Unprecedented Welcoming

The sounds of the bells tolled in the far distance of my house at the Church of Bellensworth. It was my alarm. The only alarm. I had no money to buy an alarm clock, not in a world like this, where everything is so expensive.

I slowly opened my eyes to be greeted with the rays of sunshine seeping through my curtains, and reflecting off my pale rosy cheeks. It was morning already, but I only had three hours of sleep, dreaming of that place again. It was deep within my mind, sitting there, and waiting for me to conjure it the next night. I was tired of having the same dream.

I talked to my parents about it, but they think I'm crazy. Could it be my anxiety or the life crisis I'm experiencing? Who knows… I don't even know myself all that well. The only thing I know about me is that I'm lazy and unmotivated. I have no real goals in life, but to find the true meaning of existence.

Why are we here? Why are we limited by time, space, and natural law which forever imprison us, and frustrate our curiosity about the infinite cosmos beyond the radius of our sight, and understanding?

That was my life crisis. I wanted to know the truth of reality, living day to day in depression and anxiety. What existed beyond this world that we are in turmoil of? Could the government be hiding something that's in plain sight?

I don't know. But if I had the chance to find out, then I would gladly lose an arm or a leg.

"I have to go to work, I'll be late." Sighing as I looked at my calendar on the wall, it was January 21st, year 2024. My life was like any other ordinary citizen timespan; work, eat, sleep, then die. You could try to make life seem fun, but in the end, it's all for naught, you'll eventually die sooner or later.

Standing up from my bed, I planted my feet on the cold wooden floor. The first reaction from my body was to yawn.

I covered my mouth with my palm and stretched out my body until I was fully awake from my morning yawn.

Walking across my room, I stepped over some books that I left on the floor from last night, some were open, while others were closed shut, however, I noticed one of them was covered in coffee that I must've spilled in my sleep, "I'm such an idiot!" Facepalming myself, I was lost in grief.

I must've knocked over the coffee cup on the floor from pushing my pillow off the bed. Considering I toss and turn in my sleep, that was the only logical explanation.

I slowly crouched to the floor, grasping the brown book, scared to turn it over to see the stained pages of my favorite story. Please don't be ruined, this stuff cost me my entire paycheck!

Once I flipped it over, I could see the entire pages were… missing. "Huh?" I scrunched my nose and forehead in confusion, turning the book around to see if it was the right one, "Weird, where did the pages go?" There was not a single page in the book, except the covering.

"Did she let that damn dog inside my room?!" My first assumption was Betsy, my sister's dog. Standing up from the messy floor, I marched to my door, pulling it open with force, "Matilda!! Did you let Betsy in my room when I was asleep again?!" There was no reply. I waited for a few solid seconds, until I asked again, "Matilda, was Betsy in my room last night?!" Once again, no reply.

Angry from no response, I was fed up, and decided to tell my mom, Susan, "Mom! Matilda let Betsy in my room, and she ruined the pages in one of my favorite books!" I scowled at the thought alone, wanting to kick that damn dog in the face, "Ugh… why isn't anyone answering? Did they leave when I was asleep? They always do this without waking me up!"

Closing my door, I walked to my closet, picking out some clothes for today. I didn't have work until 3PM, and currently, it was 10AM, so I could run a few errands, and maybe visit Jeremy, my next-door neighbor.

Thinking about him always makes my heart skip a beat, I can't help it. He's handsome, and kind, always asking me how work went. Honestly, he's the best part of my day, I'm always giddy around him.

"Bleh, it's not a good idea to wear black on a sunny day, but it's the only good-looking one next to the red." I was going through my collection of outfits, trying to pick my favorite one, but I had no luck. It's like getting your monthly paycheck and deciding what candy you should get at the store, but only worse. "Alright Emmeline, looks like you have to rely on your trusty lucky coin." Walking to my desk, I opened the drawer, pulling out a quarter, "Heads is Red, and Tails is Black." Relying on fate to choose my outfit, I flipped the coin into the air, waiting for it to land on my palm, "Gotcha!" Capturing it with a solid grasp, I slowly opened my hand… revealing what fate had chosen, "Black, huh?"

Looks like I'm wearing black.

I took my outfit with me, walked out of my room, and turned a right to march down the hallway. The first door on the right was the bathroom. I opened it up to be greeted with the sweet smell of lavender candles burning overnight.

"Aaahh~! I'm so glad I bought them at the Supermarket, they take away the horrendous smell of wet dogs and disgusting shit." I cringed thinking about it. But luckily I had the house to myself, I didn't have to worry about my dad purposely making the bathroom smell like utter crap. Disgusting old man.

Closing the door behind me, I sat my clothes on the countertop next to the sink, folding them nicely. Removing my comfy pajamas, I threw them on the floor and untied the bun from my short brown hair. Walking to the tub, I turned on the shower, letting the water heat up for a few minutes. Making sure I had soap and shampoo on the bathroom racks, I looked into the mirror to see my groggy expression.

Jeez, I still looked tired. I patted my cheeks a few times with both hands, proceeding to massage them in circles. I had bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep.

I was a freaking mess, how will I ever get a boyfriend at this rate? Especially someone like Vincent. "You lazy bum, Emmeline!" I slammed my hands against the countertop, frowning at myself in the mirror, "You need to change for the better! Stop overthinking everything! Life crisis? Hah! A can of worms. You should be enjoying things while you got it."

This was a daily occurrence… me talking to myself in the mirror. I always gave myself a pep talk; sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

But this time, it was different. Yes, majorly different. My mirror… it… started glitching.

I don't know how to describe it, but its geographical features defied physics. I backed away from the mirror, bumping into the wall behind me. I was tripping out of my mind right now, holy shit.

Rubbing my eyes a few times, I kept them close for a solid minute, chanting to myself; "This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real." I kept going until I slowly opened them again to see the mirror back to normal. Its glitchy appearance vanished.

They said that a lack of sleep can create hallucinations… did I just experience one of them?

"I'm losing my mind…" I placed my hand against my forehead, sliding down the wall until I crouched to the floor, "I need to see a doctor, I don't think this is normal… it shouldn't be normal!" Yeah, that's right, why would anyone think this is normal? Seeing a mirror glitch in reality, and experiencing the same dream over and over.

I'm gonna schedule an appointment… after my shower that is.

"Maybe I should call in for work today, I don't think it's safe to be going there while hallucinating." Standing back up from the floor, I stepped into the shower, feeling the hot water wash over my body. It soaked my hair, letting the germs flow down my figure into the drain. I leaned my head back, closing my eyes to enjoy this moment while it lasted.

A nice hot shower could wash away anyone's problems, only for a temporary amount of time. I took my washcloth next to me, rubbing it with a bar of soap to form suds. Starting to wash my body, I reopened my groggy eyes, glancing next to me out of the shower.

No… are you kidding me?

Again?! The mirror is glitching out of control again!? What's going on, this isn't some hallucination, this has to be real!

"What's happening?!?"