Will I end up as small as her? Sam thought as she waved back to her petite mother, who was standing on the front porch of their house.
Sam liked her home. It was a little brown cottage in the middle of the woods of Japan. Sam glanced at it, and her undersized mom then began to walk to see her cousin, Beck, who happens to be having a vacation from Spain.
She followed the yellow-green moss path that swayed gently at the slightest touch of wind, like the little currents of the beach. As she walked over those little bogs, she saw the legendary Mt. Fuji: the tallest mountain in Japan and famous for its perfect conical shape. Sam stared at it until it was finally covered by the surrounding pine trees. That was the queue for the fork in the road. She took the one on the right and decided to run the rest of the way to Beck’s place.
Sam ran about 20 feet until she saw a house in the distance. She saw Beck arranging boxes at her front door. Sam approached her, slowing down to a walk while she breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath.
“What are you doing?” Sam asked.
Beck gave her a confused and surprised look. “Sam? What are you… oh right. I’m sorry, I forgot you were coming.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“I’m cleaning up. There’s a lot of stuff in here that I don’t need anymore. So I’m just going to give them away,” Beck said. She gave Sam a pondering look and then said, “Look, I won’t take long. Just stay inside the house.”
Sam didn’t complain. She entered through the door and followed the short corridor toward the kitchen. She then saw something she hadn’t seen before. Sam found herself staring at a really realistic painting of a beautiful waterfall. It was tall and majestic, with some trees swaying from the strong wind. Then in the corner, she saw a lone guy facing back and painting the waterfall. She turned away from the painting to ask Beck about it when she saw the door wide open, but Beck was nowhere to be seen.
“She probably just left,” Sam whispered to herself.
She focused her attention back on the painting. It was so realistic. It feels like she was actually there. Then she blinked. The painting changed! It now showed a light moss path in a forest. It looks familiar to Sam.
Blink.
The painting now showed Mt. Fuji. It even has little details like the village and trees below.
Blink.
A fork in the road.
Sam stopped. Now she finally realized why all of these seemed familiar to her. She went past all of these to be here.
Blink.
The painting now showed a long, yellow house with the door open.
Blink.
The picture showed a teenage girl looking anxiously at a painting in a corridor. Sam suddenly felt a wave of panic. Then, she heard something breathing just outside the door, like a tiny creature breathing.
Sam tried to process everything that had just happened. What if the painting is like a window through a creature’s eyes? And that whenever she blinked, the creature got closer and closer to its victim?
The creature by the door sighed heavily.
Don’t blink, Sam thought. Don’t blink.
Sam considered looking away, but the thought of the unknown creature tackling her right there made her rethink her choices.
Just don’t blink, she contemplated again.
Sam’s eyes began to tear up. She felt the wind from outside scraping her eyes, making her want to drop them. Sam started shaking. She can’t help it anymore. As she heard the mysterious creature by the door inhale, she thought about Beck. How did she get this painting?
Blink.
…
A boy heard water splashing against the rocks. He opened his eyes slowly and carefully. A waterfall stood grandly in front of him. He looked to the right and saw a painting of a girl standing in a corridor looking at a painting. The boy looked away quickly. He went to the back of the painting and picked it up, careful not to look at it again. He carried it to the river’s side and threw it in without hesitation. He saw it sink as bubbles rose up to the surface of the water.