With a heart filled with strange intensity, Aliyah's eyes darted across every corner of the field like a prisoner who was trying to escape an unknown prison. Her ears twitched like that of a deer as the familiar sound came in again.
"Grrrhhh! Uhhnnn... grrrhhh!"
"Who is there?" Her little voice echoed as she spoke.
Cleaning off the sweat on her body with her hands, Aliyah moved her leg forward as the thumping feet of the creature coming closer filled her senses. And just as she turned around, she felt a jump in her heart and then... she was lost again.
Her surroundings changed as she found herself in a volcanic eruption tallied with a tsunami.
"How's that even possible?" She questioned aloud with eyes almost bulging out of her eyes socket.
"Run!!!"
She heard someone scream, and just as she was about to ask why she ought to, a strange hand touched her exposed skin, making her shiver like she was hit with a cold. Her temperature rose, and it felt as if she was lost in the world of damnation. Her heart beat flattened as she closed her eyes for the impact of the creature, but nothing came.. Opening her eyes, she heard the same voice screaming again.
"Run! Aliyah... Run!" She heard a voice inside her head as the hands that touched her exposed skin pushed her forward.
"You must survive!" The voice uttered, and that was the last thing she heard before she was thrown to another dimension.
"Lost again?" Her mind questioned. With heart panicking, she tried to breathe in the strange air around her but choked on her breath. And just as she was about to speak. She felt a rush of wind on her, which landed her right into the water.
"Stand up and run Aliyah. The soundwave is hunting you." She heard someone say before she felt another hand on her, dragging her out of the water. With eyes wide open, she looked at her arm but could see nothing.
"Where are you?" She asked.
"I am here, Aliyah. You can't see me now but soon you will. You must survive for us to..."
...and then the voice was lost. All alone is the reflection world she found herself. She moved her feet from the water and turned, and just then, her eyes found reflective glasses all around. A silent gasp left her lips as she saw her reflection.
"What the hec..."
"Shh..." a voice whispers close to her ears, cutting her statement short. "Follow me." The voice said, and just as she was about to ask where she should move to, her eyes saw the reflection of a creature close to her and...
"Ahhhh!!!" A scream left her lips like a maiden caught by barbarians.
"You'll get us all killed, M'lady. You have to move." The voice spoke in a rush, and for some insane reasons, Aliyah's legs moved like a blind man being shown a way out of his misery.
After walking for some minutes, the creature stopped and turned. With feet sharp as razor, it bowed and then came in other creatures. Different species of them bowing down like she was some sort of god.
However, what got Aliyah's mouth opened agape were their bodies. Hardened and soft, oozing out fine sweet scent like an old Brazilian wine. And with her mouth opened, she could swear on her birthright that she could taste them. It was a strange candy-like taste of sour, sweet and bitterness blended together. And it was driving her crazy.
Lifting her hands up, she covered her ears tightly to savor in their tastes. It was too much to handle that her eyes were clamp shut for a minute before she opened them again.
Their beauty lies above that of the fairies, nymph, or even a mermaid combined. The warm yet shiny light from their skin is magical, but there's a lot of reality to it. A worthy life to every breath they make, and Aliyah was lost again, but this time around, it was in the magical world of beauty.
"M'lady, you'll need to resurrect others that died while protecting you. They have families to come to, and most especially, the war needs to end. Law and order need to be brought to every dimension again." Standing up on one foot, the creature added. "Only you can save us. You are our savior."
Still lost in the magical world of beauty, Aliyah's ears twitched at the creature's last statement.
"What???" She replied. "Save... wait... what do you mean by only I can save you all. And M'lady? What's happening?" Aliyah asked with her arms akimbo.
"Some things are meant not to be understood, M'lady. However, you should know you are a portal to our world and yours. You were given a drug in your world that tampered with ours. So, we need you to wake up from the drug. Wake up, M'lady."
"Wake up, our savior." The other creatures replied.
"I don't understand. How am I to wake up?" Aliyah questioned.
"Follow all your senses, find the tree you know, and your sense organs will do the rest." The creature replied, but before Aliyah could ask more questions, she felt a jump in her heart again, and this time around, she was lost in a familiar place and yet unfamiliar place.
"What is this place?" She murmured quietly as she walked forward, hugging her body with her hands as she moved.
Minutes passed by swiftly, and yet Aliyah couldn't find her way out of the fog rising. It felt like she was going in circles, and she was confused.
"What's happening?" She asked no one in particular, and just as she was about to move again, the creature's words filled her mind like a rewind.
Closing her eyes in pain, Aliyah held on her chest like her life depended on it. Breathing in and out, she calmed her racing heart with a long sigh.
Opening her eyes, she listened quietly to the wind that surrounded her, and then she breathed again and again as if she were meditating.
Just then, her nose picked up a smell. Standing up on her feet, her legs moved towards the direction like a vampire hungry for blood… she moved. Her eyes could see clearly, and her ears twitched again when the wind blew. The smell of earth!
"I am home!" She said with a smile before tasting the presence of nature on her tongue and the iroko tree her guide home.
With a long sigh, her heart jumped again and...
"Baby... My little angel." She heard a familiar voice say. "You are awake. Oh, my sweet angel."
"Mom?" Aliyah replied before opening her eyes to see her parents beside her.
"What happened?" She questioned her mother.
"You... you woke up with a fever, which has never happened before. So, we had to call the family doctor who administered drugs to you and then... then... you've been asleep for 3 days!" Her mother screamed while sobbing.
"Three what? But I was only gone for a few hours." She wanted to say but held her breath, watching as her mom hugged her tightly like a small baby.
This is my entry to Dwotw by 