Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket

Short story I wrote.

Hey! I just wanted to share this story I wrote, so here it is.

Into the wild

Horrible, cruel laughter echoed through the trees as the dancing, weaving figure leapt through the air, tossing screaming figures to the ground, and dodging every arrow and sword that came their way. Fire leapt across the forest floor, scorching and burning dozens of withering trees. Suddenly, the creature stopped, unwound its spindly frame, then stared right at me. “NO!”  I shrieked as I shot up in bed.  

I panted and shivered, looking around, and trying to get a grip on my surroundings, but the room and bed I was in seemed strange and unfamiliar. I shuddered in fear and discomfort, staring at this place. It looked like a teenage boy’s bedroom like mine, but its blue walls and yellow bookshelves were completely unfamiliar to me. Suddenly a deep, feminine voice pierced my confusion; “Elroy! Wake up! It's time for school!” Elroy? Who was Elroy? I’m certain that I’m not. I was… I am- I’m- A wave of nausea crashed over me. Who was I? Where was I? The voice bellowed again “Elroy! You're gonna be late! Get down here before I come up there and make you!” I leapt out of the bed, then half staggered, half sprinted down the stairs. Waiting for me, in a small blue kitchen, was a skinny woman with spiky blonde hair, and a tall, fat man with a shiny bald head and one blue and one brown eye. They looked at me expectantly for about five seconds, then the man said in a thick German accent “Elroy, what are you doing? Why aren’t you dressed for school?” I stammered back in response “Wh-who are you? Why a-are you calling me Elroy?” The woman frowned at me, then    grunted “Son, this ain’t funny. If you don’t hurry up and eat breakfast you're going to be late.” I looked wildly around the room, looking for an escape from this alien place. Then I spotted a screen door that happened to be open. From behind my shoulder, the man called in a concerned voice “Elroy, are you okay? Come over here and talk to me.”  Suddenly, I sprang out the door and onto the street, running down the block as the unfamiliar name hammered in my mind. “Elroy!”

I bolted down the street, the sun still rising behind the horizon, until I was sure those two unfamiliar people weren't still following me, or didn't know where I was. As I breathed hard, my heart thumping like a giant’s drum, one house caught my attention. It was an abandoned, desolate place, something no resident could love, or anyone really. It was a small house, with moldy gray tiling, and sad, rotting wood. Although I wanted to keep running, the creaking, beaten up door was wide open, and I felt the strange sense that this place was inviting me. Besides, I didn’t want to be found, and this was as good a place as any to hide. So I walked in.

The inside was just as sad as the outside, with smashed, old fashioned lights, and torn, soiled carpets lining the floors. As I walked past the shredded paintings, I heard a strange sound. It sounded like… crying? Common sense should have dragged me out of there, but for some otherworldly reason, I kept on walking. Ellen had always said that I… wait. Who was Ellen? What was I thinking about? I shook my head and kept walking. 

Then I came to the most disturbing sight I’ve ever witnessed. Inside this small, darkened room was an old woman, hunched on her hands and knees, and sobbing on the floor. Carved on the wooden walls were strange symbols that, despite my lack of knowledge about them, evoked fear and anguish in me. Carved into the floor was a ring of odd writing, perhaps Latin, and inside it was another, smaller ring made out of the strange symbols. In the center of it, there was a strange flat, white mask, with no features except for a cartoony grin with big, blocky teeth, and two large black dot eyes. The old woman shot up, then stared at me, her teary, wild eyes burning two holes into mine. “So,” she muttered, “Guess Mazarus sent you to kill me. And why should I let them, after all they've taken from me. Maybe I should give them a tiny bit of payback, and take away one of their minions.” Suddenly I noticed the sharp, shiny object she was holding, and I took a safe amount of steps back. I nervously stammered, “um, I don’t know about anyone named Mazarus.” she narrowed her eyes, then growled “If you don’t serve Mazarus, why are you here?  Who are you?”  I said back in a nervous tone “Um… I'm not really sure who I am right now. I think I might have amnesia or something.”  a sudden look of Anguish passed over her face, and she looked at me and said “oh. oh you poor child. that monster has hurt another one haven't they?” I stammered “I'm not really sure what you mean.” she gave me a harsh look then said “Mazarus told me that they'd help me, give me my child back. So I served them for years, fifty long years. I did evil things in their name, brought them all that they asked for. But when I asked for my reward, they showed me what a fool I had been. They were the one who stole my child, broke his mind, and leeched away all that made him whole. And I suppose he’s done the same to you.” I stared at her. This old woman was clearly deranged. But she seemed to know why I had lost my memories. And if I wanted answers, I would need to listen to her. “Okay,” I said “can you take me to this massa- mazarus person?” She fixed a grave gaze on me then replied “All right, child. If that is what you desire, I can give it to you.” Suddenly, I heard the wail of sirens, and a loud voice boomed outside “Elroy perkins! Are you in this house?” I looked in panic at the old woman, who placed her hand on the mask in the center of the room then bellowed in a strange, ringing tone “Mazarus, portas detege astra atque, triplices fatis, reserate fores!” As the sound of stomping boots echoed through the house, the floor beneath us seemed to ripple, then fell away, revealing a starry void. “Wha-what!” I stammered as the void swirled and pulsed “you know, maybe I can deal with not having my memories-” I was cut off as the old woman shoved me in with surprising strength in those withered arms. As I clung to the edge and struggled to pull myself up, the woman remarked “If you do manage to beat mazarus, after you break through their stupid mask and stab their beady eyes out, tell them that June says Hi.'' With that final parting message, I fell through the starry pit, and everything went black.

End of part 1

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and rustling grass. As I groggily stood up, I realized that this place was different. I don’t mean a different location. I mean something like a different world. This place provoked all my senses, in the best way possible. I was like I could see every blade of grass, with all its individual facets, hear every bird's song with perfect pitch. The only way to describe this wondrous place was like a beautiful, wild heaven. As I looked around at the wide stretching forest around me, I heard a voice from behind me: “Ah! You're awake, I see!” turning around in a panic, I saw two strange humanoid figures staring at me. One of them looked like a thirteenish female human, except that they had two insectile wings and an extra pair of segmented arms. The other one looked like a eight year little kid, but he had blue skin, curving rams horns, and hooves. The female one said “Took you long enough. My name is Allia.” I cautiously said “I’m… Elroy. Who and what are you people?” the kid glared at me and growled “We're not whats! We’re spirits! And maybe you should show some more respect, given that you're in our forest!” the girl shot him a warning look, then snapped “If we alienate him, It’ll be mazarus’s forest soon.” I replied back to her “Uh, I don’t really know what you're talking about. Also, what is this place?” She heaved a heavy sigh, then said “My name's ebet. To answer your question, this place is the primal forest. It's like… the space between space. Here, all that you thought was abnormal is the new normal. All spirits and creatures used to exist in peace. Well… relative peace. But then a demon named Mazarus came along, stirred up all the monsters and evil spirits, and started stealing memories from the mortal realm. Our armies and defenders tried to defeat that monster, but with the stolen memories, Mazarus was next to unstoppable.” I frowned at her. “NEXT to unstoppable?” She nodded. “One of the people who mazarus stole the memories of found his way here and tried to stop them. They were close to defeating Mazarus but failed.” I stated “Soooo… if I beat Mazarus I’ll get my memories back?” The kid Burst out “yes! So will you go already?!” I shot back “fine, but I’m going to need something to help. Maybe a weapon?” Ebet smiled and said “Oh I can help with that.” She then reached into her pack, then pulled out a long, steel and gold dagger. “If you need to fight mazarus, use this. Good luck.” Maybe it was just me, but I could have sworn I heard “You'll need it.”

As I trekked through the forest, I remembered the Advice the pair had given to me. “ You don't need to find mazarus. They'll find you. You’ll recognize them when you see them. Tall, black cloak, wears a mask, pointlessly edgy?” As I went further through this mysterious place I noticed that the further and further I went the more ruined it became. scorched trees, smashed monuments of entities I didn't recognize, and still I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and rustling grass. back?” The kid Burst out “yes! So will you go already?!” I shot back “fine, but I’m going to need something to help. Maybe a weapon?” Ebet smiled and said “Oh I can help with that.” She then reached into her pack, then pulled out a long, steel and gold dagger. “If you need to fight mazarus, use this. Good luck.” Maybe it was just me, but I could have sworn I heard “You'll need it.”

As I trekked through the forest, I remembered the Advice the pair had given to me. “ You don't need to find mazarus. They'll find you. You’ll recognize them when you see them. Tall, black cloak, wears a mask, pointlessly edgy?” As I went further through this mysterious place I noticed that the further and further I went the more ruined it became. scorched trees, smashed monuments of entities I didn't recognize, and still smoking weapons and armor.  finally I came to a place that appeared as a sore thumb in this strange alien world.  It looked like a Schoolhouse from the 1940s but more like some kindergarteners drawing of a school. Suddenly I heard a tight, clenched, voice snap “You're late!”

Standing inside this abnormal location was a tall, stick thin, old woman  wearing an old-fashioned blouse and skirt and carrying a ruler. Her glare boiled down on me as I  stood nervously in the doorway. “ Excuse me, I'm looking for someone named mazarus?” I nervously stammered. The old woman brought in a sharp intake of breath that then growled “In my classroom, children are not late!  I am Miss Priscilla sunshine. I will be your teacher for today.”  I replied in a nervous tone “ Well, will you tell me where mazarus is if I stay in your… classroom?” She seemed to consider this for a while then said in an uptight voice “Alright. Since you have foolishly missed out on much of your class time you will have to make up for a lot. The lesson today is on the Geometry of bed sheets and the politics of sweatshirts. Begin!” And so began a strange and demented lecture on on a varying array of of nonsensical subjects. Whenever I forgot to write something down, or wrote too much down, or didn't write the right thing down, the crazy old woman would slap me with her ruler. Finally I said “Will you please tell me where Mazarus is?! I've been sitting here for hours!” Mrs. Sunshine glared furiously at me, so enraged her eyes seemed to vibrate behind her thick lenses, then shrieked  “You puny brat! You clearly need to learn some more respect for your elders!” But before she could continue with her furious tirade, we both heard the howling of the wind and the cracking of tree limbs, and we both said the same thing at the same time: “Mazarus.” 

There was a terrible creaking noise, then to my terror, the entire roof of the schoolhouse was torn off by the wind, and flung somewhere in the distance. Floating above the gaping hole was a terrible, demonic figure. They looked like a seven foot tall humanoid, wearing a cloak, gloves, and a tunic that looked like they were made of solidified ash. Fire and lightning seemed to dance within their shadowy attire, and on their face they wore the same grinning mask I had seen back in June's house. “So, PRISCILLA,” they called out in an horrid, scraping voice “Seems you've got the little worm I was looking for. But you didn't think to tell ME?! How INTERESTING.” “Wait!” Priscilla called out, groveling on her hands and knees. “Lord mazarus, I just-” Mazarus waved their gaunt hand, then said in a venomous tone “No justs, no buts, no candlenuts.” I can’t describe what happened next. It was just too awful. But at the end of those terrifying seconds, priscilla was nothing but a smoldering grease stain, and the schoolhouse was nothing but fiery smithereens. Mazarus turned to me, then drawled, “Alright kid. Time to come with me.” “No.” I said in a tiny, trembling voice.” The air around mazarus rippled as their rage manifested as heat. “Oh, I’m sorry, kid. I think I misheard you. I thought you said no, and if you said no, I would've had to LIQUEFY YOUR BONES.” I pulled out my tiny dagger, then roared back at this horrible thing that stole my life “I SAID NO, YOU MEMORY STEALING DEVIL CLOWN!” If I could see their face and looks could kill, I’m sure that I would have been dead. They hissed back at me “Kay, kid. You wanna talk about memories? EAT CHILDHOOD TRAUMA!” Their hand shot into a bag (Sack? Satchel? Fanny pack?) and pulled out a sphere of roiling sound and images, then hurled it at me. I tried to leap out of the way, but it caught me right in the chest. My mind was assaulted by a storm of fear and sadness, as the images of a snarling dog, a laughing teenager with a bat, a screaming woman holding a sheet of paper, and more. But, although it was nightmarish, it did not liquefy my bones, or turn me into a grease stain, or anything awful like that. Mazarus snarled “HUH?! Guess it doesn't work on people without memories… fine. Securim ignis, adversarios meos!” With that incantation, a flash of fiery light erupted, and a stony greataxe seemingly made of lava and rock appeared. “En garde!” They flew to the ground, and it was on. We traded swipes back and forth, though mine were mostly dodging their wild ax swings. I couldn't understand how I could stand up against their terrifying strength, but I think it had something to do with the strange dagger. I noticed their strange bag, and I grabbed for it. But just as I tore it off their belt, that blazing ax came crashing down. I miraculously parried the blow, but I was thrown back at least ten feet still. As flashing lights flew in my eyes I noticed something in the bag: a small bottle filled with a rainbow liquid labeled: Elroy memories. I didn't know what to do with it, and Mazarus was slowly walking closer, thinking they had won. So I uncorked the bottle and with the thought “here goes my death.” emptied it. Suddenly, a wave of thoughts and memories flooded my mind, like swimming in the great lakes with my cousins, playing catch with my dog, sparring with my sister… wait. Sparring?! I knew how to save myself. A cruel, mocking voice rang out behind me “You never should have tried to face me!” I rolled over just in time to block the ax blow that would’ve cut me in two. “Eh?” I grinned at mazarus, jumped up, then attacked them with enough force to break their cruel ax. As they stumbled back, I kicked them in the gut, then brought that puny dagger straight down their middle, splitting down the middle, mask and all. As white light shone from the long tear in their body and shining cracks and rips appeared in their clothing, They rasped in a shocked, unbelieving tone, “Not possible… It's not POSSSSIBLLLLLLlLLLLLE!!!!!!!!!!” I sprinted away, as their body convulsed and twitched, I heard one last furious scream “THIS… ISN'T… OVER!” Then there was a flash of light, and the world faded away.