Beyond- A Creative Short Story

I had to run, I just had to. I ran out of there, full-speed, terrified, and with nowhere to go.

The sky was a dark, murky green, believe it or not. My legs felt stiff but could be easily broken; they're popsicle sticks. With each foot hitting the ground, I could feel the kinetic energy radiate in my bones, shaking until I could no longer feel my feet. I ran into a busy town and that's when the sky changed colors-- again. I let the energy in my legs slowly decline and felt my body come to a stop. The feeling in the lower half of my body slowly came back-- and painfully. I took a deep breath, opened my eyes, and took in the lavender glow surrounding me. The pain I was feeling vanished rather quickly. There were no cars around, so I walked on the road. Clouds shaped like smiley-faces, flowers that danced, a light breeze that hummed; my heart began to lift out from my chest. The surroundings were more than breathtaking... little shops in pastel colors squished together, a garden, a waterfall that reflected light gold from the setting sun.

Everyone else around me has disappeared. And once again, I had the sky to myself. I've never seen a place so beautiful; I could barely hold in my tears. In the distance, I could see what looked like to be people. My curiosity swayed my intuition and without thinking, I went to see who else was in this strange, yet pleasant community. As I kept pacing onward, my vision started to focus on these people. My friends. The people who I love most were sitting at a café drinking from coffee cups and eating muffins. I yelled out their names one by one, but they didn't respond or acknowledge me. I sat in a chair next to their table and tried to talk to them... they didn't see me. At this point, I was yelling at them-- my tranquility subsided. My ears rang and my heart pounded and my head spun and--

A force. This force was so great, so strong, that I couldn't ignore it. The café began to look slightly... different. I have to go to the cafe door. I wanted to open it; I needed to open it... and see what was beyond. My vision narrowed like I was looking through a tunnel, and the door was on the other side. The walk through this tunnel felt vast and extensive, but I stopped... and it was right in front of me. My hand clutched onto the handle because I'm being chased, chased by something I'm familiar with, but haven't encountered in a long time. The slam shook the whole other side around me; the sky is red. My being collapsed to the ground while my hearing was clouded with screams and roars; I've never heard sounds so excruciating. Where am I now? And now I'm in a boat-- surrounded by lava-- and it's moving. My hair was yanked back so hard that I looked up to see dark creatures falling from above. My shoulders tensed up-- and you will watch. You will feel, you will suffer, and you will choke on your breath. What? The voice was right. My ankles were shackled and my throat was closing; my eyes were burning. This crazy feeling of falling in reverse was unexplainable. The boat began to levitate and spin until I couldn't see anything. This isn't like any rollercoaster. The boat tipped and I plummeted down all the way from the sky and all the way into the molten lava. It hurt so bad... I felt nothing at all.

Hours must've passed because I woke up on the ground, in another strange place, in another consuming state of mind. This sky was an unsettling, deep yellow-ish color. Confusion arose, senses heightened, and an unknown source of strength proceeded to take over my legs once again. I felt myself turn around to see stairs forming right before my eyes, going all the way up. And up they kept going. I walked toward the 3D-appearing stairs and stepped up on each step one by one. With each step, my body sunk in... these stairs are squishy? With each step going further and further up, I kept feeling my body keep getting lower into the steps. It's been forever, I wanted to stop, but I can't. My body won't let me. My insufficient energy level got even lower, yet I walked up the stairs faster. More confusion. Why are you doing this to yourself? But I'm not, I'm trying to stop myself! You need pain. I- I can't do this anymore, I can't--

I sunk through the steps and fell, fell hard. The sharp pain that I was beginning to feel was forcing my eyes to bulge out of my head. Vision blurred and hazed, everything began to become even more obscure. The torment became even more powerful. Tiny needles were poking my eyes, well, there had to be. Even though I'm already on the ground, my persistent, yet fragile structure felt like it was collapsing on the ground all over again. Again this happened to me, my pain quickly went away without urge or intent. It's gone. I opened eyes and felt my pupils perceive the sky above me. It sounds impossible, but this is a color I have never seen before. Ever. Thoughts in my brain are going a million miles per hour; even more, in fact. But I feel blank. I don't think I am in my universe, my dimension anymore. A portal opened a few yards in front of me and I saw white. A silhouette. I saw something that made sense.

Go on, this is your time. The same voice came back again. I don't know whether to trust it or to run away. The sudden yearning in my soul began to pull toward the voice; Pull toward the portal. Pull toward the person, the person on the other side. I don't know what the meaning of this is, but I know that my body has become recognizant. Without looking up, I followed the gravity. And in through I went.

There we go, my friend. And we are going, going beyond.