Dark. Everything was always dark.
There was only sound, touch, taste and smell. Especially the smell- whew!- the earthy smells of the mole-human hybrid’s underground home was stuffy to his friends, but Pablo loved it. It was cozy and kept him warm in the winter. It kept him safe from flooding and had plenty of roots and worms for him to eat. But sometimes he made his way to the surface to visit his other friends.
Even outside, everything was dark. Everything was always dark.
Sometimes it made Pablo feel left out, especially when all his friends were describing things. “Look at that flower!” his friend Caria would say. “It’s so colorful!” In response, Pablo would wrinkle his brow. He had never seen color before, and every time he asked for his friends to describe it, he would be met with an awkward silence.
But despite this, Pablo still enjoyed the outdoors. He loved the sounds of water, the slightly prickly but wet feeling of grass, the taste of the sweet fruit that his favorite monkey-human hybrid, Kenji, would bring him. Kenji lamented that his best friend couldn’t see anything. “If only you could see this…”
One of Pablo’s favorite things about Caria and Kenji is when they brought him to the big city. Caria would squeal, “I need to get that bag! I need that dress!” while Kenji and Pablo would shake their heads at how vain the peacock-human hybrid could be. Then there would be even more food– all the sweet, sweet ice cream he wanted and savory chips. His parents often told him off for eating literally anything despite it not being nutritious for him, but when Pablo was out with friends, nutrition was the last thing on his mind. All that did matter was having the most fun possible. And it always was, until sunset came and the fireworks started.
Goodness gracious, not the fireworks.
The sound overwhelmed his eardrums, rumbled the ground beneath him. It felt like his head began throbbing every time there was a massive “pop!” noise. Caria would giggle and say it was beautiful. “With reds, greens and blues…”
But everything was still dark. Pablo didn’t know what reds, greens and blues meant. For him, whenever there were fireworks, he couldn’t tell if the world was going to end or if it was simply what most people called entertainment. He would be very glad whenever the explosions were over.
Then they would go home, and get scolded by their parents for coming home late, and be grounded until the next weekend, where they would go to the city again, allow Caria to fangirl at clothes again, and eat as much food as possible again. Then Pablo would beg to not stay for the fireworks, and sometimes the answer was no, sometimes it was yes, depending on how much shopping Caria had managed to do.
They didn’t always go to the city though. Sometimes they went to the river, or the mountains for the weekend to try something new. But one thing never changed. Everything was dark. Everything was still always dark.
Until one day.
Actually, no, not a day ago. More like a week. Or a month. Who’s counting? Not Pablo, that was for sure. And Kenji didn’t know how to count- or at least he made it seem like he didn’t, Pablo thought.
It started when the three were making their way into the city again. As they walked on the very well-built asphalt road to the city, Caria was rambling on about a new makeup store that had just recently opened, and she was desperate to buy some more makeup. Kenji immediately tossed her something, saying he “got lipstick” for her. Caria was halfway through saying thanks before screaming "EW! A BUG!"
Pablo stifled a laugh. He heard Caria slapping Kenji- one so loud that it made Pablo’s ears ring moments afterwards. Pablo's ears were slightly throbbing, but he was still grateful for Kenji's prank- at least Caria was not going to be yapping about makeup anytime soon.
Pablo soon heard a ticking noise. He recognized it immediately- it was the noise of a crosswalk light. He was confused at first- they hadn’t been walking for very long, and he heard no vehicle engines. He stopped walking to keep listening to the sound. But Kenji and Caria spurred him forward. Even more baffled, he wished he could see what was going on.
But no, everything was dark. Everything was still dark.
The ticking noise began to go faster and louder. That sound usually meant that it was time to cross the road. He walked on, trusting his friends knew what was happening. But both of them had stopped walking. Pablo was even more bewildered, why were his friends doing the opposite of what the sounds he heard indicated? What was going on?
The ticking noise intensified even more, and he felt Kenji grab onto his arm. “There’s something…in the sky,” his friend whispered. “It’s…yellow…but wait you don’t know what that is. Um...let’s see…it's very bright, like a…green ring on the edge if it? like-”
“He doesn’t know what that is either,” Caria interrupted. It was moments like these that Pablo wished he could see- it made it very difficult for his friends to describe things. But everything was dark. Everything was still dark.
He could still hear things though, and he could at least try to figure out what was happening. But the ticking noise had changed, into a much, much deeper sound. The sound grew louder, and louder, getting deeper and deeper, making the ground shake beneath him. He felt Kenji let go of his arm, and he fell to the ground, making his whole body shake along with the ground. He felt his stomach going to eject everything he ever ate in his entire life. The sound intensified with the movement of the ground, getting crazier by the second, getting louder, and deeper, and louder, and deeper until-
Dead silence.
It was a shocking feeling- going from the loudest noise in the world to just...nothingness. The ground had stopped shaking as well. But Pablo could still feel his body tingling ever so slightly.
Then the sounds came back. It was the sound of a light breeze. He could then hear the rustling of leaves. He touched the ground- it was grassy. Not the rough surface of the rocky path they were once on. He tilted his head upwards hoping to be able to hear something else that would give him clues. The moment he lifted his head though, something had changed.
Everything was light. Everything was suddenly light.
His head throbbed for a second, before he fully took in his surroundings. There was so much- he didn't know how to describe it all. Is this why his friends couldn't either?
Speaking of his friends- He heard his friends talking- actually Caria was screaming- "Where are we?" and "What happened?" But Pablo was too shocked to notice that.
"You okay?" Kenji asked him. "Oh, um, were not uh, where we were before-"
"Oh my gosh, we just teleported!" Caria was saying. "Like completely! I've never seen trees like that- oh! their leaves look so weird!"
Pablo was in shock. Is that what trees looked like? And his friends? It was all too much for him to take in all at once.
"Hello? This is your captain Kenji speaking?" Kenji tried to grab his attention. "We're not on the path to the city now!"
"I know," Pablo said quietly.
Kenji began his usual attempt at describing the surroundings. "Yeah, we're in some random forest with weird tre- wait what did you just say?"
Pablo took a deep breath. "E-e-everything is light." Pablo whispered. "Everything is light."
Megan Ashley Cardenas is a fifteen year old living in one of the most isolated cities in the world. She often has the most confusing yet still epic dreams which she takes inspiration from. No, not like coins of inspiration from that one Google Arts and Culture game: just inspiration for her next story…or song. Yes, she likes writing songs too, but don’t look her up on YouTube for them- songs are top not-so-secret projects for entertainment of the people she chooses. Unlike her stories, which are usually openly shared to literally anyone who is willing to read them. Maybe sometime you’ll find her on the empty streets of Perth screaming “DOES ANYONE WANNA READ MY STORY?”
Photo provided by author.
