Flout

"Septir, can you put that box onto the shelf for me?" Asks my ma. "You can't do it yourself?" I inquire playfully as I lift the box and push it onto the shelf. We had recently moved into a new house and now we're placing boxes filled with the things we never use into storage. Well, more accurately, I'm putting them away. My ma is about three feet shorter than me so it's my job to store content on the higher shelves since the lower ones have all been filled up. "Thank you. Here's another box." she says, pointing to a giant, heavy looking box. Great. "Aren't you excited that we have a new house?" Ma asks as I'm struggling to shove this monstrous box onto the shelf.. "Sure… it's… great." I give the box a final push to slide it into place. "Phew. I liked where we lived before but… it wasn't very… safe. I'm sure it's better here." We both stare into space, reflecting on the past for a moment. "I think that's everything, Septir. We're all done! Why don't you go outside and see what's around?" asks ma. I feel tired and want to sleep, but for some reason I agree to look around outside. I guess there's no harm in it if that's what she wants me to do. Before doing so however, I explore my new home. I've already seen all the rooms here but it's still strange having our furniture in a new place. After checking out every room again, I head outside. The ground is covered in lush grass and the warm sun shine bathes the world in a soft glow. It must be twilight, which means I spent nearly the entire day putting boxes away. I really do want to just head to bed, why am I out here? Surely ma would understand if I told her I'd rather be sleeping. Before I can go back inside though, I see someone on the street and suddenly find myself running up to him. "Hello! Are you new here? Welcome to Iruvalt." he says, and continues to walk. Why did I run up to him, exactly what did I plan to do? Maybe I just got excited, I haven't seen many people outside of my old town before. Well, he didn't seem very bothered by my sudden approach anyway, so I guess it's fine. I continue on my way but when I get to the end of the street, I have an inexplicable urge to turn around. I should explore this street more before going further I think. I need to learn my way around this new place before I wander off too far after all. Curiosity overrides logic though, and I try again to go to the next street, but I find myself turning around for a second time. I stand in place for a while, thinking about what to do. I stand in place for quite a while actually, my feet are beginning to feel sore, but I continue to stand there unmoving, only blinking every now and then. Finally, I decide to move again and turn back. I'm not sure why I put so much thought into that, it makes more sense not to go too far. I wander to the house on my right and try to open the door. Iruvalt is a safe place where people usually have their doors unlocked, but that doesn't mean I should barge in on someone's home. I figure the homeowner wouldn't mind much if I walk in though. I find myself attempting to open the door though I really should have knocked first. The door turns out to be locked anyway though. I walk away from the house but then I suddenly run towards it and roll into the wall. I smack into it head first, a sickening crack resounds in my head. Is my skull fractured? I swear I felt it split, I have to - I roll into the wall again. And again, and again. How am I not broken yet? My limbs slam against the bricks but I hardly notice through the searing pain in my head. Why do I keep doing this? Suddenly, I'm in the wall of the house. I am inside of the wall! I can't breath, I can't see… then I'm on the other side of the wall, in the house. I take a step forward and fall through the floor. The world around me is white, and I flail uselessly as I fall… after what feels like hours, my panic subsides enough to notice that there seems to be no bottom. Will I never land? Am I going to die here? And ma will be alone. How did this happen…

"I think that's everything, Septir. We're all done! Why don't you go outside and see what's around?" asks ma. I feel tired and want to sleep, but for some reason I agree to look around outside. I guess there's no harm in it. I head straight out the door and run to the left until I reach a book store. Not sure why I'm in a hurry but I don't stop to think about it. I guess I'm just eager to check out Iruvalt so I can finally get to bed after. I head into the store and climb up a ladder used for reaching the books on the highest shelves. I am tall compared to ma, but I still can't reach everything on my own. I grab a red book that catches my attention and then head to the exit. "HEY! You gonna pay for that?" asks the shop keeper. I hadn't even noticed her, and for some reason hadn't even thought to pay for the book. I'm suddenly afraid she'll misunderstand my actions, and I run out of the store in a panic. I keep running until I reach my house. Why, why did I do that? I hadn't intended to steal anything, but then I ran off with it! I'm no thief, why would I do this? "Septir, the police called. You stole a book?" asks ma shortly after I enter the house. I want to say I'm sorry, I want to tell her I don't know why I did this, and I want to return the book. Instead I say nothing. "Want to return it? You shouldn't have taken it then. I can't believe this." she says oddly, as if I'd told her I intended to return the book. She takes the book from me and sends me to my room. I nearly jump when I get into the room, there's a red book just like the one from the store. I pick it up and suddenly four more of those books appear in my hand. What the… "I think that's everything, Septir. We're all done! Why don't you go outside and see what's around?" asks ma. I feel like screaming, she's floating and keeps violently vibrating midair. I can't say anything about it though, I find myself teasing her about her shortness and saying I'm glad we moved. Why do I say such mundane things? Why can't I ask her about what's happening? Why is she floating? HOW is she floating? She had randomly risen into the air mid conversation. Her body violently jerks up and down again. I want to help her, but she doesn't appear to be in pain. I find myself running out of our house… and promptly wished I had stayed inside. The streets flicker with streaks of white. The grass is gone and the ground is a strange and shiny green colour. The sky has two suns and there seems to be a seam across the world where the ground breaks and starts again. This is wrong, this… I need to get ma, we have to leave, how can this be happening? But I don't go back inside, I carefully tread across the broken world, until reaching a book store. This store seems relatively normal compared to outside, so I decide to see if anyone is here to try to get help. For some reason though I head to a ladder, climb up it, and pull a red book off the shelf. The book changes to a feather. No, no… this place is broken too! I then fall through the ladder and onto the floor. I feel my arms twist back and break, and I feel like screaming, but I don't make a sound. My right leg rises and rises… I hear a pop as it dislocates from my hip, but it keeps rising, my skin impossibly stretching with the leg. My other leg keeps disappearing and reappearing, and I feel my head twist upside down, every tendon in my neck snapping until they all break. There are no words. The world is broken, my ma isn't well and I… I don't even know what I am. I'm distorted, this is all wrong, everything is wrong. Despite the pain, no tears will come to blur my vision. I have to view this broken world with terrible clarity. I tremble in agony from my sudden deformity but am unable to cry out. I then move towards the door… I don't understand how this body is moving, or how I'm still alive. I reach the door and- "Ah, it crashed!" "I know! And Septir looked so weird, it was awesome!" "I'll just try this glitch again I guess. " "I think that's everything, Septir. We're all done! Why don't you go outside and see what's around?" asks ma. I feel tired, but for some reason I agree to look around outside. When I step outside though…

Written by: Lindenbree (talk)