Acroama

I plunged deep into the water. I opened my eyes wary of an attack from Xavier, and thrashed my arms furiously to get to the surface. Panic surged through all of my limbs. As I swam upward a tentacle wrapped around my leg. In shock I exhaled all my air. My lungs began to burn. The tentacle pulled me fast and hard to the surface. The tentacle released my leg and I laid there in a deep dark fog gasping for breath. I rose to my feet as quickly as I could and was ready to attack.  I could see almost nothing. I was surrounded by darkness. I walked forward with trepidation until my foot kicked something forward. I picked it up and immediately could tell it was a fishing rod. Suddenly behind me in the distance I heard the cooing of a dove. I followed the cooing, and as I got closer I could see that the dove was radiating light. When I got to the dove — the light it gave was enough to show me that I was in a completely different place. Around me floating in the air were doors everywhere. Th...

I walked back through the forest towards the city. As I got closer to the city the trees became more and more black – like they had been charred in a forest fire.  When I kept walking forward I could see a large net obscuring my path. It was a trap that did not feel very subtle at all. It extended far on either side. I was unsure how long I would have to walk to get around it.  As I got closer to the net — suddenly the ropes came to life and wrapped around my limbs. They held me tightly and began pulling me slowly up past the tops of the trees. When I cleared the forest, I looked out across the valley and was astonished by what I saw.  I first noticed that the city had been completely leveled. There wasn’t a building in sight. Large rivers of green water flowed through the barren black valley surrounded by mountains in the far distance. The air was filled with white birds, and most surprising of all, I saw massive ships sailing through the air alongside the birds — flying...

After Sadie was taken from me, I ran deep into the woods across the field. I ran until my legs shook and I couldn’t take another step. I was filled with panic. I had just lost the only thing I lived for.  A great hole that already lived painfully in my heart, was torn open and split in two. I was broken; Numb. I fell asleep on the forest floor in exhaustion. When I woke I saw a dirt road. I began to follow it. Eventually the road led me to a cabin. I could see there were lights on, and I wondered if anyone was there. The cabin was black, and though it was in perfect condition, it looked like it had been charred by fire.  I knocked on the front door. No one answered. So I tried to turn the handle. It was locked. I thought it was painfully ironic to have come all this way, happening upon shelter – just for the door to be locked. It seemed to fit into every other part of my life, so why should I have expected anything less?  I was afraid to break-in. There might have been pe...

The day Xavier appeared I was waiting for my daughter, Sadie, to get out of school.  As I sat on the curb waiting with our dog Kilo, a great darkness covered the sun. I felt that something terrible was happening. Kilo began barking and I felt a horrible feeling in my gut that everything was about to change.       The bus would arrive any minute. I was filled with an intense fear. Dark clouds filled the sky and obscured the dark mass, with surprising speed. I sighed with relief as the bus came around the corner and screeched to a stop. The driver frantically opened the door and my little Sadie came bolting down the stairs. She tripped on the last step but I caught her. I began running towards our home with her in my arms.       I lived alone with my daughter in a town home I inherited from my late father, 10 years ago. It felt like an incredible stroke of luck when it happened. My dad and I never saw eye to eye, I was sure he hated me. You can...