wordsmith entry!

Submitted this as my entry for the wordsmith competition at my school; the limit was 1000 words (hence the short ending...), and the category was prose. Please feel free to drop any feedback in the comments section, and I hope you enjoy!

DREAMER

For miles, all that could be seen was straight white. There were no discernible walls, ceiling, or floor; yet there seemed to be some sort of invisible plane that supported Lia as she walked around. The world she was in was like a blank canvas, unpainted and waiting to be used by some artist. It was intimidating simply because of the lack of land, objects, scenery, or anything really— except for the singular white door standing on a small island, leading to nowhere.

Lia had been here for about an hour when she first spotted it in the distance. Upon finally reaching the door, she opened it hesitantly, hoping that it would somehow lead her out of here– but expectedly, the door led to nowhere. She stuck her head through the frame, then stepped through the door fully. Looking around herself for any potential changes in the landscape, she noticed a small black dot in the distance. It was tiny, but stood out like a sore thumb against the background. She stared at it from her place beside the door, blinking. Cautiously, she took a step forward– and the dot disappeared as soon as it had shown up.

Lia continued walking forward, looking around to see if more dots would appear. Initially, she brushed it off as a trick of the eye; but every few minutes, another distant dot would show up. Like the first, they disappeared when she moved even slightly toward them. Though they weren’t at all threatening, Lia felt unsettled. Simply not knowing what they were made her vulnerable.

She tried her best to stay away from them whilst continuing to explore her surroundings, always keeping the door in sight. At most, she would explore until the door was just a speck in the distance; whenever she had reached this point, she’d turn back and start in a new direction. Upon turning back for the fourth time, Lia spotted something new on the ground beneath her. She nearly missed it, only catching a glimpse while turning around to walk left. It appeared to be a clear protractor, and Lia bent down to get a closer look. The numbers on it were partially faded in certain places, as if it had been owned by someone previously. She continued to crouch there, not picking it up; instead, she began to rub her temples. A mild headache was coming on, her eyes feeling strained from the bright scenery and focusing on miniscule details. Rubbing her eyes, colorful dots appeared behind her eyelids. She opened them, and after a few blinks they quickly swam off. Lia stared at the protractor thoughtfully.

“Is anyone else out here?” She said out loud, lifting her head.

Silence followed for a few seconds, leaving her to stare into the void. A whooshing sound, like wind blowing through trees, suddenly echoed from somewhere far off. Lia whipped her head toward it.

“Hello?”

Nothing more followed. 

The whooshing sound was heard in a direction away from the door, Lia soon realized. She could just barely see the door in the distance as she was now, meaning she was already at the end of the radius she created. She looked back down at the protractor, and hesitantly decided to pocket it. It felt important to her in some vague way, and the thought of parting with it made her slightly anxious. She slowly stood up to take one last look at the door, straining her eyes to focus on it. It was probably as small as one of those black dots, she realized. She tore her eyes off the door, and began walking in the direction of the sound.

The first thing she noticed in this new area was an increase in black dots. They were appearing more frequently, and some were even closer—or perhaps larger—than before. As usual, they disappeared whenever she moved toward them. Next, items began to appear everywhere: pencils, pens, erasers, and other school supplies scattered across the ground. But most notably, the whooshing sound was getting louder as she kept walking forward.

After a few minutes, she noticed something in the distance—small but made up of browns and greens. Something tall sat on top of it. Lia rubbed her eyes nervously, looking around herself. She noticed that near the distant landmark, a black dot was there. She walked forward, expecting it to leave; but the dot didn’t disappear. She kept going, and it stayed perfectly still. Lia groped around in her pocket for the protractor absentmindedly, and she noticed that as she walked, the dot would get larger; just as the landmark did. Eventually, she could see what it was.

Lia slowed down her pace. Squinting, she could just barely make out that the landmark was another island, this time with a tree on top of it. Walking closer, she could further see that the black dot wasn't actually dot-shaped. It had a form made up of triangles, with one small white triangle in the middle of it. Lia took a look around herself. All the world had to offer was the island now. She stopped walking completely, instead opting to fidget with the protractor in her pocket. She felt a pit forming in her stomach, crawling up her throat and sucking out the air in her lungs. The dot was there, she was here. All she could do now was go forward, or stay. She took a hesitant step and watched the island intently. Her worldview became the island and dot ahead of her as they grew closer and closer— eventually, she could see that the dot was a fish. It was made up of scribbly triangles, like it had been drawn with crayon onto the white scenery. Its singular white eye had a small pupil in the centre, and she realized it was staring directly at her. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

She walks forward, and Lia wakes up.