Art by Mori_art_ti

Challenge: Space ship

Idea by @minipage

Write about an an event that's 1/3 yours, 2/3 made up.

minipage

I wondered if people who lived in gated communities actually felt safer.

Mostly because I had found three different ways to break into Highland Hills Gated Community and none of them were too difficult to acheive.

I certainly did not feel safer as I stood within the gates, staring out at the outside world, not ready to face my new future.

Just an hour before, I had been more worried about being arrested for tresspassing than the future.

Across from Highland Hills Gated Commnity was a recently abandoned apartment complex. It was going to be bought out by Highland Hills and demolished, then made into another gated community.

The newly abandoned apartments were surrounded by a simple metal fence that wasn't more than five feet high.

It had only taken seconds for Calum and I to climb over the fence in broad day light. We immediately ducked into a little porch, laughing like the stupid teenagers we were.

We explored the apartment complex. It was set on a hill so in between the various buildings were slopes of green grass that was slowly dying in the desert heat without a proper watering system.

We tried to open various apartments to no avail; most of them were locked.

A few weren't though and we discovered remnants of past lives: photos still on the wall, yellow painted bathrooms, and abandoned chairs.

It was creepy and haunting yet so symbolic of the life I was about to leave behind.

In wake, I'd leave the occassional photo, the little painted room, and the empty chair.

I was more worried that there wouldn't be anyone to care about my remnants like Calum and I cared about the abandoned apartments.

Maybe Calum would.

Or maybe he'd do his best to forget about me as soon as I left.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I handed it to him. He pressed hang up.

But that was our cue to leave the apartment complex.

It was only five.

My stomach had never hurt so bad.

We climbed back over the fence and started heading back to Highland Hills Gated Community. I had the passcode memorized. 0214.

As we rounded the corner to reach the gate, a massive blue truck was parked out front.

"Oh, God, help me," I whispered. It was an actual prayer. I needed the help.

My things were still at Calum's house, sitting in the familar foyer in a neat little pile.

We passed the truck, Calum's hand in mine. He punched in the code and we slipped inside Highland Hills. I still wasn't safe from the fate the truck had brought.

We walked in silence back to his house. The door was unlocked.

I gathered my things mechnically.

First coat.

Then purse.

Then a hug.

"I'm going to miss you so much," I said, throwing my arms around him in one last desperate attempt to say a worthy goodbye.

My phone began buzzing in my pocket again.

He must have felt it.

"Time to go," he said. Was that all he could say?

We walked back to the gate and I could feel tears well up in my eyes but I refused to cry.

I refused to give anyone a reason to comfort me.

I refused pity.

Back at the gate, we hugged again.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," I said.

There was no goodbye.

I punched in 0214 to exit and got in the back of the truck.

"Hello," someone said from the front seat.

I stared out the window back at Calum.

But he was already gone.

The truck took off down the road leading away Highland Hills Gated Community.

mere_inkslinger

Suddenly, I was looking through a kaleidoscope filled with white beads.

They're pretty.

Before I knew it, the beads were nowhere to be found, and I was blinded with a sinister, black curtain.

Out of the changing lights and shades of black, there was my father, leaning over my body, tears streaming down his face.

"Wake up, damn it! Wake up!" He looked me in the eyes. "Rose, you're going to be okay! You're going to be okay..."

And then, "Call 118! Right now!" He commanded to someone on my left.

More tears. Heavy breathing. Stronger grip on my throat.

I closed my eyes and gave into unconsciousness.

⏳⌛️⏳⌛️

"She's waking up." I heard someone whisper.

"I'm thirsty." I finally whispered after five seconds of doctors I didn't know staring at me.

"You have an IV. You'll feel better soon," a young nurse assured me.

I peered down into the hospital bed to find the clear, fluid-filled tube that was injected into my wrist.

I nodded.

After five more awkward seconds, I asked, "what are you looking at?"

The six medical staff looked a bit embarrassed, but then a middle-aged man held up a mirror so I could see myself.

My face was beautiful.

There were flawless paint strokes of just the right shades streaming across my face.

Yellows on the arch of my nose, the top of my forehead, and my chin.

Blues around my eyes, on my upper lip, and under my eyebrows.

Greens on my cheek bones.

Reds on the sides of my nose.

Pinks on my ears.

Purples on my lower lip.

And no two square-centimeters of skin were the same.

Each unique.

Each radiant.

"Who did this?" I asked.

"You did." the young nurse told me. "Did you know you sleep-walk?"