World 101
A Short Story by: Jennie Bean
Chapter 1 - Where Am I?
It feels like I have been asleep for a very long time. I open my eyes in a panic. Surrounding me are trees and flowers with bright colors. I feel like I should be somewhere else now – work, home, at a family gathering? I cannot remember the last thing that happened before I woke up here. I have a feeling that I am putting off something important. When did I last eat? Did I have lunch today? It looks mid-day, though I don’t know which direction the sun is.
Why am I in this nature setting? It is eerily quiet with no one in sight. There are also no bugs or birds around either. Having an insectophobia, I am relieved I have no bugs to deal with. I look down and I am wearing a red dress. I cannot remember ever buying a red dress. I also have a tan bag around my shoulder with two tiny strange stones inside. My hair is pulled back with one of those scrunchies I used back in the day. The temperature is just right with no wind whatsoever.
“Hello?” I call out, “Is anyone there?” There is no answer, so I start walking around, on what seems to be a small island. The ground is made of very full grass, and I’ve never seen it so green. As I keep walking I get to some shallow water. I wade through and reach another small island with a big hill and a tree on top. I start walking up, so I can have a view of where I am, and see if there is anything else around. Halfway up, there is a blue brochure lying on the ground. I pick it up to find it being instructions on how to make an iron shovel from scratch. I begin to think that these clusters of islands must be deserted and the brochure left here by someone who had to make tools to survive. So where is that survivor? I fold the blue instructions and notice an arrow emblem on the opposite side of the paper. I pocket it and continue up the hill.
At the very top, I can see about six islands around me with small lakes in between. Red and yellow flowers are in bloom everywhere. There is a strange path and hill to my right that looks like it just stops in the middle of the water and then opens to a wide area of water. An ocean? I walk down the hill towards this area to check it out. I walk down the thin path and then up a tiny hill. I look down and out. Inching out to the edge of the dirt, an invisible wall knocks my head hard. "Damn-it!" I yell, holding my head. I put my right hand out in front of me, and there clearly is a barrier. I now notice it is cut through an island about 100 meters away from me too. I follow the clear wall, running my hand against it all the way down to that second island by wading in and out of the water. I keep going past the second island to see if there is an opening out to the ocean. I could possibly make a boat and sail out...
Thunk! "Oww!" I scream. There is another barrier perpendicular to the other wall. I follow that one around and catch myself with my other hand for a third and fourth wall. Recognizing the weird path and small hill, I find that I am squared in by this weird boundary.
I sadly sigh. Why am I being kept here? Who is doing this to me? I travel back to the middle of the square where I woke up.
In a rage of confusion, I throw one of my strange stones on the ground. It grows instantly to about 4ft x 4ft, and a weird purple glow shoots up from it. I put my finger on the top edge of the stone, and I feel a tingling sensation. I get scared and pull my hand from it. What is this place?
There are two clunky computers stationed here on some very hard stone that I didn’t notice before. I spot something glistening on the ground to my left, so I head over there, but I remind myself to check out the computers soon after.
The sparkle I saw is a similar scrap of paper to the iron shovel instructions. It's yellow and a lot smaller with a big 'W' on it. I pick it up and turn it over. It reads:
'Wisdom: Only you can find a way.'
"Nice," I roll my eyes.
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Stay tuned for Chapter 2 - What do I do?
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Thank you to Total Miner for being the inspiration to my story. Thank you to the bf who motivates me to actually do things.
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