Wednesday Briefs: Broken Path, Starless Tail Chapter Five

 

“Where am I?” Beckett stumbled to his knees. “Where’s the bathroom? Colby? Mrs. R!” He was alone, and he was not in a house. He was as far from in a house as he could possibly be; he was freezing, and it didn’t help that he didn’t have a shirt on.

Glowing light in the dark trees to his left was the only sign of civilization. The forest looked dead otherwise, the trees’ limbs bare and spindly as they rattled against each other in the wind, and nothing but white bits of snow blew around the dead grass and dirt path.

Beckett pushed himself to his feet, hissing at the pain in his chest. That hadn’t gotten any better either. He wanted to cross his arms, to huddle as close as he could for warmth but he couldn’t stand to even touch himself. He stumbled toward the light, hoping he’d just fallen asleep and somehow was dreaming or something.

It had to be a fever dream. But would his socked feet burn that bad if he was asleep? His nipples feel like they could cut glass?

To be honest, Beckett wasn’t sure. But he could go toward the light or he could stay where he was. And he wouldn’t do that. The one thing Beckett wasn’t was a quitter. Just ask all the teachers he’d annoyed over the years. He couldn’t suppress his smirk, even if he was freezing, and in pain, and lost in a dark, scary forest with no fucking idea what the hell was going on in his fucked up brain.

“Time to follow the light, I guess,” he muttered. “And great, now I’m talking to myself.” The light had been dim at first, but he realized it wasn’t so much that it was getting brighter but that it was really close to him. He only had to walk about a minute before the trees spaced out into a clearing, and he found a giant snarl of branches arching together.

“About time you got here. I thought you were going to die instead of ask Colby for help.”

I gaped at the top of the tunnel of branches where… Parallax? Well, something like Parallax sat up there, larger than life, and the source of all the light that lit up the clearing. He had to be easily as tall as me, if he was beside me. He was somehow transparent, his fur dark and ruffling in the wind, but sparkling as if lit by a thousand multi-colored stars in rainbow colors.

“Are you just going to stare at me? I mean, you’re usually smarter than the usual human. That’s why I always had you get me food. At least you did it right and didn’t curse me out or try to hit or kick me.”

“What? No one would have done that!” None of the guys would have done that. He was just a cat; he needed food and didn’t have hands to measure it or anything.

“Right. You believe those delusions.” He stretched, his overlarge ears flicking. “I bet you think this is a dream, don’t you?”

Beckett shivered violently. “Y-yes?” Could a person freeze in a dream?

“You’re not going to freeze. And this isn’t a dream. Look, I know this is a big shock to a human like you, but then again, you’re not exactly as human as you think you are. Or were.”

Wow. His brain had really gone on a field trip. No more fantasy books for him for a while. He pinched his arm. “Ow!”

Parallax hissed. “Seriously? Could you stop already? We don’t have much time before the portal opens, and I won’t be able to help you anymore. And I need your help.”

Beckett rubbed the sore spot on his arm that joined his chest in throbbing. Great, just great. “So, I need your help because you need my help? Or you need to help me so I can help you?” If this was following the usual sort of fantasy adventure trope, that was how it would go. Some sort of animal familiar would call on a human to go on a quest for the good of the world, and boom! Danger, darkness, pain, possible dismemberment and death….

“Wow, dramatic much? I can see why Colby likes you so much. One, I am not a familiar. You and I are connected, but you are not a witch, you do not have magical powers, and I am not some sort of conduit to the spirt realm or a mystical wellspring of power. I am, however, the embodiment of the Cosmos, and someone has stolen my star.” What had begun with a subtle derision had turned to a statement of pride then ended up with utter furious bewilderment.

And, dream or reality, whatever connection they had meant that not only could Beckett hear what Parallax was saying, he could feel those crazy emotions. “Wait… were you reading my mind? You were saying stuff about things I never said!”

Parallax abruptly sat, swiping one paw through the air, razor sharp claws that were longer than each one of Beckett’s fingers glowing like death’s sickle-bladed scythe. “That’s what you focus on? Spirit of the stars, with the very fundament of my being, my power, having been stolen, and you worry about me reading your thoughts? Humans,” he muttered.

Maybe it would be better to play along, if Beckett wanted to wake up or go home or whatever else would get him out of this frozen dark hell. He was done fighting this. “So what do you need to help me do to help you?”

“Finally! I thought I got the open-minded and smart one, and you were starting to worry me. I’m going to open the portal. You’re going to find my star.”

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Julie Lynn Hayes