Welcome to Strangely

Together they leave the room, one behind the other. Once they are in the long hallway with its white walls, white floor, and white ceiling, Emily grabs hold of Zara’s hand, twining her fingers through hers. Zara gives her hand a quick squeeze and Jenny can feel a sense of strength rush through her veins.

Quickly, they run through the long, winding passageway to the large doors that would bring them outside in the large courtyard in front of The Chambers.

Zara runs through the door first and pulls Jenny behind her. 

Jenny stumbles over the step leading up to door of The Chambers but Zara does not hesitate as Jenny gets her balance back, and continues to run, pulling her across the green grass toward the Tower. 

Jenny follows close behind, and from the corner of her eye it seems as if the clouds surrounding Strangely are following her, but she realises that is impossible. For a moment, a sadness fills her heart. She has a deep sense of knowing she will never, ever see Strangely again. Once they enter the Tower, they will go somewhere else. Somewhere they have never been before. Even though she feels afraid, there is an unknown feeling hidden within the feeling of fear. That there is something great waiting for her in this place where they are going. In this place there is something to be found. Something she had lost. She cannot exactly remember what she had lost, but she knows that it is something she would love to find. Something that she has yearned to have, to experience, for longer than she literally can remember.

When they reach the tall structure, Zara yells, “Jenny. You go that way.” She lifts her arm and points her finger to the left. “Look for a door.”

Still holding hands, Zara and Emily run to the right.

Jenny does not stop running and sweeps to the left as if she is ducking a tackle. She is running so fast; she imagines her feet are floating above the bright green grass.

The building is a round structure, and for a second an image of a lighthouse flashes in Jenny’s head but she does not know what a lighthouse is because, never has she seen a structure with a bright light going in circles warning all lost souls of danger ahead.

“Oomph,” Jenny whispers as she runs into Emily. They both fall from the impact, and Emily pulls Zara down with her. They are on the ground, tangled in a web of limbs.

Zara urges them, “Get up. Get up.”

Emily exclaims, “I’ve lost my grip on time. The Changeless are coming.”

Jenny jumps up quickly, then bends down to pull Emily and Zara up. “I did not see a door. If there is a door here, it is well hidden.”

Emily panics. “I cannot do it. I cannot stop time. I think I’m too anxious and I cannot focus my mind.”

Zara turns to face Emily, placing her hands on Emily’s shoulders. “You can do it. I know you can. Try harder.”

Emily sobs. “No. I can’t.”

“Yes! You can.”

Zara lifts her hands and cups Emily’s face in her palms. “Think about us. What we can be. Close your eyes and do it.”

A rainbow of colours shimmer in the sky.

Emily murmurs, “I think I’ve done it.”

“Good,” Jenny says. “Now to find this elusive door.” She turns to Zara. “Are you sure they said it was here?”

Zara steps away from Emily, feeling a wave of heat rushing to her cheeks. “Wait! I remember now. They said I can dream walk into the Tower and the Changeless probably hid the door, so even if we ran around this building all day and all night long, we would never find it.”

“Then do it,” Jenny says. “Before time starts again, that is, if Emily managed to even stop it again.”

They stand in a circle, holding hands while Zara closes her eyes.

Jenny and Emily stare at her in anticipation.

Nothing is happening.

Jenny opens her mouth to ask what is going on, when suddenly the three of them float up into the air, their feet not sinking into the lush grass beneath their feet anymore.

The usually brilliant white clouds, which glimmer with sparkles as the sun bounces off them, start turning a darker, sinister hue of indigo. The usual lightness of the sky starts to slowly turn darker as if the clouds are blocking out the brilliance of the sun.

To Jenny it looks as if they are in a bubble, floating up into the sky. The light within the bubble stays bright, but outside the bubble the light becomes darker and darker. Jenny panics. This will not work. When the Changeless get them, what will happen to them? Will they… Can they… Kill them? 

The bubble, with them on the inside, floats higher and higher.

Emily pulls her hand from Zara’s.

Zara grabs onto her hand harder.

“But look. There,” Emily says. “There’s a door.”

Jenny turns her head to look where Emily is looking. “Yes. There is a door. They did hide it, but they did not get completely rid of it. They just moved it up where no one will find it easily.”

Zara frowns as she concentrates. The bubble moves closer to the building.

Jenny cringes when she sees the bubble touching the wall, waiting for it to burst and to fall an awfully long way to the ground down below. For a second, she remembers the sensation of falling. She knows it is something she never wants to experience again. Falling makes her afraid.

The bubble merges with the wall, and then they are within the round walls of the Tower.