Happy December!! At last- it is my turn to write the next chapter of the project! The rest of the chapters have been excellent so far - very interesting and creative. I certainly hope mine will be good as well!
Without further ado: let's get going!
The Project: Chapter 10
"WAUUUUUUUGGGHH! Oof." Arctic's freefall was interrupted by a sudden rough landing. At least she was still with her friends...not.
"Zounds! Not only have I lost track of my friends, it looks like I've landed in easily the most boring location yet! This place looks exactly the real world!" she exclaimed exasperatedly.
It was true. The world around her was completely, disappointingly normal and positively un-dangerous in every way. She also noticed that she had landed in a bathroom for some reason. Not a public one either, but a regular household one. She hoped she could find her way out before the owner of the house found out that there was a stranger in their bathroom.
"Man, I wish this was actually a fun portal, something with adventure would be nice." Arctic sighed.
Grumbling, she began to walk toward the door when she hit something cold. She tried to step forward again, and hit the strange force field again. It was only then that Arctic began to notice the other strange things about the seemingly normal room. Everything was a little... glassier than normal. With one more valiant effort, Arctic slammed into the invisible force. It wouldn't budge.
Trapped? thought Arctic. Suddenly, someone stepped into the room and turned to face her. How could this stranger go through the invisible wall? Arctic's surmounting horror reached its peak when the girl turned to face her and smiled a most sinister smile. She had lengthy blonde hair and was wearing a plain, grey dress. At last, it clicked.
"Hey-!" yelled Arctic in her most commanding voice. The girl even looked taken aback for a second before regaining her cold composure. "I KNOW... YOUR FACE! Ehmm.. YOU'RE THE PORTAL WEIRDO!" Arctic stammered, trying her best to keep her intimidating stance, but to no avail.
"Looks like you got what you wished for, loser. You finally got the adventure you wanted, and if I do say so myself - a most perfectly crafted one at that."
"Listen here you - if you don't let me go... I'll rub your face on the floor like... like... like floor soap! Yeah, that's what I'll do - so you'd better watch out!" Arctic yelled. The girl only scoffed.
"If your little brain has managed to comprehend it yet - you are trapped within my mirror, almost like an alternate world. The unfortunate thing is, whatever I do to it here will, shall I say, reflect itself over there." With that, the girl looked Arctic dead in the eyes and turned the tap on full. Arctic watched the water steadily pool into the sink and realized where this was going.
"Escape comes from the door unseen. Have fun, you have fifteen minutes." the girl cackled madly and left the room. Arctic ran for the door but was once again evaded by the invisible barrier.
"Oh Lord oh Lord oh Lord please HELP! The water is rising! What will I do?!" she screamed. "The tap must be magical - the water is coming out way too fast!"
Surely enough, the water had now filled the sink and was spilling over the sides and onto the floor in a rapid cascade of impending doom. Panic was all that was on her mind - but there was no time for that. Arctic needed a solution, and quick!
She banged, kicked, pulled, and shoved every cabinet door and wall she could find but it was no use.
"Door unseen, door unseen, DOOR UNSEEN. WHAT DOOR WHAT DOOR?!" she cried in desperation. Thinking back to the many detective adventure shows she had seen, she tried finding hidden triggers or symbols in the tiles. All she found were some dead flies and a Q-tip. Gross.
The water was now up to her ankles and steadily on the rise. Could a toilet be a door unseen?
"This world is imaginary - so maybe all I need to do is imagine a door. Or maybe a rhino to bust a hole in this forcefield." So Arctic did her very best to imagine doors, keys, and multiple large animals but all she got was a headache.
By now, the water was up to her knees. She tried miming a door and going through it. Apparently "the door unseen" was not part of a pantomime.
"Did the other blogger have to do this?! Confound my loud mouth- wishing for more trouble than I ought to have!!" The water was up to her hips and she was losing hope. Arctic tried flushing the excess water down the toilet but all it did was create a small torrent in the corner of the room.
She kicked the tap in anger, hoping it would lessen the flow of water. Big mistake- the tap snapped clean off and the water started gushing out faster than ever before. Before long, the water was up to her shoulders. Arctic couldn't do it anymore - she began to cry, and couldn't seem to stop.
"I miss my friends, I miss my family. Oh Lord please keep the other Bloggers safe. I wish I could be braver. I wish I could have found a way. I only wanted to help everyone get back together, and I wanted a fun adventure with my friends. Look what I've done. Look.. what I've.. done..." The water came up over Arctic's head, stealing her breath, obscuring her vision, and everything went dark.
They say that even in the darkest of situations, so long as you keep your faith - hope can be found, and that the light will always shine through. No matter how bleak something can be- no matter how high the waters rise, you'll always find a way. So as it is said, so it happened.
The darkness began to fade before Arctic's bleary eyes. 'I'm... okay?' she thought, startled. She had been spluttering and choking only moments before, but it was as though something strange had come over her that protected her. A warmth radiated from her very core- and out of the watery darkness appeared a welcoming wooden door, with a golden light glowing from behind it. Arctic could not reach the knob at first, but stretched with all her might to touch it. At last, her hand made contact with the golden knob. With all her effort, she turned the knob and passed through.
Was she floating? Still swimming? Arctic could not quite tell. At first, it was too bright for her to see anything. Her eyes eventually adjusted to the light and she could make out the figures of several girls, standing together. It was as though she was looking into a scene from far above.
"Arctic!" They called. "Oh, Arctic where are you?"
"Has anyone seen her yet?"
"No, none of us went through any portals with her... did we?"
"Not since the first one where we all fell through."
"Wherever she is, may the Lord keep her safe."
Arctic called out to them, but they could not hear her words. It was then that a soft voice spoke into her ear.
You have kept your faith Arcticstar. You solved the riddle - the door unseen has been opened. In your hour of darkness, you called out for help, you shared your sincerest desires, and you thought first of your friends. By doing so you opened the door to your heart - the door unseen. May all your journeys be swift from here.
The shattering of glass. Arctic was free.
The next few minutes were a blur. She rushed out of the mirror world and into the real one - completely soaked. She was going to find that portal and get her friends no matter what it took. At last, she found it, and without the slightest hesitation she jumped into the bright green light.
Footsteps.
"So she escaped. There was no way to get out. There were no doors. She never should have been able to leave... The next challenge will be all the more perilous. Beware, bloggers."
~~~
Phew! How was that? I'm sorry if it got a bit scary - and a bit long. Once I had my idea, I really got into it - I had a lot of fun writing this! I really hope you guys enjoyed my chapter! I wanted to make it a bit silly, but meaningful, with elements of danger and suspense - I really hope I achieved that.
Anyway, that's all for this post my friends! Have a wonderful week!
Beep Beep- See you Next Week!
