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The Red Brick Road

When I woke up Friday morning, I never thought that this would be where I would end up. I never thought that my life would be thrown into a downward spiral with no way to climb back up. I never dreamed that my existence would be turned into something that could be found in a Tim Burton movie. I also never thought that I would wake up sitting at the the bottom of a black hole and chained to a wall with no way to break free. While I'd always heard that imagination of a writer can sometimes take over to become a reality, this was ridiculous. Who could have guessed that such a place was real? If there were such world, one that only existed somewhere in between a child's nightmare and the twisted imagination of a sociopath that experienced manic depression, it could only be described as crazy, unimaginable, and downright impossible. Three days ago, I would have agreed. I would have laughed in your face while dialing the number for the nearest psychiatric ward if you'd told me this is where I would end up, where I would die. We all have classic movies that we love, that we could watch over and over again and never get tired of it. Mine was the Wizard of Oz. The movie held a sense of hope for me; the idea that, one day, I could make something of myself, I could go somewhere and do something that would change my entire way of living. Looking back, all I have to say about the Wizard of Oz is; fuck Dorothy and fuck the yellow brick road. She had it so easy. She had friends behind her, helping her. Even with that help, she was so whiny, she cried about everything, always complaining about getting home. I bet she didn't think about the fact that many of us, people like me, long to get rid of our homes, to break free of the binding chains. She was selfish. Nobody ever talks about it; the red brick road, I mean. The road that winds in the opposite direction of Dorothy's precious yellow brick road. It called out to me. It calls out to all of us; the desperate and confused, the damned, and the broken hearted. We swarmed to it like flies to a glob of honey. There isn't a particular reason; the trail was dark and dreary. The plants were dead and the ones that weren't were struggling for life. If I ever get home...if I live passed tomorrow, if I ever see that movie again, hear those songs and her insistent complaining; I will throw the fucking television out the window. Now here I am, sitting here, breathing in the musty air and listening to the cries of the other people in the room with me. I couldn't see them, I could only hear them. I don't know any of them but I pity them. I have never spent much time pitying myself, until today. So, beware my friends. Beware of the red brick road...   Chapter One I guess I should start at the beginning, that's where most interesting days start right? It started out as a normal, everyday Friday. I woke up, helped Jaime, my younger sister, get ready for school and then attempted to write. I must have stared at the blank screen for hours before finally giving up. I hadn't written anything since she left, I guess my inspiration was gone...  Tori left me three weeks before that day, she was the one that I'd wanted to be with for the rest of my life. Her eyes could stop traffic if she tried. She was everything to me, but that is a different story. After throwing away three hours at the computer with no progress, I decided to check my Facebook. There were a couple messages that meant nothing, none that were really worth remembering. What I did remember, was the weather report. Rain. There was going to be a lot of rain, and a lot of lightning. Normally, this wouldn't have meant a damn thing to me. But for some reason that remained unknown to me, it stuck in my mind. I shut off the computer and made some lunch. After lunch, I went for a walk, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. No dark puffs loomed over the horizon, there wasn't even a breeze. The day was hot, a dry heat that could've smothered anybody that stayed in its path for too long. Still, the rain lingered inthe back of my mind. Weather reports had been wrong before, maybe they just miscalculated something. Once I was back in the house, I didn't really know what to do with myself. The house was clean, I never really watched TV and I'd read all of the books that we had. For several minutes , I just stood there. I wondered what Jaimee was learning in school, thinking about how I wished I was still in school. At least when you're bored at school, you're at least doing something. I walked through the different rooms, searching for something that could occupy my time. I knew that I should have been writing. I had a book proposal due in six months and had written nothing. I had plenty of ideas buzzing in my mind but nothing seemed to fall into another, nothing fit. I passed through the house with nothing new to do. I finally settled in the living room, staring at the ceiling with my head rested on the back of the couch. From the corner of my eye, I could see a blinking. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked over. The red number blinked on the answering machine. I'd missed a call when I was out. With a grumble, I stood up and pressed the silver button that would repeat the message to me. "Hey Nikki, it's Tori," I froze and continued to listen, "I was going over some stuff at my apartment and I noticed that you left your photoalbum and a pair of shoes over here. I figured this would be a good excuse to talk to you, so, if you could, come on over or give me a call. Bye. PS; I miss you, hun." My heart jumped into my throat. Before I could command my body to move, or my lungs to pull in air, I was out the door. Within minutes, it was pouring. The rain came down in hard slants, the wind tried to force me backward.  I pushed through the strong air current, forcing myself forward. I had to go, I had to see her. The cold rain hurt as it hit my arms and my neck, the wind pushed the freezing water into my eyes. The rain became too much to bear. I turned direction, moving into a small alleyway. The wind was blocked by the buildings on either side, the rain came down but without the ferocity it had before. I watched the storm with fascination, but also with a hope that it would just end. I had to meet Tori, I had to see her, to talk to her, to hear her laugh... My thoughts were pulled to behind me at the sound of clattering. I turned to see a small cat sitting on top of a garbage can. "Here kitty!" I tried to encourage it forward. It was soaked, and just as cold as I was. I pushed myself closer to the cat, it bolted from the garbage can, to the back of the alley. Normally, I would've turned and left, but something beckoned me toward that fucking cat. The cat meowed and licked its paws. I followed it to the back of the alley, it ran to the left. I watched it as it sat in front of an empty cardboard box. I crouched onto my hands and knees and moved closer. This time, the animal came closer to me, I picked it up and looked into its eyes. The gold shimmered brightly in the cats irises. It touched its paw to my face, making me stop breathing. By boy tingled lightly, mostly with curiosity and fear. It was when the cat spoke that I got scared. "Good luck." The female voice was reassuring but that didn't make me want to freak out any less. Only two words, and then it was gone. It jumped from my arms  and bolted out of the alley. "What the hell?" I asked myself. The wind roared at the end of the alley, the rain flooded the ground, I felt the water line rise, to the middle of my calves and then to my knees. Thunder roared through the sky, warning me of the lightning that was to come. Too bad I didn't get the message before I felt the electricity bolt through my body. I felt all of my muscles tense and then relax. The light disappeared from my  vision and I felt my body get heavier, and then I hit the ground. Chapter Two I felt my body buzzing. My stomach was flipping and turning, my head throbbed with every violent beat of my heart. I put my right hand to my forehead, as if it might actually release some the pain. With no such luck, I moved my hand, squinting my eyes, and propped myself up on one elbow. I shook my head, trying to rid the buzzing, and then my mind flew to my stomach. It flipped and turned, threatening to jump out through my throat. With a hard swallow, I pulled myself into a full sitting position and looked around me. “What the hell?” I asked nobody in particular. What came next was the only thing I remember. There was a thud before I felt it. A blunt object smacked into the back of my head and the black came over me again. On the back of my eyelids was a movie of swirling color, shapes that had no definition or name. When I finally woke up, the light was dim in the sky, leaking through my closed eyelids, casting red into my vision. I knew that I would have to get up, I would have to move, to see where I was. When I tried, I failed. A pinch of panic flared through my chest. For several more seconds, I would attempt to move, I would try to force myself up. I felt like I was tied down, I couldn't raise my arms or lift my legs. I felt helpless, a feeling that I hated more than anything in the world. I couldn't even twitch my fingers. After what had felt like an hour of trying to force myself up, of pushing my thoughts and energy forward. I was willing myself to stand up. I froze again when something changed. There was movement. I searched my mind, still unable to open my eyes, I then attempted to cause the flicker again. It happened again. Paying close attention, I knew where the movement came from. It was a faint flutter of my fingers. The one small gesture made my stomach well in triumph. I wanted to laugh, to say that I was winning, but I refused to get ahead of myself. Over the next half hour, I forced myself to move. Inch by inch, extremity by extremity, I was able to move. I slowly opened my eyes, a groggy feeling came over me, and the back of my head throbbed. Now that I could move without much thought or effort, I rested my hands flat against the ground and pushed myself back into a sitting position. That was the first time that I noticed the grass. Grass? How did I get on the grass? Shouldn't I have been at home? Where was home? A crunching sound from behind me froze my thoughts and my actions. I listened intently, forcing everything out of my mind. I suppose I could have turned around to see who was there, to see, what could have been, the person who hit me earlier. I could have screamed and told them they were crazy bastards and that I was going to sue them for all they were worth. I could have, but I didn't. I listened. I waited. I wanted them to speak up, I wanted to hear if they were male or female, I had to know if I could overtake them if I'd needed to. “Hi!” I jumped back at both the sound and the face that came centimeters in front of mine. “Who-who the hell are you?” I yelled back. The eyes were huge. The creatures mint green eyes shined brightly in the dusk sky. They were completely round, with no points, no corners. The creature was about four feet tall with no muscle tone. It's arms were simply as thick as the bones that hung under the gray skin. There were no fingernails on it's sharply tipped fingers. Considering all of these oddities, it's feet were what stood out against anything. They were nearly flat, the toenails were sharp enough to cut glass, they also shimmered with a dark blue hue. “I'm Chantra!” Though she wore no close, and had no identifying body parts, I could tell that she was female now because of her voice. Well, I thought she was female. “Uh-um.” I was frozen. “Uh-um, you really don't talk much do you?” she smiled widely, her teeth just as sharp as her toenails. I couldn't help the stuttering that overtook my vocals. “H-how did I-I...” I cleared my throat and spoke slowly, “How did I get here?” She shrugged happily. “I can't say that I know!” “Ugh,” I put my hand to my head, “You talk really loudly. Who the hell hit me in the head?” “Yeah...Sorry about that. You kind of scared me. If you don't mind me saying, you're kind of funny looking. I was sitting in that tree over there, eating some stanton berries when I heard a thud. I saw you laying there and then you sat up. When I thought you were going to turn around, I threw the berry.” “A freaking berry hit me? How do you eat those things?” She smiled again to show me her razor-sharp teeth. “It's not too hard for me. For you, it would probably be impossible.” “Where am I?” I finally asked, the question was what I'd planned on asking first. “Oz.” “Huh?” I asked. I know I'd heard the name somewhere before, I just couldn't remember where. I forced myself back, my thoughts moved back through time. Thought I couldn't see the place that I searched for, I found the name, a movie and a book that I'd read once. “You mean like, The Wizard of Oz?” “The what? No, just Oz.” She was genuinely confused. As far as I could tell, this place wasn't like the Oz I'd seen in the movie. The colors were glowing but darkly. The trees loomed over us with different colored fruits and berries planted on them. “So, I'm dreaming right? This can't be real.” She shrugged again. “Nope. No dreaming. Welcome to Oz.”

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