1 The unravelling

My name is Ryan Kilele, I had been obsessed with the study of absurd occurrences since I can remember. When I was young my dad used to bring home pieces of strange stuff they found in the field and I used to love it. I kept all of them and I remember the exact time and the words he used to tell me when he handed them to me. As you would have guess I pursued a career in my father’s footsteps. I remember the last words he ever said to me, “don’t ever forget that anything that can be imagined can also be created, and there’s a world out there besides our own, remember to be strong”, I didn’t actually put so much thought into it but I remember him giving me a tiny key neckless that I always wear around my neck.

I lived in a sub urban kind of environment, a great apartment just far enough from the city noise but close enough to get to work easily. The apartment I lived in was one of eighty six others in the building. I liked to be alone but it was the perfect one for me all I had to do was to avoid people. My work was simple, wake up early, go do nothing for eight hours come back, feed my cat and wait for the money at the end of every month. Right across the apartment from mine was the noisiest person ever known. I had trouble avoiding her for many unavoidable circumstances. She always set me up for small talk but me “on a call” or “in a hurry” always saved me from interaction. This went on for long but just when I’d think she’s gotten used to it there she is knocking with my cat in her arms.

So when I’d hear her out on the corridor just as I was to leave for work, I'd stay for some more minutes until she had disappeared in the hallway.

Then I'd come out when I didn't hear her heel shoes knocking on the floor. So I closed the door and walked out stress-free. Lucky for me, the bus was just arriving. I entered the bus, and I've never noticed the chairs being too long because I couldn't see anyone else in that, but the driver who was staring at me weirdly and smiling. "Good morning, sir, a beautiful day isn't it?" he asked me while smiling. "Yeah, it is," I said awkwardly. “Well, it's a good day to make your dreams come true…” he added while moving the bus. “Wait! Wait!” someone shouted. The bus stopped, and just my luck, it was Cheryl. She was in a jovial mood, as always. She thanked the bus driver and proceeded to sit at the back of the bus. I wore my earphones and pretended to look outside as if I was looking for something. She sat on the other side of the bus and removed a book. Who reads a book on a bus, I mean by the time she reached where she was going, she would have read three pages only.

Besides the complaints in my head about Cheryl, I couldn't help it notice there were only two of us on the bus. And the nice weather was turning into a cloudy, rainy sky. Suddenly it started raining, and the road was immediately filled with fog. "Whoa a that changed quickly didn't it?", The bus driver shouted. "Yea, I bet its global warming," Cheryl replied, and why wouldn't she. Suddenly the bus swerved, and the bus driver was kind of losing control. Cheryl screamed in distress. But she was okay. The driver, on the other hand, stopped the bus. "Am, do you think it's a good idea to stop the bus in the middle of the road?", I asked. He didn't reply; he just got out without saying a word. I also followed, and Cheryl followed. The fog was thick, and we couldn't see a thing. "Hey, driver?" I shouted. There was no response.

I started walking over to the other side while Cheryl stood there. "maybe we should go back in the bus," she suggested. "it's okay let me see if he's okay," I replied trying not to be rude. I turned on my phone torch and walked over to the other side of the bus while calling the bus driver. Suddenly I realized we were not on the road. The ground was full of sandstones. Suddenly the fog started clearing, and somehow I started stepping on water. I moved back, and as I looked up, I couldn't believe my eyes. I ran back to the bus, opened it and went straight to Cheryl. "what? didn't you find him, is he okay?", she asked me. "is there any lakes or rivers or a sea or any wide water area in this town?", I asked hesitantly. "what no, there was a lake millions of years ago but dried up, why?" she replied. I walked outside and shouted to her, "then I think you should come and see this." She stepped outside, and all the fog was gone. "What is this, oh my word! Am freaking out", she shouted in disbelief. In front of them was not a river, not a lake, not a sea but an ocean. There was no sign of the driver and no sign of any road. We didn't know how we got there. We were freaking out. Maybe I was having a nightmare, but the slapping of myself proved it wasn't.

We didn't know what to do, and our phones had no signal there. There was no road back or forth. All that was there was the oceans. I couldn't stop pacing. My heart was racing, and I think Cheryl had a panic attack. "okay, this is not real. Maybe it's a prank, or maybe am I a coma," she started mumbling. But as I was pacing around, I noticed a bottle wash up the shore. I took it, and inside was a glowing. Cheryl got closer and asked what I thought it was. Of course, I didn't know, but I couldn't say it as it would have been rude even if I wanted to tell her it was a magical unicorn there to rescue us. I tried removing the cork, but it was too far wedged in. So I threw it against the sandstones. A bright light came out if it, and a drama smiley mask face appeared and started talking, "YOU HAVE ARRIVED IN DORMICA, THE WORLD OF RIDDLE, TO GET OUT OF THIS STAGE YOU'LL SOLVE A RIDDLE TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT STAGE." "YOUR RIDDLE IS you have me today, tomorrow you'll have more, as your time passes am not easy to store, I don't take up space but am only in one place, I am what you saw but not what you see, what am I, GOOD LUCK, YOU HAVE 2HOURS ".