Violet

She was in a hall. Doors grew on each wall, reaching higher than her poor, human eye could see. Either the ceiling was the sky, or she was in a cage.

She started walking.

As she went, the doors around her creaked and crawled with wind-tremors. They were like old widows’ legs, tall and aging, all the colors of fall. The floor beneath her feet squirmed and wiggled, little purple worms of fabric trying to squeeze between her toes. Thoroughly creeped out, she continued.

After what felt like a century of walking and listening to the whispers of the painted woods, she came to the end. There was a single door, only three inches taller than the top of her head and round as an apple, painted very pale blue. She blinked and cocked her head to the side. The door’s incongruence with the rest of the hall was strikingly apparent. What did it feel like? She lifted her hand to investigate.

Just before her flesh touched the tree’s corpse, it opened. Red light flooded past the curve of the door, making the room feel like an oven. She reached forward and grabbed the edge of the door, tugging it open against a force that seemed to want to keep it half-ajar. But she wanted to see! She pulled until the door slammed wide open, and she was nearly blinded by the deep crimson light.

When she could see again, she found herself standing before a figure. A man, by the looks of it. She blinked repeatedly until she could make out his features.

His eyes were wide and the same color blue as the door that had hidden him. His face was darkened by the round shadow of his hat – wide-brimmed and dark brown. She could just see his smile. “Violet,” he said in a voice that sounded like church bells. The red light swallowed her, and she knew no more.



Allison woke with a start. Her heart raced while her eyes scanned the room. Donnie was nowhere to be seen. She looked up at the window and saw that there was a thick stream of sunlight reaching toward her with eager, twinkling fingers.

Her stomach growled pitifully. Sighing quietly, she climbed to her feet and went to the shelves on the opposite wall. Nothing looked like it could be eaten in this weird dream world. What was she supposed to do about this imaginary hunger? Frustration made her belly ache.

“Ohh…” she moaned, grabbing a small jar in the corner. Inside was what looked like some kind of orange grain. She dipped her fingers inside and looked at the pieces resting between them with the curiosity of a kitten. When she smelled it lightly, she decided that it was safe. She started nibbling at what was stuck to her fingers as she went to the window, looking out into the sunny world. The ground was still soaked with the rain, littered with black scorch marks, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

With her elbows on the windowsill, she leaned out and felt the sun’s warmth on her face. How nice. At least there was warmth in this crazy place. She lifted her eyes appreciatively to the sky and saw that there was not one, but three suns, each a different color of orange. Well, there went the comforting sense of familiarity she had been searching for. Musing to herself, she continued to nibble on the strange grain plant that tasted like a mix between carrots and cucumbers. That must have meant it was healthy.

There was movement in the tree line. She thought she saw the shadow of a person. “Donnie!” she called, waving her arm out the window. Whatever she had caught sight of had disappeared. Sighing in defeat, she poured more of the food into her palm and licked it up. She munched lazily on it as she turned her back on the window. Nothing out there was interesting, anyway.

Donnie better not have left me here all alone, she thought indignantly. She decided right there that when she saw him again, she would give him a piece of her mind. What guy would waste a whole afternoon telling her what not to do in a wild forest that could eat her, and then go and leave her to fend for herself? It was horrible planning. He was definitely going to hear about this.

As she plotted how to bitch at him, she let all the sounds around her disintegrate. Soon she was oblivious to everything, even the wind at her back. “Donnie, Donnie, Donnie,” she muttered. She stared straight ahead, as if in a trance. In the silence of her mind, the last thing she expected was for someone to reply.

“What did he do this time?” an unfamiliar voice asked, from right behind her.

She tried to turn to see, but her ankles caught together and she fell on her rump. When she lifted her head to look out the window, where the voice had come from, she was blinded by the suns’ light. The door creaked open, and a shadow stepped inside.

Allison wasted no time in flipping out. “Donnie!” she shrieked, scrambling to her feet and trying to climb out the window. Something had gotten in and it was trying to eat her! She could feel it grabbing at her ankles, calling something to her. She refused to listen. Her hands grabbed the outside wall and her feet kicked, connecting with something solid that gasped in pain and fell away. Ha! Immediately after, she tumbled out of the window, landing on her shoulder and flopping in the dirt. She groaned softly and stared up at the bright, birdless sky.

The door started to open again. She squealed and jumped to her feet, running for the tree that grew not ten feet from her. She found the vine, tied neatly to a short branch, and grabbed it. Clenching her jaw and her hands, she jumped.

“Aahhh!” She hadn’t built up enough momentum. She swung around in the air, caught a glimpse of the creature coming toward her, and then slammed into the edge on the other side. Her hands grabbed at the burned grass, her legs kicking and frantically trying to find footing on the sharp cliff leading into the spike-filled moat. “Fuck!” she hissed, trying to wiggle her way onto land again. The vine had disappeared, probably gone back to the other side, and she was caught. If this was a dream, she would be waking up soon in a cold sweat.

Something passed gracefully over her head, dropping a shadow on her face, and then landed in front of her. It was a pair of boots. Her eyes lifted slowly, taking in the vision of a pale man in a hat. A long cape fell against his back, rippling in the soft breeze. She couldn’t see his face.

When he started to kneel in front of her, she squirmed and kicked, dying to be dignified in the face of her death. This guy was probably going to kill her. She knew it. Why not? She was a stupid human in a world that was like a dream she only wanted to wake up from so she knew what reality was.

Something warm touched her hand. She gasped and looked to see that he was pulling her up. Oh, he was strong. Before she knew it, she was on her feet before him, standing in the shadow of his hat. She saw his face, then.

A few loose strands of scarlet hair rested above his wide and pale blue eyes. They were unfocused, like he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. He smiled a twisted smile that made her want to pass out.

“Don’t pass out, please. We haven’t even met properly.”

Allison gasped and stepped away from him, her heel brushing against the edge. He chuckled and took her arm gently, pulling her in the opposite direction of the empty moat. She stared at him in wonder. His ears were pointed! She almost reached up to touch them, but caught herself at the last moment. Instead, she said, “What the hell? Were you trying to scare the shit out of me?” She scoffed and stormed past him.

Before she even realized it, he was beside her. She jumped slightly, but brushed it off like she had stepped on something sharp. “I was looking for Donnie. Have you seen him?”

She frowned and peered under his hat suspiciously. “Why? Do you know him?”

He glanced in her direction and smirked. “Of course. He and I are friends.”

“Then what’s your name?” she asked, eager to learn about anyone who knew what the hell they were doing in this strange realm.

He smiled and bowed before her, his arm behind his back. “My name is Ancriol.”