Crimson eyes opened to blinding white, and they closed on instinct.
'What was I doing?'
I couldn't remember, as if someone had torn a big hole in my memory. I turned around; behind me was a large painting, taking up the whole wall. It was titled 'Fabricated World', though I didn't know what 'fabricated' meant. My head began to hurt the more I stared at it, so I walked away, looking for my mum and dad.
As I was walking towards the stairs, I noticed something odd.
'Wasn't there a painting of a hanged man there before?'
Instead of the limp boy hanging from his feet by a rope, there was a beautiful blend of red and blue roses bordering the frame of a painting that held a sleeping man, looking very sad and seemed to be in his early twenties. He had wavy purple, shoulder length hair that flowed over the left side of his face. It looked extremely soft, with darker violet strands at the top. A tattered and torn black jacket lay over his broad shoulders, flowing like silk velvet fur down his body, bringing more attention to a forest green shirt that crumpled in places around his waist, which was were the painting ended.
But why was he sad?
I noticed something in one of his limp hands crossed across his chest; a crinkled yellow sphere; candy.
Candy…. lemon flavored…
Wait, how did I know that?
I reached into my hidden skirt pocket, and plastic rubbed against skin.
What?
I pulled out a yellow candy, exactly like the one in the painting.
Who….?
Who gave this…
To me?
Darkness engulfed my vision, and I saw myself and the man in the painting running from a girl with blond hair. I was holding his hand tightly as we dashed down a never ending hallway.
Light
"Are you ok, Ib?"
'Who are you?'
The voice echoed in my head like a sound would in a cave.
"I had a… n-nightmare…" I heard myself reply.
"That must have been scary… I'm sorry, I was so hooked up into getting myself out of here I didn't stop to worry." I heard the man apologize.
Who are you?!
"But no need to be scared anymore; we'll get back home together!"
Together? Then where are you now?!
More White
"If we get out… No… We will get out, I promise. When we get out I'll take you, ok? I promise."
You broke that promise
Blinding Light
Wilted, withered blue rose in my hand, petal all gone
Kneeling in front of the sleeping man
"I got your rose back."
Where are you?
"We should go look for a vase together."
Why are you not here with me?!
"Wake up… If you sleep here you'll get nightmares…"
Who are you…
"..arry? G…ry… Wake up…"
"GARRY, WAKE UP!"
I gasped in shock, reeling back slightly. Wet trickled down my face, and I realized I was crying.
Garry…
"Garry…" my voice left my lips in a harsh whisper, broken and dry.
I collapsed to the ground.
It all came back to me, crushing me.
The roses
The burning portrait
The monsters
The puzzles
The nightmares
But the most vivid image was of a blond haired girl giggling madly, holding a rose stem in her hand, and the last blue petal falling to the ground.
"You broke your promise… I broke the promise…"
I sobbed, letting my emotions overflow; I didn't stop crying even as dad dragged me back to the car while I tried desperately to return to the painting.
Garry…
I won't forget you.