Brain Labyrinth
By Saachi Shah
Amelia sat quietly in the cafe, sipping her coffee before heading to work. She’d stopped by every morning, a small tradition—until today, when she ran into someone familiar.
“Hey, I’m sorry to disturb you, but did you go to Douglas High by any chance? You look remarkably like my friend, Amelia Smith.”
“OMG! Andrea? Long time, no see. Yes, it’s me, Amelia!”
“Wow! You look so different! Where have you been? Anyway, your timing couldn’t have been more perfect! We’re having our high school reunion later today. Would you like to join us?”
And just like that, they were in the gym setting up decorations for the night party. The transition felt odd and quick. It felt like someone had pushed her there. The people didn’t seem real, but more like familiar shadows.
She was helping the others fill up some balloons when a little boy stole one from her. She chased him down different hallways, but it never stopped. It was like a labyrinth: an unending maze. The hallways were all the same odd white colour, with wood flooring and a white ceiling. The eerie laughter of the boy echoed around the room.
She kept running until she met a wailing woman. The woman pounced on her, screaming, “I found her! Oh, thank God, I finally got her!” She gripped her shoulders, terrifying Amelia to the core. She managed to free herself and ran frantically to the gymnasium, but no one was there. Drained, Amelia dropped to the ground, burying her face in her hands.
Suddenly, the boy appeared again.
“Looking for your friends? Well, they’re all in my dreams now.”
He twisted his head, and before she could blink, she was zapped to a white kindergarten. It felt all too familiar. On what looked like a white television screen, she sees a little kid being scolded. The other children ignore the kid while they played house.
It was her, a memory she never recorded.
The television wall opened, and she went in, petrified, and found nothing but total darkness. She tried to run out, but a voice screamed at her.
“You’re never getting out of my dream. NEVER! But if you want to try, let’s try it in your dreams. If you survive, I’ll let you out.” Laughter echoed in the darkness, fading into a distant sound of the song “Only if you dream.”
Amelia kept running until she somehow found herself back in the hallway. She reached a dusty, off white and dimly lit room with multiple elevators. One opened, and she saw the wailing lady again. She screamed, stretching a hand towards Amelia. It held an unfamiliar object.
“Take this and say you’ll do it! Get out of here and go to yourself, for his mind is a maze we can’t escape”.
Amelia took the object, some kind of green glowing dial. Terrified, she nodded. Then, without thinking twice, she screamed,
“I dare! I dream!”
Instantly, she was zapped out of the scene, finding herself in a sequence of white hallways, greeted by the elevator’s ding.
With a start, she realized she was awake… or was she?
Fauna
By Eden Chipperfield
It was the end of August, and signs of fall were beginning to show. In the taxi, the looming skyscrapers of the city had melted away into quaint houses as the countryside took over. A good start to the three-day self-care trip I’d planned. Gazing out the window, I take in my surroundings. I look closer at one house we pass with a burgundy door. Something is etched into the wood of the door.
Suddenly, the car comes to a stop.
“Here”.
I quickly pay and exit the car, fumbling with my duffel bag. The street is silent. Echoes of crows caw into the evening air.
Crack.
I spin around on my heel. A deer stares at me with big black eyes, unmoving.
“Don’t stare too long,” a scratchy voice says.
I jump and turn toward the voice. An elderly woman stands on her porch with her arms crossed. Behind her, the door is ajar, with the same rune I had seen earlier etched into the wood.
“I don’t see many deer where I’m from,” I reply.
The woman narrows her eyes.
“Be wary, they are not your friend.”
I say nothing. The woman studies me in silence.
“Keep yourself protected.”
She turns and closes her door. I turn back to look at the deer, but it has disappeared. Picking up my bag, I approach the house. I cook dinner, unpack my bag, and slip into bed. Sleep wins out over my thoughts.
A sharp crack alerts me. I open my eyes to the black room. Once oriented, I realize it had come from outside. I pull myself out of bed and approach the window. The deer from earlier has returned, watching me. Without thinking, I wave. It stares, unmoving. I return to bed.
The dream starts normally. I’m in the woods walking at sunset. I feel at peace, calm, until…
Crack
My eyes snap open. I feel drawn toward the window and peer outside. More deer have gathered on the lawn. They all stare at me, still as statues. I shut the curtains, push the oddness out of my head and go back to sleep.
I re-enter the dream in the forest. I feel rumbling in the earth. I glance up and see a deer. It’s maw rotting, entrails tangled in its antlers. It steps forward.
I re-awaken, sweat beading on my forehead. My heart is pounding. I still feel the rumbling of the ground. Hooves pace across the hallway, creeping closer.
Desperate, I turn to the window and tumble onto the grass. I feel my ankle twist, forcing out a cry of pain. I look up. The deer stares back with eyes like black voids. My mind goes blank. Suddenly I’m on fire, in pain and then… nothing.
I wake to birdsong. My head rests on the grass, legs bent wrong. I stumble towards the rushing stream and dip my head to look into the water. In the reflection—voids of darkness. Long ears. Antlers. A deer stares back.
Fertilizer
By Rivini Madawanarachchi
On a two-way road in the middle of nowhere, Marlene had hit a man. She felt it in the way the front of the car jolted. She turned to the back seat. Her son Jack, a kindergartener, slept soundly, putting her at a bit of ease.
She sat for moments on end, thinking of what should be done. Should she call the police? No, she would be held responsible. But what if someone found him?
She got out of the car. The man she hit was a young adult, wearing a dark blue suit. His right arm was snapped and bent backwards, and his head dripped blood onto the ground below. The metallic and pungent smell of blood filled her nostrils. With every heavy breath, she felt unsteady.
After making sure Jack was still asleep, she grasped the man’s arms and dragged him. Blood leaked from his arm onto her hand. She clumsily wiped it onto his blazer, then continued until she reached her trunk. Practically fuelled by adrenaline, she lugged his body into it, cramming his spindly legs where he could fit.
She bolted to her car door, hands still trembling but now on the wheel. As Jack was opening his eyes, he asked, “What happened?”
“Nothing, sweetie.” She drove forward.
“Go read your book in your room now. Mommy’s going to deal with the groceries.”
Jack nodded, then ran to his room, book in hand. Once Jack was out of sight, Marlene frantically opened the trunk. The stench of the decomposing body was visceral. She pulled it out and dragged it to an empty spot in their garden.
She grabbed a shovel and started digging a hole next to him. Once again, her breathing was strained and heavy. Once she finished digging, she rolled his body into the hole, then patted it down profusely with dirt. She was drenched with sweat, so much that the blood from earlier dripped off. Unless someone dug up the soil, no one would notice.
A few hours later, Marlene saw Jack scribbling some drawings on the coffee table. She walked over to him and crouched down to take a look. “What are you-”
She stepped back and knocked over a glass on the table, making Jack flinch. The pictures he drew were all the same things: harrowing images of a man in a blue suit with blood dripping down his arm and head, juxtaposed by ragged crayon scratches. She picked up one of the drawings while Jack watched naively.
“Why did you draw this, Jack?”
“I’ve seen him before, in the garden,” answered Jack.
She dropped the paper and ran to the burial site. When she got there, she looked at where she buried the man. She stumbled backwards. The man’s head stuck out, and his hands clawed away at the dirt above.
