Mayday Stories: Day 21 Who Is The Reflection?

 

Storyaday prompt 21 is straight to the point which can be found here. As always we encourage everyone to check it out. We took some time to think over what we wanted for this prompt and decided to set the scene with a pool of water then just let the pantsing go where it may go. 

The Reflection in the Water

The last few weeks had been a whirlwind of living nightmares and dreams that transcended into reality with her dreams becoming literal terrors in her waking life. Week one Keeley Branshaw shrugged off the incidents as just exhaustion catching up to her. By week five, she had to accept the fact that perhaps she had actually lost her mind. By week ten, she began to suspect that there may be more happening and her mind might still be intact. She made her way through the woods, shuddering from the way the trees seemed to arch over with their branches as if reaching out for her. The woods always made her feel uneasy, like Little Red Riding Hood waiting for the wolf to devour her. 

Water could be heard in the distance with the gentle rush telling her that she's getting close. Ever since she was a child, Keeley would sleepwalk and in every dream, she would find herself standing in the clearing beside a pool of water. The remnants from a fountain still possessed crystal clear water that allowed her to see the bottom. She would stare at her reflection and in some instances, she would hear her own voice back to her. A low rumble in the sky made her jump. A storm was brewing, signaled by the rustle of the wind and the darkening of the clouds.

She could remember from her childhood the dreams she would have where she would find herself falling upside down into a world that wasn't her own. As a child, she had imaginary friends. Once she entered her preteens, those friends seemed to vanish and it was all a memory. Until over two months ago when those dreams returned, and she began to see those same imaginary beings lurking around every corner she seemed to turn. Keeley trekked through the trees until she saw a thin thread of light beckoning her ahead. 

Several days of her childhood would be spent drawing her various friends, kingdoms, and monsters that lurked within the sleeping world. A dream world of her own creation. She remembered playing with her friend Nym Raventime who she believed with her whole heart was real. The clearing came into view with a sliver of light beaming down from the sky, directly to the pool. She hurled herself toward it. The pool was exactly the same as every dream she had as a child, right down to the broken brick around it. She kneels beside the brick and stares at the water. Instead of her reflection, she saw the rippled appearance of a boy. Keeley reaches a hand forward and one moves in turn out of the water, snatching hold of her. Within the next minute, she was being pulled forward into the water.