it was midnight. the thick clouds were painted orange by the
streetlamps strewn about the labyrinthian city. buildings were sparse,
and pathways were a winding, unplanned web through overgrown parks
that seemed to go on forever.
you'd think it some sort of fever dream, but it was not. holly had
pinched herself to be sure of that. the midnight summer breeze was too
real. the dew on the grass. the little details. there's no way this
was a dream... and yet... everything else seemed to imply otherwise.
proportions were off. the shrubs were all bigger than they should be,
and although the trees were tall, their branches were thin, like long
insect legs stretching out into the sky. the strangest thing of all,
though, was the scent. the air didn't bring a midnight summer city's
smell with it. it smelled like an ancient linen closet. like
blankets and feathers.
"well i guess there's no point in staying here", holly thought, and
started to follow a path.
first of all she tried heading for a building. they were all black
like silhouettes, even when being lit by the lamps. approaching the
front of the building, she realized that it had a solid white door. as
white as the rest of the building was black, and next to it, was the
building address: "8899 salad st".
knocking on the door yielded no answer. she sensed some motion from
inside, like someone getting off a chair, but after a long wait, she
decided to try a different building.
the second building was shorter, but other than that it was exactly
the same. exactly. even the address, "8899 salad st", was the same.
again, no answer. she decided to walk for a while, to try to find the
city's border, or anything at all, really.
time was hard to keep track of, for some reason. whenever holly wanted
to see what time it was, she'd lift her watch, only to lose focus or
get distracted before she could properly read it, so she walked.
finally, in the distance, she saw a bookshelf. something other than
pathways and bushes, finally!
rushing closer, she saw the bookshelf. it stood in the center of a
clearing, with a mirror on its left, and an endtable on its right.
holly looked into the mirror, and realized that she did not recognize
her outfit: she was wearing a deep blue cotton t-shirt dress with long
orange socks, brown platform shoes, and a baret.
"not quite my style, but also, why am i wearing this?" she asked.
the bookshelf contained a single book. a copy of homer's "the iliad".
the endtable had a single note on it. it read:
"sorry for not answering my door. i'm a bit shy, and sadly, i do not
have any answers that would help you. -s"
