The Gateway
Authors Note:
Hey everyone! The name's Rowan. This is my first story, and its a little random, and a little short, but i would LOVE some critisism. If you review it and say; Its too random and short, I'll be forced to send you to the shadow relm... -_- BUt i would really like it if you tell me who was your fav, what did you hate, or even if you want me to write more. Im always looking for insperation so feel free to PM me anything you want me to *try* and transform into a story. Anyway, please! Go and read the story!
My new house was impressive. Nothing like my old one, which was a small cold cottage with a leaky roof. Comparing the two was like comparing a pebble to a diamond.
Me, my mum and my dad stood leaning against the hot metal of our small car, admiring it; the emerald green lawn, the perfect white washed walls... At this point, I wasn't sure if this was even real.
My dad had gotten a new job offered to him a few weeks back. The pay was good, but we had had to move quite far from our old place in the outskirts of Aberdeen. It had taken us almost 4 hours to get up to Inverness, and with the hot sun beating down on us the whole way, the inside of our car had been like an oven. Tempers had frayed and we were glad to be out in the air, in the shade of the tree's that surrounded our new house.
My mum gave a contented sigh and began lugging her clunky silver suitcase down the path.
"Hey, Cynthia, you can take your own suitcase in!'' she called over her shoulder and as she balanced her handbag on her knee, rummaging for the front door key. When she found the surprisingly big and old fashioned key, she put it in the door and turned. I could hear the satisfying click from where I was standing. She pushed open the big wooden door and disappeared inside.
I sigh and do what I'm told.
"Come on Cynthia, this is a new start!" said Dad, pulling his face into a childish pout, "Smile!"
Seeing my dad pull such a ridiculous face cause a grin to creep over my expression. He looked like a five year old. A tall, slightly over weight, balding five year old. If you got those.
"That's my girl", he said, ruffling my mousy brown hair.
"Hey!", I cried, quickly flattening it down and attempting to poke him I the ribs as he hurried away into the house after my mum. I tried to scowl after him, but I failed miserably.
Going into the house was amazing. The room I walked into was huge, with a huge dresser showing off some fine glass goblets, light spilling in through the tall arched windows. The walls were covered in delicate, Victorian style rose wallpaper, growing up to the small, classy chandelier. I pulled my suitcase up onto the smooth, dark wood of the floor, gliding easily over it's polished surface. It smelled... Posh. Like lavender.
My mum appeared at the top of the stairs to my left.
"You can choose your own room", she informed me, almost skipping down the stairs and passing through a door at the far side of the room, "But the main bedroom is mine!"
"Sure, thanks!", I called after her, watching her disappear.
This house's size was beginning to verge on 'Ridiculous'. How were only three people supposed to live here? Not that I was complaining of course. This place was a huge, Victorian style, lavender scented heaven. And I was going to be living in it!
Reaching the landing, I was faced with a corridor of doors. I like the sound of that... A corridor of doors... Anyway, hopefully this meant I had a few bedrooms to choose from. The first door opened to revile a bathroom. The second was the master bedroom, covered in red and dark purple. I silently cursed my mother for dibsing the room. It was beautiful. Third one was some kind of study, with a big, heavy desk that I thought looked mysterious. The forth room WAS a bedroom, but the tiny bed didn't look like it would be able to fit me. Maybe a small child, but not a teenager. The last room was... Perfect. It was fairly big, holding a queen sized bed and a large book case, perfect for all my books that were packed away in a cardboard box in the moving van. It had huge windows that showcased the massive green fields surrounding our house, matching the colour scheme of the room almost perfectly.
Living here was going to be awesome.
I was about to sit down on the bed when a voice echoed from deep below me, in the depths of the house.
"CYNTHIA!", screeched my mum, "Me and Dad are going to get some things to cook for tea, Want to come?"
I thought about it. Go to the closest 'Tesco', and have to stand there awkwardly as my parents argued about 'The prices these days', or stay in the old, mysterious house that could be FULL of untold secrets. It didn't take a genius to figure out which of the two would be more amusing.
"I THINK I'LL STAY HERE AND EXPLORE!", I shouted, the volume making dust fall from the ceiling.
"Whatever!", came the reply, seeming doubtful.
I heard the door slam and the car start up. You could here it crunch over the gravel and then there was silence.
I grinned. Where first? I trotted down the stair and set about looking around. I had already seen most of upstairs so it seemed the best place to start was the entrance hall. I wandered through to the room my mum had disappeared through a few minutes earlier and found myself in a kitchen. To my delight, there in the corner of the room, was an old dumb waiter. These things always fascinated me, ever since I had read the book 'Spiderwick'. I tugged at the old, worn handle. It was jammed shut. I grumbled and left the room, no longer interested. I entered another corridor and crossed to the other side. An old bathroom with a sink with squeaky taps… Boring. Next room! A sitting room with two big, old, cracked leather sofas and a television that looked like it was older than my dad. Which was pretty old. No offence dad. The carpet was green and red with a bold, old-fashioned print, that I knew my mum would be just dying to tear up and get rid of, and a gas lamp that didn't work sat in the window. The next room I entered was a dining room with a big, heavy oak table covered in scratches. Light spilled in through the windows, illuminating the dust that floated in the air, creating a mysterious scene. I sat down on one of the chairs, and leapt off quickly when it made a worryingly loud creak. Ok, maybe we should get new chairs as well…
After three more rooms that included a cupboard, yet another bedroom and a completely empty room, I got bored and went back to my own room. I sat down on my bed, facing the wall and thought. According to my tacky neon yellow watch, It was 12.30… My parents would be home soon. This house was pretty nice. Yet, there was something not quite right about it all…
I stared at the vine pattern on the wall in front of me, wondering what I should do now. Huh… If I looked hard enough, I could see shapes start to emerge. Amused with my new game, I leaned forward, propping my head in my hands. A bat, a face, an apple… A door…
Startled, I realised the door was becoming more and more clear, until it looked like the vines were straining to keep it from bursting open then and there. I rubbed my eyes and opened them wide. Was this some kind of optical illusion? I slid off my bed and slowly shuffled forwards, as if I were frightened that I would scare the door away. I reached out a quivering hand and touched the door. I realise now that maybe that wasn't the brightest idea I ever had...
The wall shivered. It shook. Soon it seemed like the whole room was vibrating, Causing more dust and powder to fall from the ceiling. What had I done?!
The vines were now beginning to give way, being pulled into the doorway, which was now a glowing opening in the universe. Panic kicking me into motion, I tried scrambling away, but unfortunately for me, gravity seemed to be broken, because instead of being pulled toward the ground like on any other sane day, I was being pulled toward that… thing. Suddenly, my foot slipped and my bedroom disappeared, leaving nothing but white
After the girl was gone, the room calmed. The vines grew back over the gaping mouth in the wall, the dust settled, and the whole house seemed to breath a sigh of relief.
* *
With my eyes shut so tight it hurt, I felt like I was falling… I managed to flip myself over so I was falling forward; arms and legs spread out like a starfish. I tried to force one eye open, but the cold air blasting in my face makes it near impossible to see anything other than panic, so I just keep them closed, my mind spinning and unable to make sense of anything whatsoever.
Suddenly, I hit something soft, causing my eyes to open in surprise. I was sitting on a huge big ball of hair like material. Completely bewildered and utterly bamboozled, I look up.
Oh. My. God.
In front of me was a huge expanse of these things, all different sizes and colours, under a sky of pale green. To my horror, I find that I'm sitting perched on the highest ones, balanced on what seems like a huge, green, twisting vine. I whimper and peer over the edge. What on earth was going on?! Was I going crazy? Was that it? Was that why I now found myself in some strange, fluffy, multicoloured dreamland that made no logical sense in any way shape or form?
I suddenly realised that I was leaning too far over, and couldn't keep my balance. With a shriek that could probably be heard from miles around, I fell off and onto the next huge tree-thing. I found myself bouncing from tree to tree until I crashed into the cold ground. I groaned and pushed myself up onto my knees, examining my scrapped palms and knees. If this was some kind of wacky dream, it sure felt realistic…
I looked up and was greeted by the faces of three tiny creatures. They were small; about as tall as a felt tip pen and nearly as thin, humanoid in shape, but with long, spindly arms and legs and huge, bulbous eyes. We stared at each other. I was beginning to wonder which of us was going to start freaking out first when two of them ran away screaming bloody murder.
'IT'S A MONSTER!', shrieked the one with spiky green hair and blue skin. For creatures so small, they sure do make a lot of noise...
A few seconds later, the only sign that they had been there was a small green shoe sitting on a bed of purple moss, and a suspicious looking puddle. I made a mental note not to step on it. The last elf thing and me eyed each other. It was slightly taller than the other two, and appeared to be female, with a huge mountain of crazy, curly electric blue hair and purple skin. She appeared to be wearing a toga of acid green leaves, and seemed to be… glaring at me. I blinked.
"Where am I…?", I asked, still half expecting a camera crew to jump out from behind on of these crazy huge plants and shout that I had been the victim of their hidden camera show. No such luck.
"Well, right now your on the ground", it said, crossing its matchstick arms and giving me an unimpressed look and raising an eyebrow. It seemed to have quite an attitude for someone I could quite easily crush with one foot.
"That's not what I mean!", I half shouted, almost in hysterics. Somewhere close to us, I can hear what sounds like lots of 'somethings' taking off in fright. I made another metal note. 'Don't make too much noise'
Look at me. Talking to an elf in another word on a Sunday afternoon. If I hadn't been scared out of my wits, I would have been amused.
"I'm not from here!", I tried to explain to the elf, who clearly thought I had lost it. I was beginning to think so too. "I'm from another place. You know… Earth?"
To my relief, the little person's bug like eyes widened in realisation. Did this mean that it knew how to help me? I hoped so, because even though I'd only been in this place for about two minutes, I was already tired and wanted to go home.
'Oh right! I had forgotten what time of year it was!" she exclaimed, 'You must be one of the other worlders! Follow me, I can show you the way back"
And with that, she marched off through the forest, leaving me sitting feeling even more confused than I was in the first place. Was it common for people to find themselves here? What did any of this have to do with the time of year? As much as I was happy that I was going to be going home, I still wanted some answers… I got up and jogged after the thing. It was surprisingly fast.
"First of all, before I start asking you questions, what's your name?", I asked, ducking under a particularly low 'tree'. I felt it tickle the back of my neck and shivered.
"That was a question", It stated, clambering over what looked like a rock, but when I approached it, scuttled off, "But my name is Cinderharphlump Higehogedoopledannger"
I stared at her blankly. Was she serious...?
"You can call me Cindy", she said, flashing her sharp teeth.
Such a normal name in such a strange place seemed almost stranger that her full title. Almost.
"Right… I'm Cynthia", I said, kicking my way through a pile of pink fluff that had fallen from the tree above me. After a second though, I stuffed a handful into the pocket of my hoody. If I did even get out of this mess, I would need some proof that I wasn't really just a lunatic.
Cindy snorted.
"What?", I asked, confused.
Cindy glanced in my direction, then
"What, you were serious?", she asked, eyebrows raised yet again. Was it hard work to keep using that expression "What a ridiculous name"
I stared at the elf, before muttering under my breath.
"Hypocrite…"
I shook my head and cleared my jumbled thoughts. This was not the time to be arguing with a tiny, irritating elf. I took a deep breath and walked around a puddle of bubbling green goo, letting out a small squeal of disgust when a fleck made its way into my calf. I silently cursed myself for wearing three quarter length jeans as I grabbed a handful of what seemed to be white pom poms from the bottom of a tree and wiped the sludge of my leg. The now green Pom poms were left to fend for themselves as I ran after Cindy.
"Why does the time of year have to do with anything?", I asked.
"Seriously? You don't know? What do you humans get taught? Well, what's the date?", She asked, turning around to face me and standing still. Apparently, I was acting like an idiot.
"Uh… I dunno, 20th of June?" I asked, unsure. I spotted another pile of fur that the tree had shed and went and sat down on it. It would make a good seat while I listened to the story of what was going on.
"Correct. You're not a stupid as you look!"
I wasn't sure if this was an insult or a compliment, so I kept my mouth sealed shut.
"That's the summer equinox in both of our worlds. In equinoxes, the veil between the two of them is thinnest and portals open in different places, allowing people from your world to pass through to ours", she explained, "After a while, the elders of our world decided to create a way back as well, A gatekey. That's where we're going"
"Wait, so every equinox, if I'm next to that wall in my house, I'm going to be transported back here?!', I cried in alarm. As interesting as it was, this place seemed way too… weird to be for any length of time. First of all, there was WAY to much fluff.
"Well, if you're in the same place you were today, then yes", she said, "What's a house?"
I ignored her. I couldn't believe it. Of all the houses my parents could have gotten it had to be the creepy old house with a portal to another dimension. Just perfect.
Two small fists hammering on my knee brought me back to my senses.
"If you're done brooding, can we get a move on?! I want to be rid of you as soon as possible, your stupidity bores me", she said, glaring at me.
Blocking out the insult, I got up off the pile of hair and waited for her to start walking
"What are you waiting for then?", I asked.
Saying nothing, she pointed to the top of my head, than walked off giggling.
Confused, I raised my hand to my head and then examined it. It was covered in red fluff. I looked up and cursed. Stupid shedding trees! I ran after Cindy, tearing it out of my hair all the way. After another few minutes of walking through the ridiculous rainbow coloured forest, the tree's began to change; bright colours turning darker and duller. It was getting pretty cold, and I was beginning to feel a little nervous. Something about this place gave me a bad feeling. I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort and shivered. Suddenly we came to a clearing. Confused, I peered around in thsuh loom of the trees. In the centre of the clearing was a huge crystal that captured ever one of the suns rays and threw them out in every possible direction as millions of different colours. It seemed to be suspended in the air by itself, and the air around it seemed to hum with energy. Somehow, 'wow' didn't quite cover it. I looked down at Cindy, unsure of what to do.
"Well, get going!", said Cindy, hands on hips, staring up at me with her huge, big like eyes.
I hesitated. What should I do? Say a magic word? Click my heels together and think of home? Give the crystal an offering? Sacrificing this annoying pixie wouldn't be so bad… Seeing my confusion, Cindy sighed.
"You humans are useless!", she cried, stamping her foot in frustration, "Just walk up and touch it, and it'll take you where you want to go, ok?!"
I took an involuntary step back. She was surprisingly scary when angry.
"Right. Of course…"
I stepped into the clearing and began walking up to the gate key. The closer I got, the more the air seemed to vibrate. My fingers were inches from it when I heard Cindy shout something from the tree's.
"By the way, Watch out for the gate guardian!"
"The wha-?"
I was cut off when a huge big bird came and threw off my feet and onto my backside. I leapt up and stared at the creature in front of me. It appeared to be a huge owl, standing with its neck proudly stretched and squawked angrily at me.
"What the hell is that?!", I shouted, gesturing angrily at it, "Why didn't you tell me a huge big bird was going to be guarding the only way home?!"
Cindy shrugged, sitting down to watch the show.
"Must have slipped my mind", she said, innocently.
I growled and turned back to the bird.
"Listen you!", I shouted, "I want to go home!"
The bird just squawked and bobbed its head as if laughing. I tried to run around it, but it matched my speed easily. I tried to distract it my throwing fluff from the trees at it but a flap of its wings and it would be blown back in my face. I tried to catch it by surprise by running at it one way and suddenly changing direction but it was just too quick... I could hear Cindy's laughter fro behind me and my attempts got more and more desperate.
After several more attempts and another scraped knee, Cindy stepped in.
"As much as I enjoy seeing you embarrass yourself, this is getting boring", She called, "Wait there"
Then she turned to one of the trees and scrambled up to the top, where I lost sight of her. It was strange to see how fast she was, almost like a squirrel.
"Distract it for me!", came a shout from above.
Startled, I looked over to the bird. Its beady eyes were staring up into the trees where Cindy had disappeared. I sighed. Whatever the elf thing was thinking, it better work. I was getting sick of this place.
"Eh… Hey! You!", I shouted. The bird's head jerked down from where Cindy had climbed too and regarded me with hostility. "You're the ugliest bird I've ever seen!'
Its head snapped back in horror and it screeched in anger.I smiled hesitantly. At least i had its attention now...
'I bet your the dumbest animal I've ever seen. You couldn't even hurt a... Whatever is the equivalent to flies around here!'
With another shrill shriek of outrage, it spread its huge demon like wings and was about to launch its self at me when a small, electric blue shape dropped from the tree above and landed on the owl's back. It squawked in surprise and took off, spiralling through the air trying to dislodge the hitchhiker from its back while Cindy laughed like a lunatic. I watched in awe as it did a double loop while she whooped in delight.
"Well, what are you waiting for?!", she shouted, "Get to the gate key!"
I shook my head and ran to it, placing my hand on the side. Warmth spread through my hand and up through my body, and everything began to glow brightly. The last thing I heard before everything was blocked out was Cindy shouting
"See you next equinox Cynthia!"
I opened my eyes and found myself back in my room, on my bed. I sat up and looked around. Everything was back to normal… I whipped my head around and checked the clock. 12.30…
I leapt off the bed and checked the wall, my fingers searching for anything out of the ordinary. A notch, a dent, ANYTHING... But there was nothing. It was just a wall, nothing strange about that…. I sighed and leant against it. Had it all been a dream? Was none of it real? Suddenly, I heard the front door open down stairs, and my dad called up the stair.
"Cynthia, We're back! Come help us bring the shopping in!", he called. I could hear the rustle of plastic shopping bags as he walked slowly through to the kitchen, and the clatter of tins as he set the bags down.
I sighed again and walked down the corridor, sticking my hands in my pockets. To my surprise, it was full of something soft…. I took my right hand out off the hoody pocket to reveal a handful of short, pink fluff.I stared at it for a while, before a grin spread across my face.
"Cynthia? Hurry up!", called my dad.
"Coming!", I shouted back.
I thundered down the stair and jumped past the last step, smiling at my dad as I walked outside to help mum with the shopping.
"You seem happy. Anything interesting happen while we were gone?", he asked, crossing his arms with a small smile.
"Nope", I replied, walking outside across the gravel to our old car where my mum was struggling with several bags, "Nothing at all"
TADA! How was that? Great? Terrible? Tell me in a review! Flames are welcome! I know that the spacing at the end is REALLY annoying. I'll fix that ;_;