A simple dream of melancholy quietly ended in the dark swallowing her memory completely of that first encounter many years ago as a child of Roman. Once a man of power tragically fell to his demonic scars. She never talks about it with anyone. Only in written letters does the virtuous maiden cope for the past 5 years. She is still unconscious and slowly she makes the journey back to the waking reality away from dreamland. When she slowly opened her eyes, a bright light hit her, throwing her back into the dark as she closed her eyes again. After opening and blinking a few times, she finally opened without the blinding sun harming her sight upon the first day. A great sky greeted her, decorated with angel cake clouds. Something wasn't right….The last place she remembered was….What was the last thing she remembered? Where was she? Alice's hands grasped the ground for grass but all she found was sand. Curious, she slowly sat up and took in the view. A beach to her left as clear as the eyes of the boy in black, its waves gently crashing onto the shore. To her right stood a massive jungle in front of her, full of many shades of luscious green towering high, much of the inside was covered by the foliage on the outer layer. The air was slightly humid, as it was a suggested tropical environment.
Alice slowly stood up on her own two legs, unsure what to do. From the corner of her eye, she noticed her suitcase just a few feet away. Walking slowly, she made her way over with the nimbleness of a newborn fawn. She was unconscious for a long time so it seemed. Why? A bigger question is 'How?' Something that can be answered given the time hopefully. Making her way over to the suitcase, she couldn't help but take in the splendor of such a beautiful environment. The green foliage reminded her of the greens in her home country, the blue ocean resembled a deep blue fabric part of a ballerina's dress from a play a long time ago. The sand reminiscences lemon gelato that wasn't exactly her favorite but still good nonetheless. All of these blended together made a perfect harmony of the elements.
When the suitcase was in front of her feet, she knelt down and opened the contents within. All her clothes suited for long travels on foot. There were her hiking shoes, simple earthy colors with dull elastic shoestrings full of too many knots. She traded her blue sketcher sandals for those hiking shoe, after placing them away in the suitcase and closing it she stood up. Alice looked back at the jungle. Her heart raced, but she had to find answers. Dragging the suitcase behind her she entered the jungle slowly.
Within it was overwhelming sounds, of bird and cicadas. There were so many shades of green in the forest it was almost like being in an emerald mine. Alice had to bear the images of banana spiders lazily waiting for dinner on their own intricate web. The long boney legs sent shudders up her spine. Alice never really liked insects. They frightened her, centipedes especially. Their long bodies, their scuttling legs and the sight of one leaves Alice immobile, paralyzed with fear. A loud rumble from the sky signaled a storm. She had better find shelter soon or else face the lightning and rain alone. It was hard, dragging the suitcase behind and some of the branches were becoming tangled in her long brown hair. Little leaves were seen in her thick locks and the branches were stopping her. She groaned, knowing she should've tied her hair up in a ponytail earlier. She set her bag down and reopened its contents searching for something. She found a pair of pink scissors with a blue hue to them. She loved her hair, always brushing it and braiding it, lacing it with ribbons. Alice's hands trembled, in a bout of nervousness she hesitated. She never had a bob or a pixie cut, only a trim to take care of the dead ends. Alice held the scissors and up to her hair, continuing to tremble. She had to force a lump down her throat and then closed the scissors in her hair. A long lock of hair fell and she felt a little loosened. She did it again, snip, and another fell down, feeling a little unrestrained. She kept going until there was nothing left to cut and she was freed from the branches. She sighed in relief and put the scissors back in her case and brought out a bottle of water. After taking a sip to hydrate, she continued on, after seeing the fluffy clouds turn dark and ominous, looming over the sky, slowly consuming it. She walked at a quicker pace and slung the suitcase over her shoulder to improve any chance of running now.
Her long legs carried her far in the emerald jungle. She could see an opening to a grassy area, away from the jungle. She finally emerged out from the jungle and placed her hands on her knees to catch the humid air. As unpleasant as the humid air was, it was a relief to her burning lungs. Much of a deer she is yet she is always lightheaded and breathless after pushing herself too hard, that much is always needing improvement. After a few minutes of regaining her breath, she took in her surroundings. It was a tiny series of concrete homes long abandoned, evidenced by the lack of life and million tiny vines growing on the concrete. She called out a 'Hello?' before being answered with a silence. Emptiness signaling the few buildings to be nothing more of a ghost town. The thunder boomed. It had arrived consuming the skies. The dark blue-grey clouds were the definition of ominous storms. Tiny teardrops from the sky began to fall. They were gentle and small, but in an instant, they were jumbo and fell hard into the grass. Alice panicked and hurried into one of the buildings as the storm cried heavily. It was a miracle the doors could still open with ease but inside was desolate and cold. The lack of humans interacting was haunting. It was like being trapped in a horror movie, the only way out is forward, even though it might mean your death at the hands of a killer you thought you called a friend. Nonetheless, she was safe in here. In a hallway near the stairs appeared to be a crate with a huge tomato sticker plastered on the front. Smiling she pondered if there was anything in the building to make pasta with. She carried her case up the stairs to a room of its own, complete with a kitchen, a living room, and a bed. Sadly it was all empty, without a sign of life to be seen or heard. There was only decay in the walls and in the floors, she could smell it with trouble as the stench was fouler than moldy cheese. It was the stench of bacterial contamination. From the corner of, Alice noticed her reflection in an old mirror staring back at her. Within it there was Alice and she stared back with chopped hair that reached only her ears and a thin long curl that stuck out from the left side. She sighed in panicked disappointment. It wasn't intentional to cut that short, but the deed was done in order to move forward. She just hoped it would grow back quickly.
In the distant background, she heard a whistle. Like a policeman's antique whistle to alert others to fugitive. It didn't come from the room or below. It came from the outside world. She opened the screen door that led out to a miniature patio and walked out to see what it was. The sky had stopped crying, but there was thunder in the distance. It didn't come from the clouds and this kind of thunder made the ground shake and rumble underneath the earth. If it wasn't raining, then what was falling out the sky? From what only her eyes could see, they appeared to be pellets the size of dogs. She stared at them in horror as they made that whistling sound, the realization dawned on her.
They were bombs.
She ran back into the room and grabbed her suitcase. The whistling grew louder and louder and it was only a matter of time before they came into contact with the earth. She ran back into the room and grabbed her suitcase. The whistling grew louder and louder and it was only a matter of time before they came into contact with the earth. She hurried down the stairs and frantically looked around for some kind of shield to protect from the barrage of bombs. The whistling grew louder. Every second counted. Alice noticed the tomato crate and a door leading to a basement. Louder. She kicked the crate down the stairs to the bottom and hurried with haste. Louder. Luckily her thunder thighs didn't break the wood for it remained intact. LOUDER. She threw open the crate and threw in her case. LOUDER. She hurried as heart pounded against her ribcage. LOUDER. She slipped in the crate, with there being barely any room to spare. LOUDER. Her whole body trembled as she slipped on the lid. LOUDER. The lid closed and she was left in the dark.
The bombs made contact and exploded upon impact. Some of the bombs demolished chunks of the old buildings. Some demolished them entirely. The ground rumbled and groaned tremors against the bombs. The debris, particularly in Alice's building, collapsed onto the crate, knocking the wood harshly sending Alice shrinking into a corner of the crate, terrified beyond human reason. It was hard to breathe because of this. The fear crept into her lungs and strangled them, leaving only short quick and silent couldn't see it, but the buildings had been reduced to ruin and nothing. The barrage of thundering bombs carried on for infinity. They carried on until night. By then she had collapsed in fear and fatigue of stress. She tried her phone. No reception or signal. She was afraid to step out the crate, so she cried silently until she drifted away to dreams and memories. Time passed, but she didn't know how long. Felt like forever infinity. She was afraid to peek open the lid. What if the bombs came back? What could she do?
All the thoughts running through her head came to a stop when a sudden tap knocked on the box.