Retaken (Short Story)

[Rainy]

Retaken (Or Node) by Bob D. A.

                   The desert, it is cold, a sea of soulless sand that just moves out of your way so you can take a step yet it holds you up so you don’t fall. The wind along my fur isn’t enough to make it worth this journey, everything that has ever happened has happened because it needed to. Why must I have to do this? Only the stars in the dark sky could whisper louder than the wind, taking my eye’s off them though was the easy part. Each step was the same, nothing ever changed, everything was the same as before, I wasn’t making a difference nor was what I was doing. The wind blew my scarf as though I was to be an epic hero, what am I if everyone is gone? The sand being blue was natural but the moon making it bright was not so, I appreciated the teal scent on the blue sand, it was different. No amount of fur could’ve prevented such winds from disturbing a warm body, not even that of Grand SnowFraust, who would boast of being able to survive any weather with his heavy white fur.
                   I haven’t slept in…what…two days? I don’t know, it seems to all connect in my mind, day and night have almost become indeterminable. Right now, I was in my mind, the moon was above the sand like a lamp stands over it’s room from the ceiling. So much nature yet there is so little that is composing it, as though it is a group of silly kids being ran by a day care squirrel, or even an advisor. Everything seemed so simplistic but had it’s reasons that weren’t as apparent, I would often think of her, the way she would take care of the flowers, the way she would smile. It was the only thing left, the only thing I could hold onto, besides from this gem.
                   This gem…ooohhh…every time I see this gem it makes me so furious. I had things, before, I had friends, I had a place to call home, now it’s all gone, ashes! Most of what is left is not even in the same location, it holds a tight spot inland, far away, much safer. This gem, it tells me when I near what I am supposed to do next, and to think it all started with an abandon cart of ore. Ever since I touched the gem it seemed to cry out to me as though in help, but it’s not alive, never has anything frustrated me more. Alone now in this endless sea I’ve got nothing much left to keep hold of: the clothes on my back, this gem and the thought of her being safe in the new home. I’m used to being alone, it doesn’t bother me much, it’s just me and the open wind, and this stupid gem.
                   As I walked up the huge sand mound I only thought of the end being so close, maybe this was the last thing I needed to do. I am not even sure this was it, if this thing I was doing was going to make anything better! I got to the top of the dune to over look a whole new sea of sand that appears untouched by any soul.
                   I stood there as I pulled the gem from out of my bag that was hanging from my shoulder. As I gripped the gem holding it up in front of me it glowed green from inside once again, I was headed the right way, at least that’s what it was telling me. I put it down by my side as I just stared out into the empty dune, twitching my nose for the appeal of feeling it but failed due to the veil that it was numb from the air. Mr. Runeston the fox walked up next to me, he too looked upon the dune in which was empty.
                   “It is the only thing you have left.” He said in his obscurely normal voice of his.
                   “Why? to what avail?” I asked as we both kept locked on the land in front of us.
                   “It is only to what you hold it to, though you may be pyknic the reward doesn’t change.”
                   “Height isn’t the choice here, the question stands unanswered. Why?
                   “Height has everything to do with your own self-esteem, that was and always has been your mental state.”
                   “No! That was long ago, but not anymore.”
                   “Stop fooling yourself, just because you’re a mouse doesn’t make you any lesser of a man than any of us.”
                   “WHY?”
                   “That is the question we all ask ourselves. Why? Why me? Why not easier? Why so hard? Why long? It’s an illusion many can’t escape. If you want an answer, then you must go where you are lead.”
                   I looked over at him to see nothing, he was gone, my mind playing tricks on me. I knew it was me, but I wanted to see him, not just out of the corner of me eye, I actually wanted to see him myself. At least see one more face again that was with me, a face that wasn’t just made up to keep me going. I looked down and began shuffling my feet down the steep pile of sand, going down nearly sideways I made it down without tripping or falling. I kept walking quite quickly through the dune that seemed so perilous yet so void of any danger.
                   I need something to drink, something…anything to drink…just something, it’s so cold out here, I’m so lonely and thirsty. As long as I walk I seem to get nowhere, my steps are the only thing that follows me. Nothing is in eye’s glance, it’s just blue sand everywhere, I’m beginning to feel empty as I pointlessly walk though this seemingly endless desert of sand. What ever I was to find wasn’t meant to be found, maybe the gem is leading me to my own death?

                   I kept walking, soon I pulled the gem out and held it in front of me, it still glowed green from within. As I stared at the glowing stone my mind took me back to the better days that I yearned for. Everything around me changed, almost as if I wasn’t really in the desert holding the gem, I was in the town. I was standing on the corner of the road as I did when I waited for her to meet me so we could go to eat or play or whatever we planned to do. Everything was wavy and blurry as if I was in a dream, but it seemed so real, the wind was warm, I could feel my nose once more, the sun was out shinning upon the land. I looked down both sides of the road to see the houses lined on either side, the church stood near the end of this street. On the other side was more houses, the end of that street was another street that lead to the large stores. Behind me was a large grass field that went straight to a tree riddled area, the grass field was used for many things like sports and general playing. When I looked up the sky was blue as always, a kind of blue that was perfect, so much that it could find a way into your soul and comfort you from the inside. The sun was beaming down to create a nearly perfect day, another day in the town of slow life. Many people were meeting and greeting, others were inside, the kids in the field playing, their parents talking and watching. I stood there listening to the echoed sounds, the kids hollering, as much as I disliked it when I was in the town I envied it here and now.
                   Oh how I wish I was back in this town, it was so right, everything was so slow and smooth. I gave off a big smile as I looked at the field, it was all I remembered, the longer I looked the less foggy things were. Soon I forgot I was even in some sort of dream, the people were so real, they are real! I took in a big sniff to get the nice gesture of nature handed back to my face, it was the oak smell I loved every morning. I began to walk towards the trees, I felt to air against my face as I was walking, the kids kept playing. The sound of the giggling was loud as I passed them, a batch of kids were playing with a ball, I watched them as I walked through the calming field. I remembered doing that when I was a kid, goofing off and playing around with my loud mouth. I walked into the collection of trees, as I passed the first one I brushed my hand against it to feel it’s hard, rough bark. It was shady here, the sound of everyone in the field did not travel so easily here as it did on the street. The leaves apparently had just grown to their green state that glowed in the sun, they blocked the rays to create enough of a canopy to lax in. I walked over to a red tree that wasn’t very tall, this was the spot where I told her I loved her, it was the place I could never forget. I walked around it just to find her sitting there on the ground, picking flowers off the ground to smell them. She always loved the smell of the flowers, her fur was brown, her long bushy tail was always so good at keeping her balance. But it was her eye’s, the green in her eye’s, they spoke to me as though to call to me, to me she was the most beautiful thing ever.
                   She looked up at me and smiled, all I could do was smile back, it was like I was dreaming, she wore the most unusual of cloths but it fit her so wondrously. Every time we would meet it was like time stopped for both of us, we grew up together always playing in the field until we grew older and moved to the trees. She liked climbing trees the most, she once taught me how to climb trees as she did, at first I wasn’t very good at it, but after a while I was quite the climber. I had failed many times before, once she even pounced on my just for falling off a branch, I did deserve it since the branch was thick.
                   She stood up and faced me, it was like it used to be, before everything, before that gem. She grabbed my hand off the tree and held it, I grabbed her other hand and we just smiled at each other. Then she nodded her head back and let go of me, she ran to a far off tree and quickly climbed up it. I ran after her and followed her up the tree but not as fast, it took me longer to climb but I was able to do it. I got to the top but didn’t see her anywhere, I looked everywhere as I sat on the branch. I looked down and the tree seemed to grow in height, or was it that the ground got further away from me? I was startled as the ground just seemed to fall but the top half of the tree was never moved. I began to feel dizzy as I stared at the ground, I looked up with fear in my face, the air under my feet no longer felt thick, instead it felt thin and windy. I felt as though I was floating, as if the branch wasn’t there, I slowly slipped forward, I tried to grab the branch with my hands but I couldn’t feel it. I fell off the branch into the thin cold air, fear was stricken all though me as I fell. I’m going to die! I tried reaching for the branch as I fell back first, suddenly a green flash blinded me and I was In the desert again.
           
                   I walked forward still with the gem in my hand but it didn’t glow, I turned and it glowed again. I started walking and it just went out again, I was here the place I was supposed to be at is right here. I turned and looked all around but there was nothing but sand, no building, no person, not even a small jar! I threw the gem at the ground and screamed at it, then I turned and kicked some sand real hard making it fly up into the air.
                   COME ON! THIS IS WHAT YOU SENT ME HERE FOR?! YOU STUPID PIECE OF CRYSTAL! YOU WORTHLESS JEWELRY! THERE’S NOTHING HERE! NOTHING!
                   I was infuriated as I fumed off in rage, nothing was here, but then the gem started glowing really bright. I stopped my quarrel of rage to look at the crystal which glowed brighter than it ever has before, I was only curious as to what it was doing or trying to tell me. I feel on my hands and knees as I crawled closer to it, the brightness seemed so mysterious, it had a shade of purple hiding deep within. What is it doing? Suddenly there was a really low thud followed by the ground shaking really hard, I started hearing the sound of running sand coming beneath my hands. I quickly stood as the shaking became more intense, I bent down and grabbed the gem nearly stumbling on my feet as I did so. The sand was becoming unstable and starting to sink into itself as though it had turned into quicksand. I rushed away from what appeared to be the center, but without warning a huge spike shot out of the center of the whirlpool of sinking sand. It scaled the air in an attempt to reach the sky, as it pushed upwards another spike broke though the sand. It wasn’t moving upwards! The sand was moving downwards! I realized this when I looked back to see the sand creating a funnel around the spikes like a waterfall. I was just on the edge of the falling sand looking down into it, the circle was growing slowly but not fast enough for me to have a worry about my ground. As the sand sunk it revealed two towers under the spikes, the towers were connected to a large castle like building that seemed ancient.
                   It was so old something out of the passage of time, as though to be presented by an Egyptian pharaoh himself. Statues of majestic cats both held a common candle-stand with a candle on it, these statutes were completely of stone while the candle-stand and candle was made of an embalm of some sort. The whole building was far superior to that of any buildings my kind have ever built, to that of any buildings that anyone has built to date. Who built this building? How? The blocks were made of a green stone that was not shinny at all, this mixed with some granite like stones made this temple all the more intimidating. It came to a sharp point at the top where two towers stuck out to the sky, one was smaller than the other. The front was wide opened only guarded by two more statues of what appeared to be wolves holding a sword made from the same emeralds as the candle-stands.
                   It was so tall, whoever built this wanted it to be found but didn’t want it destroyed; as the temple rose I slid down the falling sand to the base of the temple. The base of the temple was a large square stone that served as the floor, the sand was moving under this stone to lift the temple upwards. It seemed the temple wasn’t moving anymore but the sand kept flowing like a waterfall yet the desert never lowered. I hit the floor, the warm floor that had been protected by the sand, my shoes being the only thing between my feet and the warmth. I touched it with my hand, the loud rumble slowly faded away to the sound of flowing sand as though it was a stream of water. I looked up to see the moon above the temple shinning on the vast land filled with sand. I took a couple of steps forward and stopped there, the air was warmer down here, it felt so good. My nose was beginning to regain it’s feeling; I held the crystal up in front of me, it no longer glowed no matter where I pointed it. This must be it.
                   “Because this is it.” A familiar voice said from behind.
                   I looked up form the crystal at the large door guarded by the two statues.
                   “I can’t make peace…no one can…” I said.
                   “No, but you can delay death.”
                   “That’s not what this is about…there is something more…”
                   “You must find out for yourself, because a quest isn’t about what’s on the other side. It’s about what you make of what is left for you on the other side.”
                   I slowly looked back, my mind was playing it’s games again. This time the person didn’t disappear, he was standing off to the right a little near me, it was Nishon the Hyena, as he normally would be cutting up he isn’t this time. In fact he is very straight forward, with easily the most serious look I’ve ever seen on him, when he wanted to be serious he could be dead serious sometimes.
                   “What’s left?”
                   “What will you make of what you find? Is it all about the money? Or maybe it’s about being the hero of the world?”
                   “I’m scared Nishon.”
                   “Don’t be scared of the unknown. Fear is just the expectation of death. If you expect something, then it’s more likely to happen.”
                   “Nishon, I am scared!”
                   He only sighed and came closer to me, his over hanging neck cloth covered most of his right arm.
                   “The only thing you are really afraid of is yourself.”
                   I looked back at the temple as I glimpsed at it’s details.
                   “Should I do it?”
                   “That is up to you, do you want to save the world? Or what is left of it?”
                   I just nodded my head then began to walk towards the temple, as I did I could feel Nishon disappear like dust behind me, not saying goodbye or even wishing good fortune upon me, not even a smile. I walked past the guarding statues unknowing what I’d find.

                   It was dark and damp within the temple, I couldn’t see a thing it was so dark, then out of nowhere a bright blue light shone through the darkness. It revealed the room around me, I looked around the room to notice that the entrance was gone, there were pillars made of stone supporting the tall ceiling, the room was a cube obviously. The blue light stayed bright above what appeared to be a spear that was lodged in a stone with the point sticking up. At the base of the stone was an empty slot for some stone, I pulled out the gem and looked at it. The gem was the same shape as the hole in the stone, I looked up at the blue light that floated above the spear. As I moved closer the gem glowed brighter and brighter, it was even brighter than it was in the desert, I placed it in the hole and stepped back. There was a low rumble in the air but nothing shook, the blue light shined brighter and brighter, the gem lost it’s glow as the blue light began to glow a brighter blue than it was before. The light burst open covering the whole room, everything began to disappear into the air, I started panicking as I looked left and right. The floor disappeared turning into the same light blue light that was shinning from the source, I was now standing in mid air in a room that appeared to nothing but light blue. It had strokes of lighter blue running through it along with darker blue strokes all moving around the edge of the room which appeared to be sphere. I stood on some invisible platform in the center of the room, in front of me was a green glowing glob floating in the air. I was a little confused as to what was happening, I’ve never felt so disassembled in my life, I figured that the green globe was the gem.
                   I moved closer to it to grab it.
                   “You have a choice to make.” A voice echoed through the room.
                   It was my own voice, I grabbed my muzzle and looked down at it.
                   “You can leave.” The voice said.
                   Then another flash happened behind me, a red flash, I looked back to see a red glowing globe floating in the air.
                   “You came here to save the world. Now you must choose, you can leave here now unshaved, but she will die tonight from her intense illness.”
                   That voice! It brought up that subject, the whole reason why I am on this journey in the first place! I was not happy at hearing this, I knew she didn’t have long to live but why tonight?
                   “Or…”
                   I perked up when I heard that there was another choice.
                   “You can save her in exchange for your own life.”
                   My eye’s widen as my heart dropped, the air became without feeling on my fur and everything around me became silent. My life or her life? This isn’t fair.
                   “Why can’t we both live?” I asked.
                   “You just died,  now you must decide to keep living or let another live?”
                   “I just died?!”
                   “I am already being too merciful as it is.”
                   “Who are you to decide who lives?!”
                   “The same one who brought you here.”
                   “The…gem?”
                   “Yes…but you have no idea who I really am.”
                   I looked at the red light, inside I could see her sleeping alone, tonight would be her last night if I wasn’t here. I looked at the green light to see myself standing here, it was like a mirror, I looked down at both my hands.
                   “Who are you really?” I asked
                   “Let’s just say…you are me.”
                   “I am you?”
                   “She is about to die…make your choice in haste.”
                   I looked at the red light as it glowed brighter, I walked towards it slowly, everything was so calm and quiet I could hear my own breathing. I stood in front of it as I looked at her through the red orb.
                   “I love you.” I whispered into the orb.
                   I grabbed the orb with my hands and the room turned red, it grew brighter and brighter. So bright I had to close my eye’s, soon it felt as though I was floating and then…then it was all over.

                   She laid in her bed sleeping, a gust of wind blew the window open and blew on the curtains. This wind woke her up, she couldn’t walk due to her illness, but out of natural instinct she got up and closed the window. She became very confused for a second then looked down at her legs, she was better! Shock covered her face, she was in so much awe she stumbled back on her bed and sat there looking at the window. Just then she thought she heard something, something creep through the cracks of the window. The wind blew through the slit between the two windows: I love you. It said. She looked at her hands suddenly feeling a drain of happiness, something was missing but she didn’t know what, and she would never know. Not until the day he doesn’t return, then on that day she will finally realize what happened on this night.

                   Back in the desert, the temple is destroyed everything has crumbled to little bits and pieces. Nothing was left standing, the sand had stopped flowing, half the rubble was covered in sand. There in the dark, coldness of the night a hand reached up out of the rubble. Out of it crawled that little mouse, he struggled in weakness to stand to his feet. He looked down at the palm of his hand, on it was the green orb as if it was a part of him now. His fur was the same green as the gem, his fingers came to a blue as the room was but the rest of his fur was white as it had been before.
                   “Finally…” He said with a shady voice.
                   He tightened his fist as he grinned.
                   “…I’m awake.” He looked up, his eye’s no longer innocent, they were completely black with green coloring.
                   “It’s time for revenge my king.” He said with an evil smile.
                   His hand suddenly caught on fire as he extended it open, he began laughing devilishly as he made his way out of the desert.


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Hey, I sat down one day and wrote this, it IS part of a bigger story, but for now this is what I've done. I like writing short stories because they're small
but they make such an impact and can include a lot within. I hadn't planed out the whole saga but after this story I knew what I wanted to do. It didn't
take me long to write this as it normally does for short stories.

So I Hope you guys enjoy it. (No more errors! )

Any critique is welcome, love to hear your opinions, comments, and thoughts  .