Your fairytale is our reality - chapter 3

Instructions

Chapter 3 (WARNING: high emotions, mild peril) Elana turns and sprints away, her beautiful brown hair swinging in the breeze. Her sobs rack the air, then die away as she gets further from us. Oh yeah. Us. I turn and face the smirking trolls. The imps. The devils. I turn and face them, sweeping me hair from my eyes. They will not get away with this. I suck all my breath in. And yell. I yell for me, yell for all the whispers and smirks, for all the laughter and pointing fingers. I yell for Elana, for her smile, her disappearing smile. How could they do this to her? How could they rip her life apart? I yell until my throat is sore, and then I retreat, surrendering, to home, to the night, to sleep. *** The forest is wild, has a life of its own. It twist and turns and throws you upside down, but I know the way. I know every branch, every insect, every drop of dew falling into mist. I run through the trees, leaping from branch to branch. I come into a clearing. Elana is there, her hands stretched out to me, her beautiful brown eyes looking into mine. “Come. I love you.” My hand reaches out, as if to grab hers, but I am distracted by the people behind her, people like… me? Eyes scarlet red, a rose with thorns. Skin a shining purple-Not so much like me.One in particular grabs my attention. Her hair is the colour of golden corn, it swirls around her head like waves on the shore. She’s beautiful. But strange. She notices me looking at her, curiosity burning in my eye. She smiles, a dazzling light of hope. But she turns back to her people, and the moment is lost. “No.” I whisper. “No, don’t go.” But she’s gone, laughing with the others, the people who don’t think she’s strange, or weird, or abnormal. I turn back to Elana, but she’s looking at me with disgust and fear in her eyes. I look down at myself, and gasp. My legs are on fire, one enveloped in a red, pink, blinding light, the other orange blending into yellow. My clothes are different too, my normal casual trousers and top are replaced by light, comfortable armour. My hand reaches up and grabs my hair, no longer sweeping into a fringe, but billowing into the air, unsupported by the laws of gravity. I look back to Elana, but she’s gone. Instead a fine mist has taken her place and is sweeping toward the purple-skinned people, growing larger and thicker by the second. They are running, shouting for everyone to get out, but it’s too late, and the dense fog is too fast. It covers them, one by one, sucking them into nothingness. The last thing I see, is the face of the woman, contorted into a scream. Then everything goes black. I wake up shaking with sweat.