I
Help me! The cry for help echoed in my mind. Help me! There it was again. For days this has been going on where I would get someone screaming for me to help them. I didn't know if I was going crazy or what. I tossed and turned trying to get it out of my mind but it was no use. The cry shattered my thought again…then subsided. I sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed my eyes. 12:52 a.m. Always like this I could never get back to sleep after hearing the voice; I would just fall asleep during the middle of the day now and not even know it. On the bedside table The Wizard Of Oz sat with its pages closed and resting, waiting to be awakened and its story re-told. I picked up the copy and thumbed through the pages and looked at the drawings of Dorothy and her companion's journeys throughout Oz. Getting up I took Oz with me and slipped it into my Oz bookcase in my own little library. I sat down in a big red leather armchair and scooted it up to a desk. On the desk laid a big red leather bound sketch book with the word Oz on it, the Z was intertwined with the O. I actually found the book at a hidden bookstore that I go to a lot. I opened it and thumbed through the sketches and drawings of Oz. Maps upon maps filled the pages. One of the maps was L. Frank Baum's idea of Oz and the other was Ruth Plumly Thompson's map of Oz. I drew several versions of my own Oz inside the pages and also maps of the Emerald City, the Wicked Witch Of The West's Castle, Dorothy's House, and etc. In the corner hung a flag of Oz that I made myself and it was only made of 5 colors. In the center was green for the Emerald City, at the top was purple for the Gillikin Country, at the bottom was red for the Quadling Country, at the left side was blue for the Munchkin Country, and to the right was yellow for the Winkie Country.
Right across the oak desk stood a long mirror that was set in a gold frame. I stared at my tired reflection and sighed. The books all around me seemed to sigh, knowing my pain is equal to theirs. I look out the window to my left and gazed at the moon knowing that a man smiled back, never sad. Out of the corner of my eye something caught my attention. In the mirror a strange foggy blue color shimmered. What seemed to be a hand pointed my way and beckoned for me. Suddenly it turned its head and let out a scream. The books in their places rattled and the mirror's face cracked. The image disappeared. I sat there staring at the mirror. Nothing happened at all. Nothing. I slowly got up and ran my hand over the mirror's surface. A sharp piece cut my finger and the blood trickled down the clear glass and slid into the cracks. The blood coursed through the cracks. A blue shadowy figure pounded on the mirror then fled. I shook my head to see if I was dreaming. I wasn't. I got out of my library quickly and went into my bedroom. I flung open the closet doors and tossed a shirt, pants, and a hoodie out on the bed. I stripped out of my sleeping clothes and donned the clothes out on the bed. I took a necklace off my dresser. Not looking back I felt the elevator descend down into the lobby of the penthouse.
As the elevator descended I fastened the Oz necklace around my neck and tapped my foot impatiently. The mirrored walls of the elevator held the same image in their faces, the strange figure being pursued. Could I not escape from this image? Why does it haunt me? I was deep in thought asking myself when the elevator doors dinged and opened. The white lobby blinded my tired eyes as I stepped out of the elevator. Mirrors on the wall in front of the elevators bore the same image. It wasn't going away. The desk clerk greeted me. I just ignored her and walked out. The desk clerks always seemed to be perky even at midnight when they had their stupid night shifts.
Something was wrong.