Red Pebble

Red pebble

There was a small brick built building standing near the shore, it had no door and no windows. A little girl sat thoughtfully inside, wondering who would build a room with no way out.

It was the day after her eleventh birthday that Samantha found herself inside a small room, there was no apparent way in or out, only a few holes here and there where bricks were missing. In the shafts of light from the holes she could see how the cement squidged inwards and dribbled down unfinished, indicating that the whole structure had been built from the outside. There was a wind outside which stirred up dust motes, it teased at a piece of litter in the corner. She could make nothing of the roof as it was high and very dark. Samantha felt completely relaxed and very safe but a thought was developing in part of her mind that was for the moment hidden.

The little dark thought was slowly growing, it was thin and weak to start with but soon it was hungry for recognition. The dark thought looked out of Samantha's eyes and didn't like what it saw, in fact it was feeling very claustrophobic, trapped and scared. The dark thought needed to be noticed and surged forwards.

Samantha frantically looked around for an exit, she pummelled the walls and tore at the holes. She screamed and screamed, she kicked at the walls. Her fingernails cracked and split, her throat was becoming painful. After a time her energy ran out , she sat on the floor and whimpered. Her toes were throbbing and she could see blood on her hands. An unpleasant stinging sensation came from several places at once, mostly her arm where she had badly grazed it. She curled up into a ball with her arms folded and knees up to her chest. After some time she fell into a fitful sleep.

She awoke with a shiver and stood up shakily and walked over to one of the holes. Her blooded fingers dragged away a piece of old spiders web and she looked through the hole, it seemed quite long like a tunnel. As she drew closer the tunnel shortened, she could see a beach, leaning closer still she noticed that her head was
actually fitting through the hole which only some moments ago had seemed quite small. The smell of the sea and the sound of the waves pulled at her, sea gulls spiralled around. Pebbles began to crunch under her feet, she picked up a bright red one as she was drawn into the waves. A dark line of seaweed lay directly in front of the advancing sea, a few white clouds raced across the summer sky as she felt the warmth of the first wave caress her. She carried on walking until she was completely immersed in the friendly water. Looking down at her hands she could see the blood being washed away. Her wounds dissolved and her euphoria returned. Samantha walked on into the ocean.

Under the sea Samantha felt a rush of fear, it was abruptly diminished by the fact that she seemed to be breathing properly. Breathing in and out experimentally she reassured herself, she was puzzled at the lack of bubbles. She was amazed at how bright and clear everything looked, reaching into her pocket she grasped the pebble and thought of travelling. She thought of travelling so quickly that objects became blurs. Everything became a warm yellow colour, the objects in her mind became visible, they sped by at great speed. Her attention focussed on the clearest image, a long path stretching out below her. Samantha felt that the path was worth following so she flew above it at great speed. Although she was moving rapidly the wind did not disturb her hair at all. A mountain sprung up the horizon. The mountain expanded and filled her field of view, there was a large ruined castle on it was she flew towards, soaring like an eagle. Her view of the place from above was exhilarating , she had never been this high up. Sheep down below looked like scattered breadcrumbs, rivers were thin shiny lines. The castle walls were now below her. Samantha had never really had a fear of heights but an urge to put her feet on solid ground surged up from the bottom of her thoughts. She landed smoothly on wiry grass, disturbed blue butterflies fluttered off and settled down a few yards on. Crickets chirped loudly, the sun was so hot that the grass seemed to perspire, it was certainly slippery. On her way to the main building she disturbed a sheep which ran off clumsily, its voice lost and muffled by the vast open space. She found the entrance and crept in slowly, it was quite dark inside. As she progressed the darkness grew more solid. She tripped and became disoriented, the darkness was thick. Samantha ran, falling, scrambling, slipping. She had to keep going. There was a light ahead growing closer.

Samantha stood outside the little brick building by the beach wondering how she could get in, who would make such a thing with no way in? She gave up her hunt for a door and ran back to her mom on the beach. The tide had gone out quite a way, they had a picnic just behind a line of stranded seaweed. Samantha found a bright red pebble to take home.