WE STAND TOGETHER As I walked towards her, I felt that something unthinkable was about to happen. It's like I was teleported to another dimension. Suddenly, everything became darker and the bus station was no longer a playful place with vibrant colors but, instead, the color scheme was based in a terrifying greyscale. All lights went off. As I looked around, people looked dead inside, as if something had the power to absorb all their happiness. Where am I? How did this happen? Was it possible that the creepy woman I passed by some minutes ago had the power to change reality as I’ve always known it? – All sorts of questions came to my mind. I just couldn’t stay still. I had to figure out what kind of messed up thing was going on, so I made a decision: I needed to find the woman responsible for this. Going out the bus station, I recognized a face in the crowd, next to a bush full of dead roses that I could swear were the most colorful and beautiful but, I guess, that was in a different reality. I rushed to this person that turned out to be my best friend, or at least looked like him. As I touched his shoulder, he looked at me, and the sad look on his face disappeared. He started yelling: “We need to get out of here! Fast!” – so I started realizing what was going on. I wasn’t in another dimension; our reality was the one that changed! People were walking as zombies, places had no color, and every single piece of living things, even plants, were now dead… - I don’t think this is permanent – I said with a heart full of hope to my best friend – if you came back to normal, others can too. And, as I said this, I saw the woman looking at us. Those black eyes were full of evilness, her smile was sarcastic and cold, as if she was having fun with our suffering, and I could feel myself freezing. Luckily, there’s no fear bigger than my hope of saving humanity, as it truly is; so, hesitantly, but decided, I started walking towards her. Her smile disappeared. Her eyes looked scared. The environment changed, and I couldn’t even understand if was for the better or if something bad was about to happen. A sound, like a siren, starts coming from the woman as she was about to explode. Now, all made sense. What gave her power was the fear, the sadness, and all the negativity the day has carried with it. My best friend finally released his fear and ran to me, giving me his hand. She began fading away. Some of the colors were starting to return and she screamed, desperately, while others started to wake up and came to help us. We were about a hundred people, holding hands, hoping for the best; and so, as we did, she disappeared. Everything was back to normal. Turns out, there is no dark capable of winning the power of people. When we stand together.
Ana Sofia M.
13
