A World Apart

by Loui Downing

  “BRRRR…. HOU HOU SO WHERE DA YOU THING YAR GOIN THEN” said a voice from behind them all, stopping them in their tracks.

  “YA CANT JUS WONDER AP ERR AND EXPECT TA COME IN NOW CAN YA?” asked the voice, coughing and splurging everywhere. The children were reluctant to turn around and face what was shouting to them. For a moment they considered whether to run in the house and close the door, however something harmless about the voice made them turn around.

  Alexandra was the first to turn around as she looked over Francesca and Edward to see nothing around them.

  “There’s nothing there” whispered Alexandra, shrugging her shoulders as she continued to search the street with her eyes.

  “HOU YOU CALLEN NATHIN?” said the voice once again.

  “JUS BECUS UM SMALL DASNT MEAN IM ARMLESS” continued the voice, outraged by what Alexandra had just said.

  “Arggh…something’s got my leg!” cried Edward like a girl. The others looked down and couldn’t believe their eyes.

  “What are you?” asked Francesca zombie-like.

  “AM GUSTOS THE GIANT GATE O’ CORSE, OU ELSE?” replied the sodden gate that was clinging to Edward’s leg. Edward looked down at Gustos, and fell straight to the ground unconscious. Alexandra and Francesca dived to catch his fall, however they were beaten by Gustos.

  “SAMONE’S GOT A WEAK ART THEN I TAKE ET” adding Gustos as he held Edward in his wooden slats, that the girls presumed were arms. The whole few seconds seemed surreal from them all.

  “Are we dreaming?” asked Alexandra to Francesca as they both watched Gustos place Edward down and reach form something in his satchel that was over his shoulder.

  “I think were back in the regeneration dome, surely this can’t be happening!” replied Francesca as she watched Gustos throw the dog lead onto the floor and look back at them both.

  “THA’S BIN DRIVEN ME CRAZY. OU AND NO YOUR NAT IN THA DOME, YOUR FURTHER FRAM THA THAN YA THINK” replied Gustos, now tidying himself by picking split pieces of wood out from his chest and wiping with a cloth.

  “How can you be real though, you’re just a gate!” said Edward, regaining his consciousness.

  “AR, BOYS AWAKE NOW. WELL YOU HAV YOUR WAYS, WE HAV ARS” replied Gustos walking over to where a gate should be, his skinny legs fragile and rotten.

  “OU, THER IS ONE THING I NEED TO SAY. IF YOU AR THENKIN OF GHOIN IN THERE, DON TRUST ANYTHIN GREEN” said Gustos, sounding as thought he was resuming his post.

  “ER TAKE THES WIY YA” continued Gustos, throwing a bottle high in the sky towards them all. The purple liquid bashed against the inside of the glass. Alexandra caught the glass with both her hands, being quite a lot taller than the rest made her feel even more in charge now as she had caught the bottle.

  “What is it?” asked Francesca, but Gustos had resumed his post at the front of the house and lent lazily against the ground. The others felt as though they had all gone slightly silly from all that has happened to them, but realised it must be true because they still had the bottle and the dog lead was now stretched across the street.

  “Things have really changed around here” deduced Francesca.

  “I don’t think that is what we need to be scared of” replied Edward, ejecting Francesca’s comments like trap door.

  The children continued into the house, noting the cleanliness had seen better days by the black dirt build up on the inside floor and windows. The outside of the shop had given them false hope at the appearance within. The room still had the tangy smell floating around the room, although there was now a potent odour of dust and dried insects that overpowered most smells. Sweets and toys were still left around the shop, the sweets withered and mouldy. Toys were left unloved and flung around spontaneously. Some scrolls and a glass of milk lay neatly on a small table next to the secret door Alexandra used to remember. The signs and materials were still in their original position, only the riddle board replaced with a blank blackboard.

  “The riddles are gone” beamed Alexandra, making the other two look in the wrong place without her noticing. Alexandra remembered everything to be a lot bigger, although when she cast her mind back, she was considerably smaller then. Edward wondered around bravely, still feeling dizzy after his fall to the ground and slightly concussed. He dropped a globe that luckily bounced back against the ground and didn’t smash.

  “Ed…please don’t. You never know who might be living here, we don’t want to cause a scene or mess things up” lectured Alexandra as she noticed the refrigerator door wide open in the kitchen, and pointed in the direction.

  “I think we did that when you started noticing things back in the dome!” replied Edward, angry at her for causing all of this.

  “Are you saying that you never wanted to find out all of this?” replied Alexandra, greatly offended and annoyed by what Edward had said. Edward knew he had been a little harsh with the comments, but he was adamant that he would not speak to her for a while.

  “Anyway, if there are people living here, ‘how old and hungry would they be’” added Edward, goading Alexandra at his choice of own words earlier.

  “Shh…” concluded Alexandra as she was in full flight heading into the kitchen, she looked closely at the contents of the fridge, holding her nose, for the smell of a bowl of salad was unbearable. Fingerprints could be seen engrossed on a glass that for some reason was left in there. The glass has a violet ring in the bottom, as though someone had finished their drink. The refrigerator housed a minimal amount of food. The kitchen was mainly full of used takeaway boxes, and ghastly pre-prepared food. A backlog of rubbish was stored in a nearby cupboard next to the washing basin; the bag was overflowing with juices and fumes of all varieties. Alexandra had always imagined Mr Biggles to be a happy man, although from what she has seen she began to wonder. A spine-tingling coldness was present amongst the deep blue corridors. The thought of going further terrified her. Alexandra wished her memories of Mr Biggles stayed as they were when she was six.

  “Aren’t you going to open it then?” asked Edward insensitively, nodding his head towards the riddle door.

  “There’s a few things I need to find out!” replied Alexandra softly from the kitchen, edging her way through to the landing area. A telephone resided on a petit table next to a cupboard under the staircase. The telephone coil was dangling down towards the ancient carpet. Alexandra got the impression that someone vacated the house quickly. Francesca and Edward carried on browsing the main room of the shop, looking for anything of interest. Edward opened a draw behind the main desk at the back of the room. Out popped several balloons of all shapes, colours and sizes, making Edward fall into a picture behind him. He turned around and ceased the picture, lifting it into the air with his hands. He felt something loose behind the picture so he placed it down on the desk and examined. Francesca was over by a display of sweets and chocolates labelled ‘icey eyes’ and ‘spider nostrils’. She has not been tempted one bit, for just the name had put her off entirely.

  Alexandra cautiously wrapped her hands around the frozen handrail as she prepared to go upstairs. A single window permitted light to trickle down the stairs from the landing. Everything that they were seeing was under serious scrutiny as they found it hard what to believe since coming out of the regeneration dome. Despite their questions, they found them being overwritten as they carried on searching for answers. Henry’s bedroom door was as wide open as it could possibly go. His name printed across the top of the bedroom door along with some favourite thinkers and philosophers from the seventeenth and eighteen century. A breeze of oil drifted from the room as well as a murky fog emerging from the bottom of the door. Alexandra looked down and noticed a silver puddle of water spilling out from the room along with the smell of fresh water, rippling in the wind behind it. It was clearly obvious that something suspicious was happening in the room, it was just a question of whether she had enough courage to enter. She thought to herself for a short while before coming to the conclusion that she
hadn’t come all this way to wimp out now, making her drive herself to uncover what was going on. She anticipated what would be next, a poisoned sour taste lurked in the back of her larynx at the thought of this only being the beginning. Alexandra crept forwards towards Henry’s room. Tension built up around the top floor. A crack of lightening now horrified her as she approached with her eyes barely open. The window opposite flickered. Her eyes moved fast to see what it was. A shadow crossed her path, small and thin. He disappeared into Arthur’s room opposite Henry’s. Alexandra fell into the wall, losing her balance. Her shoe dismounted as she caught it on the step. The shoe fumbled loudly down the stairs, catching every step possible on its way down. The slippery dark shadow had now entered her mind. Her heart crawled towards her oesophagus, a nauseating tinge scratched intensively against the pit of her stomach. Now the noise had vanished, the weather could be really heard thrashing against the bricks and tiles on the house. The wind whistled flamboyantly through the gaps in the house. A gust of warm air jumped across her face, making her temporarily lose her breath.

  She peered into the room to see a man perched over a desk, writing with a fat pen. He was no ordinary man, small in posture with a crumbly nose that slid down his face. His clothes were a shiny grass green colour, although he looked unwashed. His eyes were a mixture of blue, red and orange, as though they were semiprecious stones. Alexandra watched him as he combed his beard and paused for thought. The small looking man cast a long piece of paper into the air. All of a sudden the wall behind him opened up and a great swirling pool of colours appear, swirling and darting at all angles. The force coming from the hole gobbled the paper and they both vanished instantly. The man wasn’t interrupted and carried on groaning and miming to oneself.

  “I’m guessing that you are Alexandra Platts. I’m not I....hmmmm…yeeess…. that would figure” spoke the small man sat on a huge chair to elevate him to the hole behind.

  “Erm…yea, how do you know my name?” replied Alexandra, initially unsure whether he was addressing her.

  “Well, do come in then. Tea?” said the small man, looking up from the desk, his beard pointing directly at Alexandra.

  “No. Thank you” said Alexandra nervously as she entered the room.

  “Don’t be alarmed. I’m guessing a gobber hasn’t asked you if you want tea before. Others are quite rude; I’m one of the better ones though. One with a trick up my sleeve” noted the man, Alexandra assuming he meant goblin before.

  “What are you?” enquired Alexandra, standing next to a spare chair in the library-like room, full of telescopes, globes, atlases, compasses and papers.

  “Why is it, that when a human meet’s someone they want to know this right away, I say…I despise the language from time to time. However, I’ve heard good things about you so I will let you off” waffled on the goblin, whilst still writing and tossing scrolls into the hole behind, scaring Alexandra for the force was incredible.

  “What is that” continued Alexandra, still asking questions even though it has annoyed the goblin.

  “Right. Firstly, I’m Agot a goblin, not a gobber nor a glo. I come from….” replied Agot, pausing at the last minute.

  “From where?” asked Alexandra intriguingly as she stared into his magical eyes.

  “I make the riddle’s that is all, and Arthur has had me working here ever since he opened the shop in nineteen-eighty. I beg of you to stop him!” continued Agot, a tear forming in the corner of his eye. Alexandra was totally confused, why would Arthur do such a thing, and where had he got such a creature. She thought she knew Mr Biggles, but now had a completely different picture of him.

  “Only a few people have ever solved my riddles, and only certain people can enter them” added Agot, looking down at Alexandra through the miniscule spectacles that separated them entirely.

  “I can’t believe it’s taken this long for you to find us. We always knew that you would someday” added Agot, resuming to the scraps of paper on his desk.

  “Are you saying that you have known this all along?” asked Alexandra abruptly, knocking an ink pot of Agot’s desk which aggravated him.

  “Not as such. More of an insight shall we say” replied Agot, clicking his fingers over to the wall behind them both. A wobbly squeaking voice weaved underneath Alexandra’s legs, making her look down to see what looked like a mouse. She hated mice and leapt as high as the ceiling, letting out a very dainty squeal.

  “Ah, I’ve been after that little blighter for weeks now. Get him!” said Agot, acknowledging her squeal.

  “I’m not going anywhere near that disgusting rodent!” replied Alexandra, propping herself up on the ledge of the bookcase over by the chimney breast. Agot shuffled around underneath his desk and extracted a long net that had signs of wear and tear. He jumped from his desk, to Alexandra’s horror he was smaller than expected and wearing multi-coloured trousers. Alexandra covered her mouth and pretending to look elsewhere whilst she composed herself from laughing out-loud. Agot threw the mouse into a chrome bucket close to the door as it crashed to the bottom.

  “Perfect snack they are, just enough!” said Agot with no expression. Alexandra mellifluously made no effort to reveal the embedded sickness that she felt on Agot’s selection of food. Alexandra paused as she thought of something to say to Agot. She finally constructed a meaningful sentence together in her mind.

  “What happened in 2015?” spoke Alexandra carefully.

  “I knew this was to come, very audacious of you to ask. After all they did said it would be like this” replied Agot under his breath.

  “Who said what? Please help use, we have a right to know the truth!” snapped Alexandra, making Agot’s cheeks blush due to the gracious authority he has never seen until now.

  A light scream came bouncing up the staircase to where Alexandra and Agot were. Alexandra’s heart raced as she thought she may have upset Agot with her relentless questioning.

  “Your friends need you. That is more important now” replied Agot. The wall behind Agot suddenly lit up with colours of blue and purple. Spirals and stars whizzed around at random. A face came into view, one that Alexandra recognised. Another face came into view.

  “Edward…Francesca!” declared Alexandra, as she marched down the stairs, missing the odd step to speed up the process. Edward was leaning over where the secret door was. Alexandra gained on them all, noticing Edward had placed his arm onto the doorknob.

  “Edward….no!” declared Alexandra, dismissive of his actions. Edward glanced back at her for only a few moments, he was holding back replying to her expressions for he found that doing so normally caused more trouble than it is worth. Edward felt a tingle up his arm that was discomforting. He looked down and noticed that his arm was fading to a grey colour. The room fell silent although not for long as a loud click sounded behind them all and a puff of smoke swarmed. It was Agot, standing there looking very pleased.

  “Now you must too reach for the very answer. Touch can last for an eternity, however one’s mind can only sustain so much” said Agot defiantly as he appeared in the room, brushing his hair. Another click and Agot had vanished.

  

  “meht ecaeC” exclaimed a voice over by a small ravine at the bottom of the hill were Majtak and Jessica has fallen near. Majtak looked at Jessica out the corner of his eye, puzzled to why they were both flat on a great patch of grass. Majtak stretched his neck even further and looked back at the square they had jumped through, watching it fade and everything disappear. The landscape took its place as the image of the dormitories slide away. The hovering fog lifted and Majtak spotted series of walkways, all bricked either side, which lead to an enormous zinc coloured castle. Further in the distance was the sea looking aggressive and bitterly sharp. They decided bravely to tread across the thin grass. A small incline brought them to the top of what appeared to be a cliff edge, with a spectacular view of the city below. They gasped at its advanced capabilities, people’s motions looked like clockwork. Music
blared from a cave back where they had just come from. It was now clear that it was coming from a small cave not far from the ravine. Two hover bikes zoomed past above their heads.

  “I have a bad feeling about this!” cried Majtak nervously. Jessica’s eyes rolled without her noticing. Majtak tended to say this rather a lot at the slightest prospect of something dangerous. Discouraged by the raw rocks and gleaming grass around, they continued nevertheless. Majtak brushed down his tattered waistcoat and ran his hands through his short curly hair. He had to look after Jessica as she tended to get mislead easily, so Majtak wanted to keep an eye on her encase she started to explore. What also doesn’t help Jessica is her size of five feet tall, giving a daunting feeling in her stomach as she stood next to a six feet tall Majtak. Regardless of this though, Jessica takes great pleasure in standing her ground when involved in a confrontational situation. Consistently stubborn, her mother Lensa used to think, as she regularly sought out what she wanted at her mother’s expense.

  Something made Majtak and Jessica clock each other’s eyes and glue. Stopping for a moment, Majtak concentrated again, elevating his unusually proportioned ears down to the ground.

  “Look…over there! What is that?” said Majtak urgently pointing at a few pieces of broken soil and a wealth of insect life.

  “Look at what? There’s nothing but mud and grass Majtak!” replied Jessica, straining her eyes as her eyes scanned the ground. They both knelt to the ground to observe the area more closely and to their amazement they spotted a small creature. It was shaped like a bird, only this one was a million times smaller. It appeared to be wearing a uniform and a white capped hat. Their eyes met with the creature. Majtak quickly searched the contents of his satchel and returned a brass funnel. He placed it down on the ground near the creature. Majtak’s expression made it obvious to Jessica that he was up to something. The grey feathered creature edged towards the object. It’s belly wobbling to-and-fro unhealthily as he walked over to the funnel.