by N. Y. Weaver
charged towards the Minotaur. The Minotaur moved impossibly fast knocking Musashi off his feet from the side. From under the golden sea Dean rose and with his sawn-off shotgun blasted the Minotaur in its chest. The Minotaur fell backwards roaring deafeningly.
In a blink the Minotaur had risen, charged and penetrated Dean’s heart with the razor-sharp horns on its head. Dean let out a small laugh and then faded into the blackness that surrounded him. There were not even shadows in the labyrinth that Musashi could watch for, only darkness. Musashi was alone with the Minotaur in the labyrinth. His shield and sword were lost somewhere he could not see. He closed his eyes as the two deadly horns pierced into his chest and through his heart. A white light began to bathe his consciousness and as he lay backwards and entered the next world he smiled contently.
The Funfair
A blue streak of light whizzed down the road, dodging cars and pedestrians alike, brightly illuminated by the streetlights that stood on either side. It was a boy riding a sky blue bicycle with matching blue wheels, green flames painted on the frame. Bunny-hopping onto the curb the boy then turned into a long winding pathway curving through a park. He rode a little into the park before dismounting and looking both ways to make sure nobody was looking, he hid his bike in a bush a few metres out from the path. Heading out of the park he saw what he had been day-dreaming about for last week.
The bright lights of the funfair light up the dark cold night, enticing the thirteen year old closer. But he couldn’t go through the main entrance. He had no money for the entrance fee. The contents of his pockets included a rubber band, two pennies and a few matches as well as a bottle rocket stuffed into his back pocket. He walked along the perimeter on the funfair, eyeing the tangled rollercoaster that ran along the edge. Eventually he reached a flimsy wire fence and with no people nearby, he climbed over with what could only be considerable amount of experience. Feet thudding on the ground as he landed, he realised he was behind the House of Mirrors.
Making his way around it he came to a shabby, old-fashioned looking house. A slanted sign placed in the front read “Horror House: BEWARE! Enter if you dare”. Ready for a scare he entered the house behind a group of five girls around his age. Straight away a man in a tattered zombie costume jumped out of the wall, causing the girls to scream in unison. The boy laughed.
“What’s so funny?” asked one of the girls.
“Nothin’” he said slyly.
“What’s your name? I’ve never seen you around here before” her brown-haired friend asked.
“Jacob, but you can call me Jake” he said with a smile.
Walking into the next room together, a loud scream came from above, followed by the sound of a pack of dogs barking viciously.
“This is sooo scary.” said the brown-haired girl sarcastically.
“Let’s get out of here.” Jake whispered to the girl pulling her away from her friends.
Somewhat reluctantly she relented and together they retraced their steps and left the haunted house.
“Where do you want to go?” Jake asked, “The Ferris wheel looks sweet.”
“Ok, why not!” she replied.
“I don’t have any tickets though.” Jake admitted.
“You can use some of mine” she replied smiling.
Strolling to the other side of the funfair they both smiled at each other, not knowing what would soon happen would change everything.
They passed through the normal carnival games, most of them rigged by the operators, until the girl spotted a huge teddy bear perched on a rack of prizes next to one of the games. The game was a “High Striker”, where you had to use a giant hammer to hit a big red button as hard as you could.
“Please, please win this for me, I’d be so happy.” she said pointing at the prize whilst putting on her sweetest smile.
“Easy peasy, give me one of your tickets.” Jake replied confidently.
Jake gave the ticket to the toothpick-chewing operator, picked up the giant mallet, swung back as far as he could, brought the hammer down with enormous speed and just as the hammer hit the big red button, unnoticeably stomped his foot downwards onto the button.
“Ding! Ding! Ding!” the bell rung.
“Congratulations son.” the operator said, spitting out his toothpick and handing the teddy bear to Jake.
Jake handed the fluffy animal to his date for the night and she hugged him in thanks.
The pair continued onwards and as they came closer to the bright, spiralling Ferris wheel, Jake groaned audibly.
“The line’s huge!” he said.
“This sucks. Well, I had to be home by eleven anyway, you can walk me home if you want to. Don’t your parents care that you’re out so late?”
“My mum thinks I’m asleep right now,” Jake laughed, “Hey I’ve got an idea, I have a bottle rocket with me, let’s leave and go down to the park so we can light up the sky!”
They left the funfair and ran down to the park, both equally elated and excited. Jake found a nice clearing to stick the little firework. He stuck the rocket in the ground. He fumbled for the matches in his pocket. He lit the match. He sprinted a distance back and stood next to the brown-haired girl, still clutching her huge teddy bear with her left arm. The rocket went up with a whistle before exploding into a hundred pink sparks flying outwards in a spherical shape, before crumbling into nothingness.
Still looking upwards they both laughed profusely for no apparent reason. The starless night was still for a moment. Then out of the blackness a huge, glowing white streak began to crawl towards them.
“Look, a shooting star!” Jake said happily.
The night seemed perfect. Jake moved his arm towards hers and they began to hold hands, and still looking upwards into the night, they noticed the meteor beginning to speed up, become larger and ever closer.
“Make a wish.” Jake said softly.
“I wish this moment would last forever.” she whispered as she closed her eyes.
The City
It had been a rainy spring day in New York City. By the time the sun had set the rain had slowed to a drizzle, and then slowed to a trickle and then to nothing at all. The distinctive sweet aroma that typically accompanies the end of rain went largely unnoticed in the bustling city of eight million. The 1964 World Fair was being held in Queens, the theme of which was “Peace through Understanding”. The Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building peaked over the crowded skyline, the previous and present tallest buildings in the world.
In a spacious office on the top floor of an office building on Upper Fifth Avenue a handsome man in a three-piece suit reached for a bulky desk telephone and picked it up as it began to ring.
“Michael the new intern’s here.” came a soothing female voice.
“I know, send him up.” he replied calmly.
The curly haired intern arrived through the elevator that opened directly at the office, where he took a seat in the small uncomfortable seat across from Michael.
“So have you chosen a human name yet?” Michael asked the nervous intern.
“I like Daniel, would that name work?” he asked.
“It is suitable. Do you like it here so far?” Michael enquired.
“The sky is particularly dark. Other than that it reminds me of the pictures of what home used to look like a few millennia ago.” Daniel answered.
“It’s not always this dark,” Michael explained, “And it can be a good thing, it makes you appreciate the brightness more.”
“Your English sounds good, you have been practicing?” Michael asked.
“Yes, the language is very interesting. The exact same words can mean so many different things. But I don’t think the magnitude of words is sufficient enough for you to be able to express your thoughts as vividly as you can in our language though.”
“That is why you must choose your words carefully. Come, let’s go for a ride. The humans have built an interesting monument in this city that I have taken a liking to.
” Michael said standing up.
They descended to the bottom of the building and slid into the backseat of a dark Maybach. Michael gave the driver directions and they slowly made their way through the still wet roads which were as always, filled with traffic.
“These clothes are awfully uncomfortable.” Daniel said squirming in his suit.
“You’ll get used to it.” Michael replied, “Now, let’s talk business. As you know, I am the head security officer of the prison that is this planet. It is my job to ensure that the people of our race banished to this planet do not return home and that our people remain safe. I have been placed in full control this planet and its fate is decided by my will.”
Daniel nodded silently and Michael continued.
“In the past our people would imprison, torture or even kill those that severally broke that rules that we had set. This proved to be ineffective. There had to be a punishment worse than death to deter wrongdoing on a large scale. Like all problems there was a solution, it just hadn’t been discovered yet. Once scientists mastered the complexities of the wormhole an array of different problems were solved. The message we were able to send to people was clear. Break the law severely and you will not be locked in a room, you will be banished to another universe entirely, doomed to live and die on an isolated island on a distant, barely habitable planet. And it worked. In fact there haven’t been more than a dozen serious crimes in the last five centuries. But this is also attributable a great number of other
