Toxin City & Other Stories (eBook)

Shayna Kay (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023 | 1. Auflage
190 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-6678-9848-3 (ISBN)

Infos

What is a dream and why do we have them? Are they memories of a distant past or are they windows into unknown worlds? What mysteries can we solve by deciphering their symbols and metaphors? In Toxin City & Other Stories, Shayna Kay imagines places of wonder, unexpected journeys, and imagination-of mystical beasts and magical objects-where nature and morality battle for balance. Inspired by real dreams from the author, each story materializes hope, creativity, and understanding through the experiences of our most inner selves.

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Experience a collection of thought-provoking stories and characters, each one imparting valuable lessons in life. Follow Tanda and Immy to a magical place where they reawaken childhood dreams in search of success. Faith and her cat Young revisit an enchanting land that reawakens lost passions. In the midst of stardom, Jane and Joel are spirited away to a bizarre world where they face the race of a lifetime. Ellie and her friend Rachel must flee from the comfort of their home only to get lost in time. A boy from the slums gains new perspectives by finding a friend to share his unique powers with. Warring nations employ mystical beasts to battle each other for a chance at love. Gidget and Finch escape their sheltered life in search of a greater truth. Aurum investigates a mansion driven by rumors of magic and murder in search of mystery. A family moves into a new home only to find that it's already been invaded by unknown horrors. Two childhood friends are saved from hoards of the dead by their grandfather's unique invention. Rickiss unveils the secrets of his experimental origins through dreams of the past. In Toxin City & Other Stories, Shayna Kay reveals that our dreams can impart wisdom to us in the most mysterious ways.

Textauszug

Green Hill

I think life must be arranged into stages, time seems to do this to itself and we are powerless to stop it. Time moves forward yet we are obsessed with controlling the gears. We want to go back, we want to stay here or there. We want things to stay the same forever but we also constantly want things to change. Time moving forward is like a river forever chasing the unknown. If we could stop it, it would become a bubble of moments that holds feelings and emotions. But time can exist within our dreams too, Green Hill taught me this.

“You have it so easy,” I was on my bed staring at my cat

Young. He was always fed, loved, and cared for at every moment. Not having any responsibilities in life, he couldn’t care less about time. He was a kitten now, but I knew his time in this world was short and that made me sad. I made drawings of him constantly.

My name was Faith and I was a creative person, I had all sorts of art projects. Music and drawings burst from my head like geysers in Yellowstone. We lived in a small rural town with my grandmother who was well-known there. To everyone in town, she was Madam Stars, giving advice and fortunes to anyone who craved it. But to me, she was just Nana.

Nana was sitting on her recliner in front of the TV as usual for a Saturday morning, snacking on mixed nuts and tangerines. I put on my jacket as Young tripped down the stairs after me still learning how to use his legs.

“Headed for another adventure Faith?” Nana asked me, never ungluing her eyes from the television set.

“Yeah, is that okay?” I asked politely even though I knew she’d say yes.

“Of course,” She said with eyes still staring at pixels.

Outside it was a warm autumn afternoon, golden sunlight gleamed through the yellow leaves as a cool wind lifted them gently. I hiked for a long time with Young stumbling behind me before we came across a little creek. Leaves had fallen all around so it was hard to see at first, but there it was trickling away. Down the creek was a little cave big enough to fit in. I was nervous about bringing my cat into a cave, but Young stayed close to me and so I continued.

The cave was small like a bedroom and didn’t go in far at all. The creek flowed inside the entrance and created a pool that lay at its center. Sun rays made their way in and the light reflected off the water filling the walls with changing shapes and colors. The water was deep blue and sparkled from pretty stones that made up the cave floor. Young pawed at a small one by my side, and I bent over to pick it up. It was so smooth and shiny, clear but foggy. Different colors revealed themselves with every turn of the stone. I put it in my pocket and Young mewed at me, he was hungry.

“Fine, spoil all my fun why don’t you…let’s go eat,” I didn’t realize it had been several hours since we had left the house. Time doesn’t like to stick around while you’re having fun.

That night in bed, I held the stone I found in the cave. It was so smooth, unlike any rock I had ever felt. The colors and shapes it held inside changed as I turned it slowly in my hands. Young jumped on me and tried to paw at it. I yanked it away afraid he’d scratch it and ruin its smoothness, so I put it under my pillow. Young curled up and tucked himself in between my shoulder and head, sleep quickly took us.

This was the first time I visited Green Hill. It began with a dense dark forest, fireflies danced in the canopies. The trees were so tall and thick that I couldn’t see the sky. Young followed me, trotting behind my every step. The ground was rich and brown with dirt, thick roots sprung from the soil. A huge ovalshaped stone the size of a small room stood nearby. The surface was bluish-gray and smooth when I touched it, like the cave stone I found. There were odd-shaped openings all over the surface that reminded me of Swiss cheese but it had no door to get inside. The openings revealed a hollow center and they were so large that you could see the forest through them. A quiet swarm of fireflies buzzed at its center, they were green and blue and flew in and out of the holes chasing each other in circles around the stone. Young stared at them excitedly. He didn’t know which one to play with, his head jutting this way and that trying to keep up with them.

A tall hill beyond the forest peaked through the trees, so I went towards it. The forest began thinning as the hill drew near, green grass poked out of the dirt and it shined in the sun. The light was so bright here compared to the dark forest, it was like walking from night into day. The grass grew thicker at the base of the hill and rippled in the breeze at the top, the sun lit up the

grass making it glow. The hill guarded the forest like a wall or barrier, I could not see the ends and it was so tall I could not see beyond it. I had to know what was on the other side so I began my ascent, Young still behind me. The grass grew longer the higher I went. The hill became so steep that I was forced to crawl on my hands and knees clinging to the grass. Young had no issues doing this. The long roots dug deep into the soil and held my weight the whole way. I finally reached the top where Young waited for me and I stood still, mesmerized in wonder.

“Wow, look at all that,” as far as my eyes could see there was luscious green grass rippling like ocean waves as soft winds swayed. Hills lay scattered in the distance to the left of the valley. On the right side, a large marble city shaped like a rectangle lay flat. It was pink and sand-colored, and the hues faded from one another like a flower petal. Green Hill let me see the city up close while I lay prone on its peak. The buildings were arranged and laid out like a maze intertwined with canals and pools of water. The people there were browned from the glow of the sun and smiled warmly at each other. The marble was illuminated like its people, it was all so beautiful. But all beautiful things come to an end and my dream of Green Hill was over.

As soon as I woke up I grabbed a small journal I kept by my bed and wrote down what happened, trying to preserve it somehow. But time has a way of burying things and so I forgot about it. A couple of years passed and I was now older. Nana retired from her business and stayed home. Young grew bigger and braver, leaving the house on his own. Still creative but not nearly as prolific, I started new projects and never finished them. I tried to please people so I toned down my ideas in hopes of attracting more attention. My creativity turned into relatability and I could feel that magic in art slipping away. I hated everything I made.

Late one night, Young was making noise in the corner of my room keeping me from sleeping. I bent over still in bed, looking at my crazy cat upside down.

“What on earth are you doing?” Young blinked at me slowly with innocent eyes as if he’d been sitting there minding his own business.

“Mew,” he was so cute, his greatest defense. I saw a dark shape at his feet. After I got up to grab it, I flopped myself back into bed. It was the cave stone I had found a couple of years ago.

I didn’t know I still had this, time had made me forget about it.

Young jumped on the bed sniffing it in my hands.

“Thank you, Young,” I lovingly pet him and rubbed the stone in comfort, like I had found an old friend. I tucked it under my pillow like I did years ago and waited for sleep.

That night was the second time I visited Green Hill. Young explored with me again but this time he had confidence and attentiveness. The smooth stone oval with the dancing firefly creatures was gone, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Where did they go? Perhaps they moved? Time had passed here.

I continued to walk toward Green Hill, it was still grassy and bright. Again, Young and I ascended the slope ripping out chunks of grass as we went. Once we reached the top, I saw that time had passed here too. The beautiful marble palace was gone, no trace of it remained. Empty grass filled the valley, flattened by the wind. On the other side, there were still hills of rolling grass but they had grown in size. On the top of the tallest hill rested a small white cottage. Leading to the cottage was a white picket fence guiding any visitor all the way from the bottom. Young and I quickly found we were at its base. Looking at the path to the cottage, I noticed there were broken parts to the fence. Weeds and flowers grew wildly and went unchecked twisting around each other, bent from their weight. Butterflies danced around the flowers and Young leaped to catch them before they could fly away, he missed and they fluttered up the hill to safety. There were gray stones placed in the path and cut flat to create a walkway, Young stepped around them meticulously. As I reached the top, an old woman waited for me on the doorstep of the cottage. She appeared so kind and warmhearted, the butterflies danced around her as the sun lit up her wrinkly skin. She was familiar to me, but I did not know her.

I stared blankly not knowing what to do. She stepped closer and took my hand, it was so soft yet firm and cold. I was led to the side of the cottage where two chairs and a table waited for us. An old tea set lay on the table, the woman sat down in a chair so I did the same. The tea was a golden brown and the sun’s reflection in it danced wildly as she poured it into cups. I remember her looking into my eyes, hers a cool ocean blue, mine a deep brown like the earth.

“Don’t forget where you come from, what brought you here in the first place. Only you can save Green Hill.”

The old...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.5.2023
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• ISBN-10: 1-6678-9848-5 / 1667898485
• ISBN-13: 978-1-6678-9848-3 / 9781667898483