"Didi! Didi! This story is too scary! Turn it off this minute!" the little girl exclaimed. She couldn't hide the glee in her voice. 'Well part of you wants to read it and the other part is actually scared!' "Thanks for the compliment Madam," the narrator responded to the girl, before turning the page with a flourish – which wrenched a dramatic groan followed by a thud. The girl was startled and the sound startled her. "What! That…that…that was too close for comfort!" she muttered.
The voice turned serious, almost somber. "You know my dear, in real life, sometimes there is no happy ever after. Be careful and always be prepared." The girl just nodded, eyes wandering about the room, expectantly. Suddenly, she jumped from her chair and ran to her sister's bed. "Look Didi! A beautiful shiny purple butterfly! It is beautiful, just like a fairy!" The rest of the afternoon went on. Time didn't matter. She had all the time to explore and marvel at all the beautiful things that were around her.
That evening, she was very surprised to see that a ghostly figure is fast approaching her. She knew then that there has been a problem.
The ghostly figure got closer to the little girl and now, she could see them clearly.
"Concentrate Didi," the figure said telepathically, "Think of the last memory you have. What is it?" "A toy bird? Why does it feel so real?" the girl replied, turning her head around. It was then that she lost her balance and fell.
"Your last memory…what is it?"
The girl started crying. Thinking of the last memory she had was starting to haunt her. She could see herself, sleeping in bed, the rod of a toy bird, still in hand.
It was a picture from a magazine, but she had never seen it before.
She was completely puzzled. How could a picture of a bird be my last memory? "No time to figure it out, girl," said the ghostly figure. "You must accept it & be prepared. You will need to travel in a parallel universe. The world isn't as nice as you think."
The girl was crying. "But I don't want to go! I want to stay here with my family." The ghostly figure thought for a moment. "That can be arranged." The girl stopped crying. She was not happy with this conversation. "But how? How will I go to a parallel universe? I only think of this world as my home and it is all I have. It is all I have ever known."
The figure paused for a moment. He then had an idea. "Concentrate on the memory again. Start from the beginning and go over it."
The girl did that. She wanted to know why she cannot recall this memory. It felt like a dream. She did as she was told and concentrated on the memory.
"Keep going," whispered the voice.
She did. She couldn't see anything at first, but as she kept concentrating, she saw a place. It was a place she had never seen before. It was a luxurious, dark room. She could see a man there. He was talking to someone and he was angry. "This little girl!" she thought. The man was angry and there were guns. She heard a gunshot and could see a bullet piercing the man she could not see. The man fell down. She could see that the man had been shot. "No!" she shouted.
She was gripped by terror.
After the memory had ended, she looked at the clothes she was wearing and saw they had changed. She was no longer wearing her little girl clothes. She had on a tee and pyjamas. She had become small again. There was something about the memory. It felt so real. Suddenly, she became terrified and cried in worry. "Help me! Help me!" she shouted. No one responded.
By this time, she was white with fear. She felt something stare at her. It was a German Shepherd dog. The dog made a weird yelp and started to snap vigorously. The girl curled up in a ball and hid in the small corner of the room. The dog tried to attack her. She was terrified. The dog then stumbled and fell on top of her. She screamed in fright.
