You Are My Prison

AIVA

This is Aiva. A city unlike the rest of the world. For as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve seen the ordinary becoming the extraordinary. Fountains pour into the sky only for the water to never return as if exiled from the earth, buildings age overnight as if unkept for thousands of years, creatures only read about in fantasy books are born from nothing. That’s not even the strange part of Aiva, I, nor anyone ever born here, have ever seen outside of this city. Buildings stretch across the horizon as if the ocean were covered in concrete and asphalt. Loved ones are swallowed into the air where they stand, and others have their dearest friends returned from death after years with new memories. I’ve longed for the security I’ve read about in books of other civilizations. A dream of peace, when I wake, my belongings remain, and the world remains unchanged. Where I can rest knowing my loved ones will be safe. I and the rest of the people of Aiva have never known this existence. Most have lost hope for one reason or another. Some say there is no road out of the city, no land unpaved, no river unbridged. I don’t.

Stability a myth, tomorrow a mystery, Aiva a prison.

CHAPTER I: DISTORTION

“Hey, Ma! I’m headed out!” I said, fumbling the keys before locking up.

“Don’t forget your somnarae before you go. I love you, and be safe, Leif.” Her voice grew louder as she came to me, holding out a worn somnarae. I took it gently from her hand before she pulled me into a hug. For a moment, we stood there, the quiet hum of electricity filling the space between us.“I love you too, Ma. Have a good day,” I said softly as I let her go and turned towards the door.

Frigid wind met my face as I stepped outside. The door slammed behind me, the sound fading into the dying light. I sat in my car, breath fogging up the glass, and hung the somnarae gently from the mirror. Its beads were worn and damaged from the years of my mother’s prayers; its cracks catching the street lights in the distance. Its three feathers hung from its wooden frame, loose, ready to fall.

I never understood her faith in that charm, only that she believed it would keep me safe. Maybe it has, but I’m just too stubborn to notice. Still, I keep it close; I refuse to leave it behind. A memory of my mom’s love I will cherish forever.

The windows began to clear, so I released the emergency brake and pulled onto the road. The streets were quiet, reflecting the dying sun. I was nineteen, still in school, trying to make ends meet. I worked in a gas station that housed a few small stores within. My girlfriend, Lily, worked on the opposite side of the building at a local coffee shop. We hoped the money we made there would be enough to carry us through the first years of our schooling without taking on too much debt.

I dreamed of becoming a pilot, to leave this city behind and see the world beyond its endless skyline. To come back someday with tales of something greater, giving my family a life that isn’t bound by the city’s endless chaos. Lily didn’t share my dream. She wanted to become a nurse, to make a difference in the lives around her rather than chase what lay beyond them. She believed she could help people anywhere, and she never opposed my dream. She even encouraged it, telling me to find what I was looking for. She always seemed to care more deeply than anyone deserved. I could never understand how she could look at every person and see someone worth saving.

My car’s key-in chime broke me from the world inside my mind, and the reflective thoughts it had created. I headed towards the gas station, preparing for another monotonous day.

“Hey, Mr. Delgado! How are you doing today?! How’s the store?” I said excitedly, setting my belongings in the locker.

“Same shit, different day, Leif. There’s a shipment coming in a few minutes that I’m going to need you to take care of,” he said dryly as he bent over, placing some bottles on the lowest shelf.

“I just clocked in. Come on, Mr.Delgado, can’t I catch a break?” I joked, knowing he’d been here before the sun rose.

Mr. Delgado sighed and then, slightly annoyed, said, “Shut up and get the shipment Leif.” He said as he began to murmur something under his breath about kids these days being stupid. I laughed and headed to the back of the store, where dirt and grime built up in corners from years of neglect. I grasped the handle as I heard the beeping of a reversing truck. I pulled open the door to the freezing air, momentarily causing the handle to slip from my grip from the sudden winter air. I planted my foot to the side on the ice so I would not slip and helped direct the truck into the correct spot. “Where do you need these boxes?!” the man yelled over a booming engine. “Just leave them out here on the pallets. I’ll take them.” I said while pointing to the awning bay right beside me.

He positioned his truck near the awning and unloaded the pallets where I had directed him. I began to bring in the supplies and unbox them so they would be ready to be stocked on the shelves as I loaded the last of the boxes from the pallet of supplies. I heard a distant voice that disrupted my concentration.

“LEIFFFF!!” A muffled but echoing voice stretched across the frozen air from the far end of the building. I looked to see who was calling from a distance. I saw a girl, small in stature, swinging her limbs like a child as she skipped towards me. A smile grew on my face as I immediately recognized her.

“Look at my BIG, STRONG BOYFRIEND lifting all these boxes in the cold,” she teased. “You’d better cover up or you’re going to get a cold even if you were working up a sweat to impress me,” she laughed while giving me a stern look.

“Sorry Lily,” I chuckled. “I forgot my coat inside when the truck came. How late are you working today?”

“Sadly, I’m working till eleven. My coworker had to leave early today, so I offered to take her shift. So I’ll be closing, BOOO TOMATO,” she joked.

“I’m closing too. I can drop you off after work tonight if you wouldn’t mind waiting a little bit.” I asked, filled with hope that I’d get to spend more time with her.

“Really?!” she asked, surprised. “That would be great. I hate waiting for that damn bus,” Lily said happily.

“HEY KID!” Mr. Delgado shouted.

“YEAH YEAH I’M COMING!” I shouted as I turned hesitantly away from Lily, “I’ll see you later.”

I ran back in only to notice that Mr.Delgado was not shouting at me, but at a boy he was wrestling with. He had a strong build, covered head to toe in dark clothes as if he were a shadow himself. Water bottles crashed onto the floor, scattering over the store from the torn package the thief was holding. Mr.Delgado clung to his body, grasping his thin jacket.

“YOU DEGENERATE THIEF!” Mr.Delgado’s voice echoed throughout the building.

My shoes squeaked as I sprinted towards the struggle. The thief’s jacket tore as Mr.Delgado stumbled backwards, crashing into the shelf behind him. A bottle burst below the chaos unfolding above, sending the thief crashing to the floor. Bags of chips, jerky, and water covered the floor. He quickly got back up and ran outside in his soaked clothing, a quarter bag of water, and a few remaining bags of snacks he had stolen before the fight. I slammed shoulder-first into the quick swinging glass and aluminum door, pushing the obstacle out of the way, chasing the exhausted man trying to get away. I continued sprinting, diminishing his lead over me, and I latched on as I neared him. Hopeful that the fight would cause someone to call the police.

“GET THE FUCK OFF ME BITCH!” he yelled in anger and swung the water that was still inside the package like a whip, slamming into my side like a sledgehammer. An audible gasp erupted from my lungs, my knees slammed on the concrete, and I fell forward, arms extended. I barely had the reach to grab his shoe as he attempted to escape. His body struck the asphalt with a loud thump, but not as loud as the groan that escaped his throat. The water flew across the parking lot, skidding into a nearby wall, causing a bottle to explode from the impact. I took the opportunity to jump onto him while he was still dazed from the fall. But it was at this moment, without him being burdened by the supplies he was trying to escape with, that I realized the man was much stronger than I. You’d never know how strong he was under those loose clothes. He nearly threw me off before Lily appeared, pepper spray in hand, catching him in the eyes as he pushed me back.. He began to scream and roll in pain. I jumped back on, restraining him. While Lily stood ready to use the pepper spray again if he tried to escape.

We felt victorious as sirens approached in the distance. As we stood there proud, we began to see the air flicker and distort like a mirage from intense heat. The ripples began shifting the world we knew. The water from the fight began to lift from the ground, becoming a jet of water shooting into the sky. The air became warm, shifting tens of degrees warmer in a matter of seconds. Time seemed to behave erratically as the sun shot up into the sky, blinding us. I had closed my eyes to adjust to the sudden abundance of light. But when I opened them, I was no longer in a parking lot, nor was I at a gas station. What I observed was impossible. Overhead, I found floating islands covered in sheets of ice attached by ancient architecture. Twenty-thousand-foot-high Cirrus clouds flew below the illogical islands. I could not comprehend the absurdity of these islands. I felt as if they would appear larger and larger as they plummeted towards the ground, but they remained fixed in the sky, a constant mass floating above. When I allowed my gaze to fall, I discovered the islands were not the only absurdity. Pillars of luminescent water reached into the sky like a marble structure as sturdy as the finest craftsmen could make. Ruins nearly shoulder height were overrun by weeds, vines, and tall grass on all sides of me. Written on them were weird symbols I had not recognized as any language I had seen before. I looked back down, looking for Lily; however, I was on the ground entirely by myself, Lily and the thief erased from my vicinity.