Life Changed
By: Ignis Aqua
Where I should start, I have no idea. The beginning is usually a good place so lets try it that way.
Both worlds were troubled. The one I lived in at the time and the one I had left behind were struggling with problems. Different they were, but at the same degree of death and casualties in the outcome should they fail. I was normal, or so I thought. My name was Sikuuri Lammen. I was 15 and unpopular. It wasn't that I wasn't pretty. People had come up to me ever since I was a little girl and told me I was beautiful. I had chin-length auburn hair and hazel eyes. I was tall, 5'10" and I was lithe and fit. I loved sports and I always buried myself in running, fencing, and archery.
My parents didn't get along well and I was an only child so I depended on my friends to confide in, which weren't many. I hated holidays where everyone but me would be happy and give out joy with endless abundance, but I loathed Halloween the most. I loved the holiday itself, but I never went out trick or treating because to me, that wasn't what Halloween was about. It was about avoiding demons and the devil when they came out into the open for one night at midnight. The others didn't understand me so instead they played pranks on my family and me. I already knew what they would do and I didn't care. It wouldn't give any positive results if I tried to stop them, so I just endured.
Besides sports I also devoured books. I would come home with more than one from the library and read them for about 7 hours straight, then grab something to eat and go to sleep. My favorite ones were action, adventure, and fantasy. I would always go to the public library after school and search the shelves for ones that I haven't read. Then, I would stop by the coffee shop and order a donut and a coolata. I would run home to stay in shape and then plop down on my bed in the winter, or in the little shack in the woods in the summer and read until 10:30pm.
Tonight was Halloween. I had just finished one of the books that I had borrowed that day. It was by Dean Koontz, my favorite author, and I had enjoyed it just as every other book by him. Since it was Halloween on a Friday night, I could begin to read on my next book. I remembered I left them downstairs in my backpack so I grudgingly rolled off my bed and trotted noisily down the stairs. I tugged out the book from my backpack, grabbed some Chinese leftovers and resided once again into my room. I ate a spoonful of the hot & sour soup. It burned in my mouth like fire, but it felt good. I swallowed. The same sensation engulfed my throat and followed all the way down into my stomach. I finished my dinner quickly and for the first time, looked at the book I had retrieved. It was unusual and slightly mysterious. I laughed at myself. Oh come on Sikki, mysterious? Halloween is finally getting to you. But I couldn't help but keep that thought constantly surfacing in my head. The book was black and leathery, the material shining in the light of my desk lamp. It had no title. I was curious. It was as if I needed to open the book, as if I was compelled to do so. I lifted the cover to behold the first page. It was in some sort of strange language. I couldn't understand it, but I forced myself to try for some unknown reason. I began pronouncing the words.
"iktari no muno ja keta ilumi. Fa cara ikti lamento shimtre," I said. A wind began to pick up, but my lips and voice seemed to have mind of its own at the moment and I kept reading, louder this time:
"kaktar fugiko munala mornie utulie mornie alantie kektar lamento kektar lamento." As I became louder and stronger so did the wind and it encircled me, flipping the pages randomly, but somewhere in my mind, I already knew what I was doing. "MORNIE UTULIE, MORNIE ALANTIE KEKTAR LAMENTO KEKTAR LAMENTO!" The wind was like a hurricane, wishing to push me down. Papers flew and my windows rattled. I stayed still. Suddenly, the books pages stopped moving, frozen like a statue in the ever-lasting gal. The book glowed an eerie green and the wind seemed to as well. I closed my eyes as the light became too much for me to bear.
The wind settled down. I opened my eyes. I was still sitting on my bed, in my room, in my house. The book was in front of me the Chinese food was on my desk and my room was back in order. I didn't know what had happened. I looked down at the book. It was closed! I touched my fingers to the leathery cover, and winced. I expected something to happen, nothing did. No wind swept up. No eerie light glowed. I opened the cover to the first page. My eyes widened in awe and my mouth dropped open. The page was blank.