A Key To Another Side, Speculative Fiction Authors [red queen ebook txt] 📗

I thought Rene had been making up her "other side" stories until she dropped that tiny piece of rock into my open palm. I lifted my hand up to examine it. It was real; that was for sure.

"That's a key, not just a rock," Rene said as I stared at the pink crystallized mineral.

"A key?" I asked incredulously. "A key to what? It hurts like hell!” The pain began to crawl up my arm and spread into the rest of my body. “ Wh-- Wha--, What's happening to me?”

Rene grinned and handed me a makeup mirror.  "Now do you believe me?"

I examined my reflection. "What did you-- what happened?" I couldn’t take my eyes away from the image reflected in the small, framed square. My face  pulsed with bright veins, illuminated beneath my thin skin, like a thousand neon lights. Horrified, I spun my head towards her, and there was that impish smile again!

"Now you can see what I see," she said, looking triumphant. And now you have the power to cross to the other side.”

In the reflection, I saw a dark pool growing behind me, but when I turned around, the ground was dry. I looked back into the mirror. The pool continued to grow, becoming a large pond.

“Yes I can see it,” I said, “ but how do I cross to the other side?”

"You will find out," she said and pushed me back  into the great dark lake.

As I was consumed, I heard whispers all around me. I shivered . I couldn't see anything. I couldn't breathe. I needed to break through the surface fast, my lungs ached for air. But the surface was nowhere to be found. Then there was that whispering again. All of a sudden, just as I had given in to drowning,  I found myself standing on the shore of a very strange land. Everything around me was pink and bubbly. Wh - where was I?

Out of nowhere I got tackled by a human size teletubby, it showered me in kisses.

“You’re where you belong, now!” it squealed.

I shoved the creature away and staggered back. “Rene!” I screamed.

She was nowhere to be seen, but her voice came to me on a gentle breeze. “You’re where you belong, now.”

I scowled and stalked away from the insufferable dancing creature. Whatever this place was, whatever Rene had done to me, I would find out. I was now only certain of one thing. This was definitely not where I belonged.

Text: Public Domain
Images: Public Domain
Editing: Stephen Johnson Jr.
Publication Date: 01-28-2014

All Rights Reserved