I didn’t understand. I couldn’t remember. I stumbled into the white light or maybe I was pushed? I sensed the light taking inventory, counting each strand of my hair, memorizing my face.
My mind was flooded with crazy shapes and then I lost all sense of direction. Where was I? Who was I? A strange voice answered inside my head:
Crucial to finding the way is this: there is no beginning or end.
I picked up a key. There was no door to unlock so I swallowed it.
Suddenly I was transported to a garden where a man and a women dined. She was my doppelganger. I watched from afar, yet I could feel the sweat on her neck. He was telling her stories of knights and helpless maidens. I wanted to pull her away and save her.
My alarm blared. Maybe next time.
Written for Prosery Monday at dVerse. Today Merril asks us to insert the following line from Joy Harjo’s A Map to the Next World: “Crucial to finding the way is this: there is no beginning or end.”
Tricia Sankey 
Such brilliance!!
Thanks! I did steal from many of my #vss365 tweets to weave this one together, haha!
Oooooh good one! Fantasy or fiction? I think she needs red sequined shoes to click together at the same time she says “Home”! 🙂
Yes! Thanks Lilian! But where is home? Perhaps she has many timelines to explore? 🤔
This is a wonderful fairy tale/dream-like enchantment that is rich for mining meaning from. You told a lot of story in 144 words, Tricia.
Thanks, Lisa! I did like the idea of swallowing the key, as if we are unlocking ourself. Fun to think about what is actually transpiring as we dream! ✨
You’re welcome and I like the key part and symbolism also.
💗
This was so much fun, Tricia. You might know that I love thinking about time and timelines, and as I was reading, I was thinking this sounds like a dream. I wonder who the strange voice belonged to though. 😀
Thanks, Merril, enjoyed your prompt! I had some of these ideas in my head from other short tweets I’ve written, and I was thinking this could be like a time traveling dream. Your guess is as good as mine on the strange voice right now! 🤣
You’re welcome. 😀
Tricia,
Oh no! Save her before it’s too late and she’s fed too much fantasy romances! Loved the twist at the end. Our heroine lives in the “real” world. 🙂
Pax,
Dora
Haha! Thanks, Dora! That is one way of looking at it! 😉
Darn that alarm clock. It spoiled all the fun …. or all the ??? … oh well (sigh).
Thanks, Beverly! Yes, maybe sleep will return her to that place later! 😴
To solution here of swallowing the key and it’s result has a very Alice in Wonderland feel to it for me. Nicely done!
Thanks! I do love Alice in Wonderland! I thought it sounded similar myself!
Dream…Time travel…Doppelgangers…Oh, my. What more can a reader ask? Great stuff, TS.
Thanks, Ron, you are my target audience!🎯
A great dreams story! Loved the swallowing of the key! Very surreal!
Thanks, Dwight! I have been into science fiction lately!
:>)
Spooky, eerie and cool. I went with a dream concept too but different in nature.
Thanks, Susan. I appreciate your feedback! 💗
Amazing! an awesome sci-fi story.
Thanks so much, Jay! 💗
You deserve so much applause for this, Tricia!
❤
David
🥰 Thanks for your support, David! 🙏
A brilliant piece with amazing imagery👌👌
So happy you think so! 💗
Excellent flash fiction Tricia: I love the way you have created a self-contained story in so few words! And my favourite line:
‘I picked up a key. There was no door to unlock so I swallowed it.’
I think I’m getting the hang of 144 words for Prosery now! Thanks, Ingrid! 💖
Swallowing the key to truly see. Brilliant.
Thanks for your support! It seemed like a good idea at the time! 😆
Yeah, digestively may go differently. 😂
Yes! 😆
This is a “to be continued” Prosery piece …. enjoyed immensely.
Thanks, Helen! I think I could have fun with the concept. Perhaps overlapping timelines would be fun!
Really loved this completed yet complex short story. Glad to read another take on the line and dreams.
I too love the Alice in Wonderland feel. And the swallowing of the key since there are no doors is absolutely brilliant.
So pleased you enjoyed it! Thanks for your kind comments! 💕
I like the way you just dove right into the story immediately taking us with you and every line brought a new layer or twist. Nice one!
Thanks, appreciate your support! 💝
Comment was from Mish….not sure what’s wrong with my WordPress.
Oh, Okay! I was wondering if it was my sister, LOL! Thanks, Mish! 💝
😀
Doppelganger! Goodness, this is an exquisite, exquisite dreamscape 💝 it makes me think that perhaps our subconscious mind is trying to tell us something.. to pick a path and see where it goes. Who knows? We might end up gaining sense of direction and more 🙂
Thanks, Sanaa! Yes, the subconscious mind has always interested me. There’s so much untapped wisdom! 💗
I love those dreams that keep you wondering.
Yep, the subconscious is a mystery!
Or maybe you won’t save her? 🙂
I think this could go in so many different ways. Considering this concept for a short story. 🤔
Wonderful 🙂