A Self-Study Within A Broken Mind

I came back a few days following the dragon expedition. When I ascended the spiral staircase from the old room, Lila was the first thing I saw. She was on the couch, hunched over, elbows on knees, head cradled in the cup made up of her hands. “Hey,” I said. She did not shift at my voice, which felt strange. When I came up, she was motionless. I hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, and watched as her body crumbled into sand before my eyes. Was this the Rahin’s doing? Did I somehow bring them over with me when I teleported from dragon form? I sat down on the couch in shock. “Jack,” I heard a familiar voice, and turned to find Lila, very much alive. She sat down on the couch, then threw her legs over my lap to recline. “Holy crap, I thought they erased you or something,” I said. “My bad,” she said. “I’ve been leaving these stress remnants everywhere. Let me guess, you guys don’t have stress remnants in your reality.” “No idea what those are,” I said. “Like, when you are feeling stressed...

I came back after a weekend, half-spent working overtime, and the other half spent recuperating from the work week. The library was the same as I always remembered it from Tiarto’s exploits. It was much different than the library it was based on, but the bones were based in reality. The real one had no tall ceilings, no high windows, no staircase to the second floor, only three entrances that served as front door, garden, and kitchen now. The bathroom was upstairs, but the original one had none, being just an open space with books. “Lila!” I called out in the open space, and heard some shuffling about upstairs. I wondered whether I should go up and check, but I could have just interrupted something between her and Kara. Lila stepped out of the room wearing nothing but a white button down shirt. It was something akin to just wearing underwear for her, as the muscle between her legs had no openings. I wanted to know more about her anatomy and how everything worked, but then remembered sh...

I returned reluctantly a few months later to that dark room. My goal was to continue the story on the laptop of how Rebecca escaped from captivity. I should be happy she got such an opportunity, but had been lost without her to entertain. It was obvious that I was seeking life in places where it was impossible, but she was a nice escape that I corrupted with my mind. This doesn’t flow. This target-less pen resists my motions. I have not written anything new in a while only revised and edited old work, two short stories. This was not enticing me to continue especially since a cool new story just struck my brain with lightning this morning. I sat in the dark of that room at the open computer only shedding light into the room when I wanted it to. When I picked up the laptop of endless battery, an arriving video call almost caused me to drop the damn thing. I watched the screen of two options as the tune played in the small enclosure. How? Who was this? It couldn’t have been her. She cut ...

When I came back the next day, Rebecca was sitting in the library at the desk while feeding Finn the mouse some snacks. I hesitated creating a form. She wanted me to relive past insanity and tell her of the mistakes I’ve made when dealing with Finn’s development. Granted, Finn arrived into my mind knowing full well what he was. He had influence over my mind, and thus exposed my thoughts when I talked to him in the story. I sat drinking coffee again, with Rebecca’s notebook, and the first notebook of Finnelgamin. What could this accomplish? “Jack?” Rebecca asked of the room. Perhaps she timed when I’d be back based on the time my work started. For all she knew, I was stuck in the commute, or didn’t have time to write with her this morning. As if to respond to my thoughts, she met my eyes so sure of herself that I had to check I was still invisible. “I know that you’re already here. It’s this kind of electric feeling in the air I’ve felt once or twice when I was alone. At first, I just ...