XXVIII
Sofia, Bulgaria, Oct 14th, 2003. I was inside a volcano. I needed to get out because I was starting to feel too hot from the magma. Inside the volcano was a vast jungle with lava flowing about. I needed to find a way out but if I didn’t, that’s fine because I could just live on food from the jungle. My only problem was the heat.
I was now travelling through the jungle. I found many different species of wild animals and various fruits for my consumption. My favorite fruit was the raspberries that grew around the place, even though they aren’t supposed to grow in a jungle. I didn’t mind the invasive species because of the delicious fruit that was produced.
After a delicious raspberry snack, I decided to get back to traversing the jungle. I had to hop over little creeks full of lava just to make my way through the jungle. One wrong step and I’m caught on fire. There were rocks with beady eyes hopping at me in hopes of pushing me into the lava. One rock almost succeeded at pushing me into the lava but just barely missed me.
Worried about my potential fate of falling or being pushed into the lava, I find a place where there’s no lava. The place I found was a nice pit of sand glistening from the sun. I decided to sit down and take a rest. I then fell asleep out in the middle of the jungle.
As I woke up, I felt like something bad was about to happen. Maybe it was just my anxiety, but I had to wait and see. I walked around full of anxiety. My chest started feeling like it was sinking. Suddenly, a battering ram comes swinging down from a tree on a rope and hits me square in the chest. I fell to the ground and screamed. This is what I was worried about. I didn’t die but the battering ram was very painful.
My chest hurt deeply from the battering ram. I could barely walk at all. I was in so much pain that my legs went numb. Then I saw a Microsoft paint interface appear right in front of me. I was prompted to draw a mushroom, a volcano, a god, and myself being crucified.
I drew each picture I was prompted to draw. Except I had difficulty drawing me being crucified. The request was a strange one. My eyes started tearing up knowing that I might fall fate to crucifixion one day. I also don’t know what I even look like so how was I to draw myself? I then drew a shadowy figure being crucified because that’s how I can best describe myself. After I finished the art, the Microsoft paint interface turned into a black mask and smiled at me. The mask floated away shortly afterward.
I tried my best to understand the meaning of the black mask. What did it symbolize? Who was it and why was it with me? I guess those kinds of questions become answerable later. Suddenly, someone who looked to be from another dimension appeared out of thin air. I asked what was the traveler’s purpose?
“My purpose is to kill you, right here and right now.” Said the traveler.
I started running but the traveler was able to fly over to me and grab me by the neck.
“Any last words?” The traveler said while smirking.
I was dropped to the ground, but luckily, an angel grabbed me midair. I was saved, this was an absolute miracle at the hands of a god. The angel flew away from the dimension traveler. I grabbed my pocket knife out from my pants and started swinging at the dimension traveler. The traveler was right on our tail and the angel I was hanging on to was starting to get tired.
I pulled a lighter out of my pocket and held it up to the traveler’s face. The traveler then started to scream and tried flying away. The angel got a bit of time to rest before the traveler came back to attack. Cymbals materialized in the angel’s hands, and it clapped them. The sound waves started making the traveler shriek. The angel then started slamming the cymbals harder to the point where the entire body of the traveler was vibrating.
The traveler vanished into thin air. The traveler must have used the same vessel of transportation, whatever it used. I asked the angel if I could get a lift out of this volcano, and the angel agreed. I was just about to climb on the angel’s back when a thunderbolt struck the ground around me. A god must be angry about our little battle against the traveler.
The volcano magma’s height was increasing at a dangerous pace. I had to get out of there quickly. The angel grabbed me and flew me out of the volcano. We were almost splashed with magma quite a few times, luckily, we weren’t hit at all. We then reached the top of the volcano.
At the top of the volcano was an ice cream truck. The angel and I shared an ice cream and cooled off. However, the seller’s face was covered by a mask that looked like the mask I saw earlier. I then started feeling queasy, nauseous, and decided to go back home. I thanked the angel for its service and left the top of the volcano.
Published Nov. 16th, 2021