiles back.

The boy: “I promise.”

. . . . .

The boy opens his eyes.

Oh god! I’m underwater! But. . . I can breathe just fine. And move too.

He’s underwater, and finds that he can breathe and move just fine. He’s in what looks like an underwater cave with multiple entrances, but nowhere to turn back to. He sees the blue mist again, and it starts to move down one of the tunnels. The boy follows it. As he does, he finds that there are small jellyfish type creatures that do not appear to be that friendly, as they chase and try to kill him. He tries his best to avoid them while going down a series of seemingly never ending tunnels, chasing a blue mist. His chase comes to an end when he reaches the surface of the water in a large cave room. In the middle, there is a small platform of rock.

Finally. An opening out of here.

The blue mist leads him to it and once he gets up on it, there is a small cavern door. The boy opens the cavern door, and he is sucked into the black void.

The boy wakes up on a grey concrete panel, surrounded by a desert. Within seconds, it already becomes clear that it’s unbearably hot. He also see’s desert hill in the distance, and sand blowing around him.

It’s so hot here. I can feel the sun’s light burn me already.

He decides to take a step over and the sand by his feet and the sand moves out of his way, reveling another grey concrete tile. He takes a step to the left of him and a loud screeching noise becomes heard. He’s then in intense pain, ranging from his feet burning to his back aching. He quickly steps off of the tile and grows anxious.

It’s so hot. I need water.

The blue mist yet again emerges by him, and starts to take the form of a person. Once the boy stops to observe it, it begins to walk away.

The boy: “Wait!”

Despite his request, the mist keeps walking. The boy runs to catch up with it. It continues to walk along the concrete tiles for about 5 minutes or so, then begins to run across the sand. It ran above the black tiles, and onto the grey ones from away.

I guess I don’t have a choice; I have to run across these black tiles quickly.

The boy took a deep breath and began to run across the black tiles. His head fills with a disturbing screech, piercing his eardrums, while his feet ache and burn. He feels relived after having run to the safe side. However, once he gets over, the mist does not wait. It continues moving seemingly with an issue to time.

Damn. I’d love to rest for a minute, but I gotta keep up with this thing.

And so the boy did. Time has not a place in this world, where seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, and hours into days. In the distance, a desert structure begins to take form in the boy’s vision. There’s some hope for the boy, maybe he will see her again. The thought of her drives him on.

He starts to notice that this mist isn’t going straight towards the temple. Instead, they seem to be going around in circles. If one were to observe how long it’s been, it would be fair to say that a few hours have passed. Although, in the boy’s shoes, it would feel much longer. Even feeling never ending. But what choice does he have? He has to follow the mist.

The pain intensifies. Sweat pours through his skin, his feet hurt like they’ve never hurt before. His back aches, his legs are cramping. He is almost limping at this point, and he’s approaching his limit. Literally every step he takes intensifies the pain. He begins to hallucinate. He now see’s to the left and right of him people, as he walks down a sidewalk, following the mist. He hears the voices of people around him. He will do anything to end the pain. As soon as his sanity slips, he arrives at the temple. And as he opens the door, he allows himself to fall into the black void.

. . . . .

??? : “Look at this water! It’s amazing! It’s one of the biggest and most beautiful oceans I’ve ever seen!”

The vision turns to the boy lying in sand.

The boy: “It sure is! The sun’s amazing too, how skin absorbs it.”

The girl is by the water observing it.

The girl: “How’d you find this place?”

The boy: “Exploring. I’ve found many things, including you.”

The girl smiles.

The girl: “I like it here.”

The boy smiles back.

The boy: “I do too.”

. . . . .

The boy wakes up on a bed, inside of a cabin with no windows.

Did I fall asleep?

Within seconds, he can already feel the pain lingering inside of his body.

I guess it wasn’t a dream.

He remembers the sand, the sun, and all the walking. His body is evidence of this. He tries to get up, and he can feel the pain and soreness of all his muscles, but he can move and function, on a basic level at least. He goes to stand up, it’s visible he’s in pain, as he has a slight limp from his left foot. He walks to the door leading out, as there is nothing else in the room but a bedside table with a small lit candle and a light from above.

He walks over to the door and opens it, a strong blast of air with snow comes through, and he immediately shuts the door.

There’s a blizzard outside. There’s no way I can get out of here. I’ll freeze to death.

He sits on the bed, and thinks.

“ Here, this is from the sloth.”

A voice seemingly out of nowhere says this, and a wardrobe chest comes out of the wall.

The hell?!

In shock, the boy opens up the wardrobe, and he see’s heavy snow clothes, fit for harsh conditions such as this. He puts the clothes on and while in pain, can still move around still with a mild limp. He opens the door, and enters the frozen wasteland.

Already, he can feel the cold, despite his specialized clothing. He tries to look around but cannot find anything of interest. He keeps walking then sees a stone structure in the distance, despite the blizzard.

I dunno if I can make it.

What seems like hours go by and the boy feels his legs freezing, and he starts to shiver. The cold freezes his skin slowly, as he keeps pushing forward.

Oh my god. It’s so cold. I’m going to freeze to death. . . To be on the beach again, I’d do anything.

The boy finally reaches the stone structure. He opens the door, and walks in. The door shuts behind him. There’s something wrong here. There is no sound other than that the boy makes. Not even the sound of the wind blowing. There is an absence of life here. Not even bacteria or dust in the air. He begins to walk around the room. It’s similar to the interior of old gothic castles. To the left he sees what looks like a stick figure that is very thin, with a rectangle head that is thin in width. It looks at him.

The hell is that thing? Is it gonna hurt me? I’ll just not move and keep my head down. Maybe it won’t see me as a threat.

It has two circular eyes that have just blue. It looks like the eyes are missing. Its mouth is a simple frown line. It looks at him for a short moment, curiously, but then walks away.

Wow. I guess I got lucky.

???: “I see you, boy. You can’t hide.”

Maybe not.

A voice spoke down a dark hall.

Voice: “Wait there.”

What am I gonna do? I’m gonna die, aren’t I?

Voice: “Boo.”

The voice comes from behind the boy, and he turns around quick to see that someone is standing behind him.

The boy: “Gah!”

The boy yells in shock. This person doesn’t look good. His eyes are completely black, and there is red around them on the outside.

The man: “Aww. Thank you for flattering me. Now, why are you here?”

The boy: “I’m looking for someone. . . Someone I lost.”

The man: “We’ve all lost someone. One way or another. What makes this person so special?”

The boy: “She’s all I care about. She’s why I came all the way out here,”

The man: “Girlfriend?”

The boy: “Something like that.”

The man: “I know where you can find her. Follow me.”

I have to follow him. There doesn’t seem to be a way out, and staying with him is my best bet.

Not having many choices to go by, the boy decided to follow the man. The man leads the boy to a very long dark tunnel. He spawns a torch and it provides light around him and the boy.

The man: “Keep to this side. Don’t fall in the water. You wouldn’t believe what’s in there if I told you.”

The boy: “Then I guess it’s better not to know.”

The man: “That it is.”

They walk in silence for a while until they come to a door.

The man: “Yeah, this is it.”

The boy: “She’s in here?”

The man: “Sort of. It’s a pretty big room. It may take a while to find this girl, but she’s definitely in there. You’ll have to be determined, and most importantly, patient. This world is also the darkest and most complex there is, but there is happiness to be found here, if you look in the right places.”

This is it. I finally made it. All the pain and sorrow, it all paid off. I know she’s in this room. I can feel it.

The man: “Here’s the key.”

The man gives the boy the key, and then walks away into the shadows down the tunnel. The boy takes a deep breath, and inserts the key. He twists the key to the left, and the door clicks. He opens the door, and intense bright light comes out.

. . . . .

???: “Do you think there are other worlds out there?”

???: “Maybe. It’s hard to say.”

The scene is reveled to be the boy and the girl sitting on top of the hill looking at the sun set.

The girl: “I think it’s definitely a possibility.”

The boy: “I think it’s one too. I wonder what they’d be like.”

The girl: “Maybe we all live inside of our own worlds. Where everything is perfect, but it doesn’t mean it’s the only one that is out there. And even then, how would we share things with other people if we always lived in our own little worlds?”

The boy: “That’s true . . . Very true. . . Are you saying it’s better than living in our own worlds?”

The girl: “No.”

The boy looks at the girl confused.

The girl: “I think it should be a mix of both. Of living in both worlds.”

The boy smiles.

The boy: “This is why I love you, Evila.”

Evila: “I love you too.”

Evila rests her head on the boy’s shoulder, looking out into the sunset.

. . . . .

And then I shot up from bed. The weather is acting up. I had a bad dream, but what was it? I can’t remember. . .