Well this is funny, because I submitted the prompt! I never expected it to take. But it did. Forever grateful for everyone’s creativity towards the prompt, and here’s my take on it.

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The rift opened, dragging me with it. Pulling me, wanting me to go into its cold embrace.

And so I float in the abyss. Listening.

“You wonder how you got here. You wonder where everything went wrong! Well guess what! It was you.” The voices in my mind say. I squint my eyes close. Trying to drown out the sound.

“It wasn’t my fault. I….never meant to….” I try to say, but nobody’s there to listen. And nothing’s there to console me.

I think back to that time…..

“Luka! Come on.” My dear sister had called to me.

“Just wait one more moment!” I called back.

We were exploring the forest. The forest that resided next to our town. Our city. But we were stopped at a map, set up in a way to not get lost. And I realized that this forest isn’t right next to us. It’s surrounding us.

Then, of a sudden, the trees began to move. Every time I moved my eyes between the map and those trees. They moved. They got closer.

“Mari!” I called back to my sister, while I ran towards her.

“Yeah?” She said.

I grab her by the back of her shirt and pull her along.

“Run!”

She doesn’t seem to notice the urgency in my voice.

Her forehead crinkled in confusion.

But it’s too late. A deep quake had opened to the ground. Snapping open. And suddenly the trees weren’t the threat anymore. This rift was.

She pulls her hand away, and moves towards the rift. As if in a trance. I call her name. But it does no good. She steps right over the edge. And into the pit.

Another hand grabs mine, this one rough, it’s a man, wearing armor and a mask. Something about him strikes fear in me. The only thing I can say is that his mask was cracked in half. With some beast coming out. He brings his hand up and pushes his mask back together. But ooze creaks out. Just barely holding it together.

“Let’s go.” He says, his voice rougher than his hand felt.

“Who..?”

But he pulls me along before I can fully ask my question.

His tattered cape hides under his rugged, jagged armor.

“Before you ask, yes. I controlled the trees. You come into my territory, you get the punishment.”

Blunt, straightforward. Almost like this has happened before for him.

We run faster, but the rift is catching up, growing, and growling.

We step into the city boundary. A shield building up after we step in.

And I break. Tears flowing down my face. My sister, just stepped into the rift.

The shield breaks, and the.———-

ALERT! ALERT! WORLD DEATH IMMINENT!

EVACUATE. As soon as you can.

This is not a drill. This not a drill.

The man in the mask. He takes off his mask, and he explodes. Ooze flying. He falls into the rift. It grows. Bigger and bigger. More people fall in. More and more. Too many to count. Too many things to account for. How could I explain all that happened. Am I breaking? Is this the end?

The rift opened. Dragging me with it.

Finally.

And I’m back where I’m started.

Alone. And half dead. In a rushed explanation of what happened.

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to explain in the future.” A voice says.

“There’s more to come. Just you wait.” I say.

Just you wait.

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Yes, I know this is terribly rushed. I know, I wrote a LONG time ago. I had to polish it. But it’s still rough. So. Not my best work. But I hoped you enjoyed it!

Have a Good day!