The shadow of the boy had almost etched itself into the cracked ground, so long had he sat unmoving. Again he pondered the meaning of life and his role in it. He gazed upon this land of living metaphors – fictional creations that were more solid than reality. This reality, his reality, was not real either and he knew it. It was all under his control here. But here and here only, don’t you forget it.
I’m sick of this, he thought to himself. I don’t have to deal with this place, this nightmare on the doorstep of Hell. I think it’s time for a little redecorating.
He stood up, striking a defiant pose against the world. The chasm before him filled his vision. He frowned disapprovingly. “JOIN!” he commanded in a voice that was more like thunder’s than his own. A rumbling shook the ground as the land was forced together again, crushing the rope bridges. The chasm was gone, replaced by a twisting crack, the scar of some terrible wound.
A tall and foreboding shadow now fell across him. The Iron Tower, he thought grimly. How I hate you. You hold prisoner one who should run free. Damn you for your wicked spires and hideous gate.
“Let her go!” he screamed at the Tower. It’s shadow deepened for a moment as if to remind him, Ah, but you must have the key to let her out, you must have the key…
“LET HER GOOOOOO!”
…to let her out, the key, you must…
“DAMN YOU! I SAID LET HER GO!” he yelled. His voice reverberated against the metallic hull of the Tower and it burst asunder. Metal plates rained down, embedding themselves into the ground. The girl of the Tower stood in the iron ring that had once been the foundation of the Tower. She looked scared and confused. Her refuge was gone…
“W-What are y…” she began in a quavering voice.
“Shut up!” ordered the boy. He immediately regretted saying this when he saw the hurt look in her eyes. He knew he word pay dearly for them sometime.
The boy now turned to face the girl with flames playing about her feet like a pair of Hellish slippers. She wore a frightened look for she had witnessed the incredible events and knew not what they would portend. A small cloud gathered above her and began to rain upon her. Soon the fire was quenched, its last flame dying with a protesting hiss. Beams of sunlight shone down upon her upturned face. She smiled nervously and the boy smiled with her.
The boy now turned to face the horizon. He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. Under their feet, blades of grass now began to grow, pushing up through the once barren soil. A carpet of green now replaced the plain of purple dust. Flowers began to blossom and butterflies flitted blithely among them. A copse of woods shot up nearby. A unicorn wandered out to its edge and looked around at this new land before returning to the shadow of the forest. The sky above had brightened, becoming a soft shade of blue. The sun shined brightly upon the earth below.
Looking about at what he had done, the boy smiled and said “It is good. But there is something else I want. I want Her back. Now.” And suddenly there appeared a pretty girl beside him with deep blue eyes and flaming red hair. He looked at her in a most approving fashion. Another smile that some would call naughty crept across his face. A large waterbed with red satin sheets came into existence.
“Look what I have done!” he exclaimed. “This is how things should be! Now we can be happy and live here together! We will never have to say good-bye! We can…”
“No,” said the girl from the Tower. “You cannot do this.” The bed and girl disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Oh yeah, and why not?” he said, glaring back at her. He always hated her interruptions. He could see her sharpening her icy daggers of cold logic.
“You cannot defy the course of Life.” she said. “You are not God.” Dark clouds began to collect in the sky.
“Never claimed to be.” The woods collapsed into blackened, twisted pile of limbs.
“I realize that it would be nice if life were really like that, but it’s not and you should just face it!”
“Be quiet, I’m losing my concentration.” The grass withered and died.
“Good.” she said with a sly smile.
They stood on the wasted plain once again. The shards of metal flew out of the ground and reformed the Iron Tower. Everything was as it was before, the illusion that covered the illusion was gone. But even this lasted only for a little while before winking out of existence. Only a black void was left.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Andre muttered sadly. “Even the metaphors are gone now.”
“Oh no, poor Andre,” said Jodi sarcastically. “I guess you’ll find it difficult to put words in our mouth now that we are real people and not just fictional characters. I don’t even sound like that. I guess the deep and complex personality of Jodi Hyde is a bit beyond your writing capabilities.”
“It wasn’t supposed to sound like you. It..it was a, um, characterization of you, you know. Anyway, I thought you liked illusions since you seem to spend half the time ‘acting’ or ‘not dealing with reality today’.”
Jodi only returned a scornful look.
“Um, excuse me,” said Amber. “While we’re speaking of characterization, could we discuss how you’ve represented me? I mean, I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea of walking around with flames burning me all of the time. I mean, couldn’t I be the Girl with the Tea Mug or the Girl bearing a Bagel?”
“Amber,” sighed Andre. “I’ve already explained this to you in study hall.”
“Okay! Sorry!”
“Now my story is falling apart. I really don’t know what you would say next or how you are feeling. It was…easy to convey my thoughts through the story, using allegories and metaphors..”
“Perhaps you should start dealing with reality instead of these stupid little stories.” advised Jodi.
“But is that what you would really say? I don’t know, maybe you’re right. No, I mean the person that I am portraying you as is right.”
Jodi started to reply, but instead she disappeared. She had become too real to be portrayed in a fictional work. Amber similarly faded from view, leaving Andre alone. He sat down in the midst of the darkness and tried desperately not to cry.
Damn, I hate Reality.
It’s so easy not to try
Just let the world go drifting by
If you never say “Hello”
You won’t have to say “Good-bye”