(Image is mine. Created on Wonder AI app)
**
Arianne glanced at the clock. Its ticking hands were the only source of noise in her room in the middle of the night. She clicked her tongue in dismay because she couldn’t write more words in her notebook. While rolling her pen on the table, she rested her chin on her arm. She rolled her eyes upon reading the few sentences she had written about the description of her male protagonist.
“Wavy black hair with brown eyes and left-eye scar—uh! Writing is hard! And my deadline is tomorrow! What do I do?”
A tap on the window facing the garden interrupted her from being more frustrated.
“Who on Earth would disturb me at this hour? It’s late!”
She dragged her feet to her bed where she could get easy access to the window and pulled it open.
“What?!” she yelled to whoever was outside.
Only the moonless sky stared at her. Pissed off, she lightly punched the windowsill. And when she was about to slam the window close, she realized something weird.
How can someone tap on her window when she was renting on the third floor of the building?
“Seriously? You call yourself a writer, but this is all you could write?” A man peering at her notebook made her gasped for air because of nervousness.
She immediately grabbed the flower pot beside her, ready to strike, should the man approach her.
“Who on Earth are you?!”
She couldn’t see his face well because he was standing on his side.
“I’m not from this Earth,” he said. By the tone of his voice, she could hear him simpering at her question. “I’m from here.” He grabbed a pen and pointed at its tip. “I wonder what life are you going to create for me?”
He took a step forward, allowing Arianne to see his face.
Wavy black hair.
Brown eyes.
Left-eye scar.
Arianne’s knees buckled as if the sight drained all her energy out.
“Gosh! You didn’t even give me a name.”
“Don’t come closer! Or I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Smash me with that pot? I doubt if you could even touch me.” The guy smiled at her, displaying his perfectly aligned white teeth. “Want to add other descriptions about me?”
He took another step.
“Don’t! I said don’t come clo—”
Then, everything went lightless for Arianne.
**
“Can you believe it? She passed out! And I don’t know what to do, so I brought her here,” Calix said.
“You shouldn’t have. Our world isn’t for humans to see,” Andrade replied. His voice was as hoarse as someone who did nothing but yell in his lifetime.
Arianne was awoken by the hint of argument, but she didn’t want to them to know that she had could hear them. She kept eavesdropping while struggling to open her eyes to the blinding in the room.
“It’s just disappointing that she can’t create a perfect sentence to describe me.”
Andrade glare at Calix, shutting him up.
“How were you even pulled into the world of humans?”
“Well, I was at the library. You know the area where books tease you while they’re flying? I went there because I got bored, then I heard this woman’s voice as if she was calling me. Then I got sucked into her world.”
A disturbing silence followed Calix’s complaint.
While the two were arguing, Arianne allowed her vision to adjust to the light. And when her eyes adjusted better, she almost wanted to close them again because of the shock.
“So, it’s real!” her mind screamed. “Grandma used to tell me stories about the other world where non-humans live in.”
She let her eyes admire the wealth of the place. The ceiling was not too high, but was decorated with intricate carvings of butterflies and other winged insects. There were several chandeliers, making the atmosphere gave off a fairytale-like vibe. The walls were literally made of gold bars as huge as bricks. And there were around five strange-looking guards, watching her too. They were slender men, about six feet tall,and their skin was pale. They were topless, wearing only a pair of black pants. They had heads, but without faces. Big, brown mushrooms grew in their arms, and some even floated around them like their little soldiers.
“How many of them are spread throughout the entire vicinity? I must find a way out before I end up being their prisoner forever.” Arianne closed her eyes again and thought of a way to escape, only to be disappointed. “How do I even return home?”
The silence had been agonizing and suspicious for her. She couldn’t decide whether to jump out of the comfy bed she was lying on, or to keep pretending to be unconscious. The silky, smooth beddings were too soft that it hindered her from getting up because it was pulling her back to its soothing embrace. The color of the fabric was sweet as cotton candy and refreshing to the eyes as the icy breeze by the ocean.
“Escape? Don’t even think about it,” Calix whispered in her ear.
Startled, she pushed him as hard as she could because his face was just a few inches away from her.
“How did you know I’m awake?”
“I’m not numb. You think you can fool me with your pretense? This entire place is literally connected to me, even that blanket.” He simpered. And when he did, Arianne was petrified by how good-looking he was.
Brown eyes that could melt anyone’s heart with its gaze. His wavy black hair was fluffy, like the nimbus clouds during typhoons, only that his locks were cuddly, like a pillow ready to give comfort. Arianne reached for his face, cupped his cheeks, and traced the scar on his left eye. She did that, hypnotized by his gorgeousness.
“You’re so handsome,” she said.
Calix chuckled.
“Finally! You uttered the best word to describe me! Looks like you’re going home.”
“Wait. What? I was just admiring this place and you. I need inspiration, so I could write. Why are you sending me home so soon?”
“It’s not my problem. You probably have heard what Old Andrade said earlier.”
“But—”
“No buts… Bye!”
Calix pushed Arianne so hard, she fell off the bed. But her fall was long, like she was falling down a deep abyss. Until—
“Aw!” Arianne slumped on the maple floor of her room.
“At last! Earth to Arianne! I’ve been standing here for all eternity,” Tatis said.
“Why did you kick the chair?”
“You were zoning out, girl. Your physical body is here, but your mind is nowhere to be found.”
Arianne stood and seated herself again.
“What brings you here?”
“Well, I’m here to check on how my best friend is doing. So, how’s your story? Any development?”
Arianne pouted. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“Tell me about it!” Tatis beamed. She batted her eyes, filled with excitement.
“I just realize that writer’s block has a face and can speak,” Arianne said.
“I’m sorry, what?”
