{"id":1884,"date":"2017-03-15T21:03:49","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T18:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danieliusg.lt\/?p=1884"},"modified":"2021-07-21T12:43:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T09:43:15","slug":"romanas-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debesyla.lt\/uzrasai\/en\/2017\/novel-1\/","title":{"rendered":"#Soul in Stone (1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Goal of the day: 482 words<\/a>. Written: 984<\/b><\/p>\n

Ore. Brown alone, in a variety of shades. Mhm.<\/span><\/p>\n

More, less, the brownness of the dirt and some strange... Eh. Something unpleasant. I watched this colour for maybe a second, a minute, an hour or a day.<\/p>\n

And then something caught my eye. Ouch! I blinked my eyes a few more times. And then I realised - I'm looking at the ceiling and I'm lying down!<\/p>\n

\"Pala, lubas? What?\"<\/p>\n

One moment and I'm sitting down. A moment more and I'm cursing myself for getting up so quickly, or for apparently not staying awake yesterday - my head was aching like... Well, as if someone had smothered it in hot lava, and then dumped it into the Cold Ocean.<\/p>\n

But it was probably worth the pain, because now I knew a bit more about where I was than I did lying on the floor. Yes, everything around me was still fifty shades of brown, with a yellowish light glowing from somewhere, but progress.<\/p>\n

I looked around.<\/p>\n

I was sitting on some kind of thin and soft carpet, laid right in the middle of the floor in a barely lit empty room. To my left I saw what looked like a cellar window, or rather a hole in the ceiling from which light was coming in, and to my right was what looked like a door. Or, of course, it could have been a picture of a door, because this one didn't even have a handle - just a rectangle with lighted slits around it.<\/p>\n

In general. It looks like a prison. Or a police interrogation cell. Or a room where... Hm. I couldn't remember what it reminded me of, but it certainly reminded me of something close.<\/p>\n

I realised I was hearing a rustling. I don't know whose, exactly - if it's the sea, I'm very close to it. If it's people, it's a lot of them. If it's a forest... Well, it couldn't be a forest. The forest is quieter. And it doesn't seem to make a distinction.<\/p>\n

\"Where am I?\"<\/p>\n

I shook my head. Something in my neck was crushed, but it didn't hurt, so I didn't pay attention. Someone said that... Hm... I don't remember...<\/p>\n

However, shaking my head didn't help much, because the room in front of me didn't change. I turned to the side to try and look behind me, but there I saw more shades of brown, which I was not really impressed with.<\/p>\n

I discovered this better one by tilting my head down. Turns out I was wearing some kind of black shirt and trousers... Or brown... Nothing to see here.<\/p>\n

\"Hm.\"<\/p>\n

I don't remember ever wearing that outfit. Did someone change me?<\/p>\n

Well, it wasn't anything better. But compared to smooth walls, it's more interesting.<\/p>\n

\"How did I get here?\"<\/p>\n

Again, I have not found an answer. So I tried to get up from the mattress. I moved my toes and saw how they moved under my socks, which were again the same black. Someone had provided socks too? Is my whole outfit a one-piece leotard?<\/p>\n

I touched my stomach and tried to find the gap between the top and bottom of the garment. And I found it - when I lifted up my shirt, I could see the skin of my stomach. That's good. It's still this.<\/p>\n

\"...Pala. What do I look like?\"<\/p>\n

Of all the questions, this one was probably the stupidest. But I raised my hands... And, again, I didn't see much - just my fingers. Moving. All of them. Maybe a little thin.<\/p>\n

\"...Aha...\"<\/p>\n

Not very interesting. So I continued what I had started - I got up. The ceiling in the room was lower than it looked lying down, and I could even touch it if I raised my hand, which I did. Cold. Something like stone, maybe concrete?<\/p>\n

I crossed to the other side of the room and stood in front of the door. I pushed it.<\/p>\n

The door bent in space and time and opened.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

I pushed them harder and entered a narrow corridor. Just as low. I moved so the door could close again - because I couldn't see through it, and all I could see was a iiiiiiiiiiig narrow corridor leading to some kind of hall or something like that.<\/p>\n

\"I wonder who's there...\"<\/p>\n

- Good afternoon,\" came a man's voice behind me, like stone.<\/p>\n

I literally jumped up and turned around. Behind me, a large golden crystal with two tiny legs and two arms that didn't reach the floor was hanging in the air, taking up almost the whole space of the corridor.<\/p>\n

\"O. God.\"<\/p>\n

\"Aaaa!\", I exclaimed in surprise. I heard somewhere that our screams are meant to scare away predators and to announce our misfortune to our soulmates. I don't know who would not have screamed at that moment.<\/p>\n

I didn't even realise how I had flopped on the ground together. My bottom was sore, and the change in perspective only made the crystal look bigger.<\/p>\n

But I wasn't going to give up so easily - I pushed off with my legs, pushed back with my hammerlock and then stood up with my feet on the ground. A moment later, I was standing with my fists raised.<\/p>\n

The crystal never moved.<\/p>\n

- Who are you!? - I shouted at him.<\/p>\n

Crystal was silent. For a moment, two. I turned my head sharply and looked behind me - wasn't I talking to someone I shouldn't have been talking to, and was someone else saying the words?<\/p>\n

There was still nothing behind me. But the crystal still spoke:<\/p>\n

- I'm just a bystander in your story,\" he said, with a little flash in the middle.<\/p>\n

I rolled my eyes and involuntarily let out a little laugh.<\/p>\n

\"...What?\"<\/p>\n

- A side character?<\/p>\n

- Yes, a bystander,\" he replied in the same monotone.<\/p>\n

I wasn't sure what to do with my hands. I just put them down. And since I was already standing about six steps away from this bystander, I looked around a bit.<\/p>\n

- That doesn't explain anything,\" I told him.<\/p>\n

- And that explains everything,\" he replied, as if everything were really so basic and simple.<\/p>\n

- Noooo... - I trailed off like I was talking to a petulant child, because I didn't understand anything anymore - \"it doesn't explain anything. I mean... What do you mean? What other character? What? And what is going on here? It's happening and you know, well...<\/p>\n

I looked around again. I felt like I was in a bad play.<\/p>\n

- You people are very strange. I have answered the first question, is that not enough?<\/p>\n

\"You people? Me?\"<\/p>\n

- You people? - I frowned. - Pala, who are YOU?<\/p>\n

It was probably a little too late to ask, but better now than never. Crystal sighed.<\/p>\n

- They told me that you would be difficult, but they didn't mention that it would be REALLY difficult. My name is James and I am a bystander in your story. My job is to walk you to the right room and that's all you need to know.<\/p>\n

"..."<\/p>\n

I looked at the crystal with as stony a face as possible. My head was still aching, but suddenly several neurons jumped into place.<\/p>\n

- Let me guess, James,\" I began slowly, feeling a chill down my spine, \"That hall is behind us?<\/p>\n

Crystal sighed again.<\/p>\n

- Yes, that's right. And thank God you are not trying to go into unimportant details again and look for hidden meaning everywhere. For example, in my name.<\/p>\n

I bit my tongue because I wanted to go into those details.<\/p>\n

- I... No! It's just... I mean, unusual. I don't remember how I got here.<\/p>\n

- Unusual compared to what?<\/p>\n

I thought that if Crystal's voice had not been so monotonous, it would probably have sounded sarcastic at this moment.<\/p>\n

- Eeem... - I couldn't think of anything suitable to say.<\/p>\n

We both fell silent, looking into each other's eyes. Or at least my eyes on his heart, what do I know? The centre? The thing? Literally where the light flashes when he speaks.<\/p>\n

- Let's go,\" he said, and moved closer.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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