The AR Story Archive
Stories of Age/Time Transformation
by: skywavesage | Complete Story | Last updated Aug 8, 2017
A blast of cold air stung Aaron"s face as he found himself standing in the middle of a frozen tundra. Not far ahead, he thought he could see a figure crouching halfway up a mountain ledge streaked with sugary snow. He dashed forward and clawed his way up a path that zigzagged on an ashen scree. "Ashley!" he hollered at her.
The figure turned towards him momentarily, then stood up and ran, disappearing into a cave in the mountainside. He followed, huffing, into the dimly lit interior which stretched out like a long corridor. On either side hung portraits of people in gilded frames, several he recognized as his school mates. But many of the paintings were ripped and torn. In some cases the faces had been smeared out, and one looked like it had been violently shredded apart.
He continued until he reached a vast, circular room, its raftered ceiling lost in darkness. In its center was a grey blue void, thru which poked the topmost branches of a Titanic oak tree.
Hearing sounds from below, he slid down the gnarled beige
limbs past leaves the size of skillets, and at the tree"s base found himself surrounded by a dark, reedy lake with black banks of mud. A bracing wind knifed in off the surface. Far off, he could make out a small sunlit island. A figure in a rowboat was paddling towards it.
Taking a deep breath, he plunged into the smoky water and swam towards the island, ignoring the nettle-like seaweed and strange creatures writhing against his body. When he finally arrived, he pulled himself up, lungs bursting, onto its shore.
Ringed by a grove of silver trees, a solitary figure was swinging on a swing. It creaked and cried out going back and forth, shadows foreshortening as they flew over the grass.
"Ashley!"
She turned, surprised. "How did you get in here?"
"There isn"t much time. You must"¦"
"What makes you think you can order me around? Go away and leave me alone!"
He glanced aside for a moment, then walked over and stood beside her. "Ashley, I"ll like to tell you a story."
"There was once a little girl with a powerful imagination. She created worlds of incredible richness she shared with her friends, who loved and adored her."
"But one by one, her friends grew up and no longer cared for her creations. They became interested in other things she did not care for. They laughed at her childish ways, called her names and excluded her from their parties."
"Tormented, she started to withdraw, and to build a fortress around herself. But the more she withdrew, the worse the teasing got, and the stronger the hurt and loneliness"¦"
"Aaron, I do not like your story"¦"
""¦ and so she continued to build her fortress higher and higher, thicker and thicker until it began to suffocate herself. And when she couldn"t breathe, when the chaos, nastiness and violence overwhelmed her, she would take it out on the remaining people who still loved her"¦"
"AARON! STOP IT NOW!" she leapt off the swing and shook him hard, before breaking down and sobbing.
"I just want to escape"¦"
"And where will you go? Haven"t you already realized that you cannot find peace and sanctuary by running away?"
"But"¦ there"s those mean, awful people. All the terrible things they did to me. How can I possibly forgive them"¦"
"Ashley, sometimes forgiveness is like setting a prisoner free. And realizing, afterward, that the prisoner was you."
He reached out his arms and pulled her towards him. "It"s never too late for a fresh start. Please, come back with me. I will help you. I will stay with you. Forever."
A cool breeze swirled and caressed them, rippling their clothes as they held each other under a shaft of bright sunlight.
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Aaron rested his head against Ashley"s shoulder as she dozed in her bedroom, enveloped in a velvety silence. She had just been discharged from the hospital, and still a little weak. He had expected himself to be in the maws of depression by now, yet he felt strangely serene.
She stirred, nuzzled his cheeks, and shuffled to her feet. Reaching deep into her wardrobe, she pulled out an old-fashioned jewelry box.
"Aaron, there"s something I want to show you."
His eyes widened as she drew out a silver trinity ring.
"Where did you get that?"
"A pixie gave it to me when I was little. She said it granted two wishes. I wasn"t sure if she was real, or whether I had imagined her, until I tried making a wish."
"What did you wish for?"
"A special friend who could always be by my side." She laughed as he stared back at her, dumbfounded. "You"re exactly what my seven-year-old self wanted, but you never got any older..."
She took him into her arms and hugged him tightly.
"Aaron, it did not escape my attention that you had a ring of your own. Since you never told me how you felt about me, I was always scared that you would use your ring to leave. Since I couldn"t bear the thought of losing you, I saved my second wish so I could bring you back."
She held out his hands and stroked them gently. "I noticed your ring is gone."
"I"¦"
"I know."
She leaned forward and kissed him on his lips. Then she stood and stared out the window.
A motor started up in the kitchen, there was the sudden flare of the gas water heater, the swift passage of some cars on the road below, and a single voice from the pavement.
Finally, she turned back and gave Aaron a long, tender look. She slipped on the ring, and blackness snapped around him.
The Imaginary Friend
by: skywavesage | Complete Story | Last updated Aug 8, 2017
Stories of Age/Time Transformation