I tried my best to hold in a laugh. Licking mushrooms? He must be insane. He eyed me, clearly confused, but I didn't say anything.
"Well, well, well. You finally came to find me." He got up from the floor and walked around me, observing my details up close. He circled me. I felt him brush his fingers on the back of my left hand, and that's when I flinched.
"What are you doing?" He looked surprised, even startled, by my sudden reaction. But he returned to his smug state faster than I could've shouted 'Peanut Pilly Pawn punted a pig named Pelly over the pug' ten times fast. He came to a halt right in front of me before plopping down onto a mossy rock.
"Nothing. Why'd you come? Finally decided your life depended on me?" His smug expression sort of faded, and I started noticing it when he got to the word depended.
"What do you mean? No, it doesn't." I took a step back before slowly sitting in front of him, criss-cross.
"Oh, but are you so sure?" He picked a small flower out of the mossy green grass. A Sunblaze Rose, something I remember learning about in Ms. Dai's class. It was a vibrant orange. Looking at it for only a second, I saw millions of things at once. I saw the most beautiful sunset, I saw my mom's hair, I saw the old dress I wore when I was four, I saw the butterfly I had drawn in art class in third grade, and I saw me... And Daniel. I was on a swing set, but I was small. My legs, too short. Daniel laughed and said, 'Ha! Shortie! I'll push it for you!' And so he did. He pushed me so hard I thought I was going to fly off. I screamed as I reached for the sky. I laughed. He laughed. We laughed.
I closed my eyes to get rid of the memories. That was back when we were friends. That was before the incident. Daniel seemed to notice I was distant, and he waved his hand in front of me.
"ḅ̷͝ë̸͚́l̵͕̍l̶̟̀ȧ̸͔?" I hear Daniel speak. It almost sounds like a foreign language, one that shouldn't be acknowledged by mankind. I know it's my name, but I just can't remember what it is.
"Yeah? Daniel?" I lightly shake my head to rid myself of the thoughts that might just consume me whole.
"Join me." He whispers. I pause for a moment. I look directly into his eyes and tilt my head.
"What? What did you say, Daniel?"
"Join me." He says a little bit louder this time. I laugh a little bit before realizing he's serious. He's serious about whatever he's talking about.
"Join what, Daniel?" I could barely finish my sentence before he shoved the mushroom into my face. The one he already licked before. I flinch, disgusted by the slobber dripping from the cap of the mushroom.
"Try it." He pushes the mushroom closer, and I shake my head.
"Daniel, ew. No, that's gross." I swat at the mushroom, and it falls to the damp, mossy floor. He stops breathing for a moment. He picks up the mushroom before whispering again.
"Why did you do that?" He just waits, but I feel he doesn't want an answer.
I stand up to leave, but he whispers something else.
"It's lonely." He holds the mushroom up to his ear.
"What?" I don't look back. This whole library was weird enough, but that was just weirder.
"Come back, ã̸̗͚̔́̀̈́͝n̶̮͚͎̂͘ḏ̴̛̙̭͙̎͐̃̇̚r̶͚̩̠͙͇̉̿̃̑̓é̸͕͚̮̑̅̀̒͊̿." I turn and see Daniel sitting in the same position, except he looks a little off. His eyes. His pupils look rather large. I let out a shaky breath before shaking my head. I turn around and ignore him. I need to look for Ms. Dai's class. I'm late, I told myself as I kept walking, back to where I came from. I took about twelve steps before I heard a shift in the grass. I whipped my head around and saw Daniel, looking like a rabid horse. He began to gallop towards me, on all fours. That's when I decided I needed to run. I put my legs to maximum capacity while I'm trying my best not to trip over any roots. I hear strange noises coming from Daniel.
"ť̷̹̠̍̄̓̄̓̆̂̎̔̄́̔̌̅̀͆̓͒̒͑̽͌̿̚͝͝ǫ̴̻̰̂͂̾́̇̾̾̈́͆̋̿̾̑̈́͗̀́̈́͘͝͝ṃ̸̡̨͖̹̰̙̭̳͚̙̩͈̥͖͓͕̣̓̀̐͗̎̇̆͆̋́̑̍͊̉̌͋̈́̏̒̄̔͊͌̈́̕̕m̶̨͈̱͍͎̓̽͒͌̈̆̆̾͝͝͠͝y̸̧̢̨̥͓͇͍̰̝͇̭͓̙̱̪̥̣̪͓͈̯͍͙͎͇̙̽̀̃̏̔͆̈̔̓̈́̔̌̈́͌͌͆̏͂͂̎̊̀͐̐̅͘͘͠͝ C̸͈̲͒Ỏ̷͍͓M̷͇͔͘͝Ė̶͓ ̶̮̖̃͆B̵͇͎͠A̷̱͐̃C̵̖͈͌K̷̩̊͜!" I barely recognize his voice now. It sounds like an old typewriter mixed with a broken music box. I look back for a second and see him right behind me, basically biting my legs. I yelp as I finally realize he's faster than me. I feel my foot get caught on an oversized root, and my face slams into the ground. I taste dirt and feel a sharp pain in my left ankle. I slam my eyes shut and grind my teeth, hoping that it will ease the pain, but it doesn't. I struggle to gain control. I scream, and that's when I taste blood.
"Stop! Stop it, Daniel! I'm sorry! I'm sorry..." I can barely recognize my own voice. It's high-pitched and scraggly, and full of mucus.
"F̶̲͘ë̴͖l̶̯̔į̵͂c̵̯̃y̸̭͛ I'm sorry. I... I didn't mean to hurt you... Are you okay?" I hear his normal, panicked voice, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. The pain in my ankle eases for a little bit before setting off an alarm in my body. I wince, trying not to use my voice.
"The pain will go away if you join me." He turns me over onto my back, and I see him, humane. But what he said isn't.
"What do you mean, join you? No!" I back away, but I feel my heartbeat in my ankle. I wince again, the feeling getting stronger. Daniel shakes his head like he's disappointed in me, and I frown. He wants me to join him? What does that even mean?
"J̶̢̢̨̨̛̮͎̦̯̥̠̮̺̟͉͔̯̳̯̙̗̹͍̹̜͔̼͓̝̘͈̟̹̖̗̳̗̫̙͊̋̉̄̉̈́̒̀͋́͌̽͊̎͑̊̂̓̉̈́̕͜ͅO̶̢̪͖̻̙̮̬̫͇̦͓̥̱̭̞̳̺̹̥̗̜̙̤̻̗̱̤͕̲̞̝͈̥̺̮̣̻̎͑̑͗̌̔̈́̀͒͒̏̉̆̂̌̀͌͘͘͜͠ͅͅͅI̶̡̡̧̡̧͍̥̖̳͎̜͖͕͉̤͉͍̥̳͕͍̓̂́͗̆̀N̶̛̛̹̠̉̈́͂̈̄̿̔̅̂̈́̌̽͋͂͗̋͋̓̓̈́͐̃̽̇̾͗́͒̅̓͂̓̚͝͝͝͝͠ͅ ̶̛̪̜̓͌̾́̒̿͂͑̈̒͋̇̒̀̓͛̌͒͘͝M̵̨̡̨̨̧͔̠̺̙͓̥͉͉̝̟̗̜͎͖̤̤͔̲̙̪͓͍̫̪͇̫͒͌͊̅̓̒͛̑͒̓̿̀̀̏̍̈́̽̌̓͗̿͂̋͗̐̐͐͐̈́͊̍̀̓̋̕̚̕̕͘͜͜͜Ȩ̶̛͇̰͉͈̘͇̘̹̫͚̫̪̻̤͙̠̎̒̅̅͐͑̔̓͊͗̔͆͐̍͒̈̽̾͑̀̽͆͗̌͘͘͝͝͝͝͝,̷̧̡̨̨̛̺͎͇̗̮̝͕̟̝̥͔̰̞̯̫̠͕̮̙̰̣͙̥̠̤̬̬̟͙̾͗͒͊̀͂̾́̿͒̉͑͛͋͂̚͜ ̶̧̨̛̝̳̘͎̻͖̩̳̦̘̭͗̈́̋̄͗͊́͌͐̓̈́̉̈̈́̒̎̇̄̐̿̃̈́̇̈́͊̍̃͌́̊̚͘͘̚̚͠ͅͅa̴̧̛̪̤̹͙̓̈́́͌̂̃̍͂̂̿̅̉̊͒̒͆̏̉̈́̄͋͋͒̈͛͊̈́̍̎̈́̕͘̕͝͝͝͝ͅv̷̻͍̣͚͚̲̝̼̮̲̙̺͎̻̭͍̰̟͉̰̹̝̱͌͗͑̆̎̊̔̀̊̎̑̒̃̇͆̑̆̄̀̒̇́̓̋́̊͛̂͂̐̆̈́̇͗̀͑̃͘̕̕e̶͍̜͎͔̺͚̻̫̘̩̜̩̥̞͕̗̙̾̉͒̈͂̈́̏̋͝ȑ̷̡̛̫̹̙̌͌̓̔̇̇͛̅̑̐͆͐̎͒͛̚̕̕͝y̵̡̢̨̡̡̹̹̰̰̠͓̫̻̥͙̞̰̤͙̙̺̲̥̺̹̜̰̜̝̱͙͍̳̝̖̺̜̳̑̇̍͂̈́͐̿͋̃͐͜͜͜͝ͅ" He opens his mouth, and I see no teeth. Just rocks. And as his mouth opens wider, I can see the whole picture. It's a mushroom forest. He opens his mouth so big it takes up the space of half of the library.
155Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNXF09yaJO
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I awoke in what humans call a void. The air around me shifted uncomfortably as I tried to find something to grab. I twisted my body, looking out in all directions.
I saw a light.
The light looked back at me and giggled. A giggle you would hear from someone not much older than six. I watched in awe. Can a light smile? I shall never know. The radiance from its gleeful attitude almost made the wrong feel... Right.
"Hello?" I use all of my leftover energy to call out to the light. The voice I had let out didn't sound like mine. It sounded distant, from another world. The light giggles again before returning my call.
"Hello." The light has no voice. I can interpret it, but there are no soundwaves flowing through space. I swim towards the light, and I feel warm. The hairs on my arm jump with sudden electricity. The static. I get a better look at the light. It is not just any light source; it's Daniel.
"Daniel! What happened?-" I use the rest of my breath to speak to him. The air flings out of me before I can finish the sentence.
"Hello, friend." He smiles and laughs. He picks up a small cloud and blows it into my face. On instinct, I breathe in. I have air. He puffs up a little more air before putting his hand to my mouth and saying, "Drink it." I do what he asks and, immediately, feel much, much better.
"So, friend," I look at him directly. He means it. Even if it's a tag, or a label, it feels right. It feels like my name. "What brings you here today?" He looks at me, curious. I begin to speak, yearning to tell him my crazy adventure that included him, but as soon as I start, I end. I can't remember a single thing. It all feels blurry or foggy. As if it happened, but it wasn't me. I was just watching. So, I say the one thing that I am sure of.
"I don't know." I use too much air and, as a result, I am choking on what humans call nothing. He gives me a puff of air again, this time bigger. The air presses against my skin, and I realize my clothing has changed. From what used to be a normal sweatshirt and jeans turned into a loose white T-shirt and black shorts that reached my knees. Daniel came closer and flowed around me, observing the wound on my ankle up close. He circled me. I felt him brush his fingers on the back of my left hand, and that's when I flinched.
"What are you-" I was about to say the rest, until I realized this had happened before, hadn't it? The circling, the observing. It was just going to repeat all over again. I couldn't let that happen. Not again. That was horrifying.
"Who did that?" He lightly touched the gash on my ankle, the one that he made.
"Um, you... You did." I say it quietly, trying to use the least amount of air possible.
I closed my eyes, trying to think, but I just couldn't. When I opened my eyes again, I saw myself in the library. The same library as before, with the books hanging from the trees and the mossy green flooring and Daniel, in front of me, smiling. He was holding a mushroom. He brought it up to his mouth;
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ns216.73.217.153da2
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