May Bell awakes in her comfy bed surrounded by all her familiar things, bathed in the light of the glowing sun as it beams through the window. She sits up and stretches with a great big yawn as she listens to her bones give several satisfying pops, the last of which takes her breath away. She holds herself completely still and brings her breathing under control.
The little girl wonders what is happening to her. She has never before in her life felt like this. Her bones have never popped before and she definitely has never had the air violently expel from her lungs. It feels as though something is changing, like she's getting older despite remaining young, but that's impossible, right?
All the same, she quickly recovers and feels herself again without any tinge of pain or fatigue. As such, she exits the covers and steps down onto her plush carpet as she makes her way over to the burea. She gives a lingering look to the bell before changing into some play clothes and heading down the stairs.
No sooner does May Bell open her door then she is accosted by the delightful aromas of breakfast being cooked up at that very moment. She takes to the stairs and over the creaking of the stairs, which makes her think of her own bones for some reason, she can hear the clink and clank of utensils, pots and pans.
She enters into the kitchen with great energy. "Good morning mommy and daddy," she addresses her parents who are already in the room.
Her mother is already setting plates and silverware on the table. "Good morning sweetie," she acknoweledges her daughter as she returns to the stove.
"Good Morning Dewdrop," her father responds as he sets his paperback on the table and finishes setting the place for all three of them.
Her mother soon has the rest of the meal prepared and served up on various platters before sitting herself down with the rest.
Together, the three of them eat a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon with waffles slathered in syrup, all of which is topped off with large glasses of orange juice. Everyone sups heartily and is more than satisfied by the amount available, and there is plenty to be put away for snacking on later down the line.
"Well, I'd love to stay," her father speaks up as he deposits his dishes in the sink. "But, duty calls."
Her mother approaches and gives him a kiss. "Have a good day, darling" she wishes for him and gives a squeeze around the middle.
May Bell rushes to his side. "Love you daddy," she exclaims and hugs his legs as she looks up.
"I love you too, kiddo," her father replies and scruffs her hair.
With that mother and daughter release their captive and allow him to exit the domicile that he might get to work before he turns up late for his shift. Thus, he may prove himself the breadwinner of the family and gives a two horn salute to his two favorite girls in the whole wide world.
The remaining two finish cleaning up and placing all leftovers into the refrigerator, a task that takes only a little bit of time to accomplish. Normally, this is the time when this duo would start up on their daily work for the day, the child to her school books and the woman splitting her attention between schooling and transcribing notes.
However, today has been set aside as an additional rest day to help keep the edge off the mundane monotony of daily routines. This means an easy chair for the mother who relaxes herself while kicking back and reclining. As for the child, she quickly fills an empty box with a stream of building blocks.
These she scatters all over the rug in the den where her mom is relaxing with a steaming cup of coffee with just a hint of creamer. The child sets about building her own miniature town. She fashions a tiny library and school, much like the ones she frequents. A grocery store, barber shop, candy shop and so many others that she can recall.
The day proves to be a lazy one with the clock moving at the most rapid, lethargic pace. For the inhabitants of the house it is a most pleasing passage of time and they relish every ticking second. The woman sips at her beverage and allows the warm sensation to fill her entirely while her daughter is lost to the various machinations her mind can contrive within the limitations of the material at hand.
Seemingly no time at all passes before her father returns home and the energy returns to the household, to the point of overflowing. They set about making dinner as per their usual behavior and set about the dinner table to enjoy it, which they do, immensely. It is all consumed without a morsel left for later and the dishes are gathered up to be cleaned.
May Bell gives each of her parents a kiss on the cheeks and bids them goodnight. The two adults have since given up trying to understand their daughter's new interest in going to sleep early and have taken to just accepting the gift horse, as it were. As such, they wave goodbye to her and follow her to the foot of the stairs.
She hurries to her room and closes the door tight before resting her weight against it. She feel an excitement unlike any she has known before and is allowing herself to marinate in it. She dashes to her burea, jumps into her night things and rings her bell several times before sliding under her covers.
She waits with bated breath as her parents enter her room several minutes later. They read to her a story and sing a few songs. After which, they bestow a kiss upon her and bid her goodnight as they exit the immediate area and shut the door behind them, rendering all in a pleasant shadow.
May Bell prepares herself for the giant hand as she stares at the ceiling for so long without blinking that her eyes start to glob everything together. She sees it coming and is giddy with anticipation, but this time is different from even the first. I land on her with such fierceness that it bends the frame of her bed.
It pushes all of the air out of her lungs and she struggles to breathe so much so that she starts to find it difficult to stay conscious. In order to fight this looming incapacitation she takes shallow breaths and lets them out slowly. It wraps its fingers around her in a too tight grip, but not quite crushing, and pulls her away from her home.
The air rushes all around her, far more violently than it had before, threatening even to wrench her from the secure grip. If that weren't enough, the light show is far more muted and violent, requiring the girl shut her eyes tight to avoid the unpleasant effect. The door is soon to follow and cast in a shade of black that is without proper form.
It flies through the open doorframe and releases her person into the dark void as it soars away from the spot. Where it goes is of little concern to its passenger who plummets through the emptiness at a speed she hadn't before and it puts her ill at ease. Further, it does not slow in the least, but rather, accelerates.
May Bell's feeling of giddyness is quickly dissipating and being replaced by a deep seeded trepidation that reaches into the heart of her person. She wonders then what will happen when she impacts the floor at this rate of speed and wether there will be anything to break her fall. She hasn't long to wait for her answer.
Her body sinks into a never ending darkness and she just makes out the oversized chair sitting in the middle of the circular room, both illuminated by a muted light. She hits it full force as she lands in the cushions and breaks the solid piece of furniture to pieces which fly around the room and stick in the walls.
May Bell is covered by far more pillows than the chair could have possibly supported and she is forced to swim out of the pile to make it to the air above. During her necessary exercise, she assess that the fall, though quite violent, did no lasting damage to her body. As such, she is perfectly capable of carrying on once she breaches the surface.
The diminutive diver finds herself at the top of a massive mound of cushions that has her body elevated quite a bit over the floor. It is from this perch that she looks all around her at the room that surrounds her. It is difficult to see much of anything as the light is so much dimmer than it had been any of the other times she has been here.
The first thing she notices is the shelf upon which sat the myriad of jars containtaining the smoke eyes, has been overturned and broken while all around it lay shards and splinters of glass. They are the remnants of the simple containers that served as the individual rooms for each of the spectral beings, neither of them are present at this time.
Everything else is exactly the way it was except there is a door where they hadn't been one before. It is the the same color and shape as the door she came through while being carried off by the hand. It is a foreboding obstacle and the more she gazes upon it, the more she feels an ill rumbling in her stomach. She turns away entirely.
"Liza?!" May Bell calls aloud as she carefully scrambles down the mountain of pillows. "Liza, where are you?!" Her voice echoes back to her, empty. "Liza?! Liza can you hear me?!" She looks all around, but there is no sign of her friend or where she migh be found.
"Yes," a dark voice responds in place of the echo. "She can."