What To Do

I literally felt like I was falling through time and space. It was pitch black all around me with no sound at all. Well, nothing except for the screams that came almost endlessly from my mouth.

I don't think that I have screamed this much in my entire life. Yet here I was now screaming nonstop. I felt like there was never going to be an end to it. This hole or whatever it was that I was falling through felt like it was endless.

No. I wasn't falling through a hole. That's not what this was at all. I was falling into the book. And that was when I actually paid attention to the fact that it wasn't silent around me. It was just the fear that had been deafening me to the voice that was speaking to me. And the moment that I realized that, the colors and sights came back to me as well.

I definitely was not in the library anymore. The things that were flying past me at lightning speed had nothing to do with the building that I had been in. These images wouldn't have been anywhere near Ann Arbor, Michigan. They were completely out of this world. Or rather, the world that I had so recently left behind.

I was watching large trees, castles, waterfalls and many other picturesque images speed past me so quickly that I could barely make them out. And then there were the colors. There were blues and pinks galore. The sky was the particular cause of this color spectacle.

Oh, and that made me realize, I wasn't falling. I was actually being pulled backwards through these various scenes. From one forest to another. Past farm houses, castles and other various scenes. They were all different, and I was being pulled through them like they were nothing at all.

"Hello, Alexis." That voice from before called out to me. "We have been waiting for you." This voice, as strange as it sounded, seemed like it belonged to multiple people at once. I don't know how. I could tell that only one person spoke at the time but it sounded like the voice was changing. Like it went from a young woman to an old man to a young boy and then to an elderly lady. The voice was never the same sound twice, but I could tell that it was all the same person talking to me. I don't know how I knew that, but I did.

"Who are you? And why have you been waiting for me?" I called out frantically. I was definitely not feeling this whole situation. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to go home. And I definitely didn't want to be stuck in this place forever.

"I am the keeper of the tales. I have heard you through the years, girl. I know that you dislike the tales that others have worked so hard to collect. These so-called fairy tales. They are a vital part of growing up. They help children learn to process and cope with emotions through make believe. They help them to learn and grow. Yet you don't think like that. You see only weak women that need to be saved by men. I cannot help that they were written in a time long since passed, but that has kept you from seeing the true beauty and meaning of the tales. Because of that, you must be punished." There was a slight amount of anger in that voice when it explained things to me. Not that I understood exactly what it was trying to tell me.

"Punished?" I focused on that one word. "What do you mean that I need to be punished? What is going to happen to me? What are you going to do to me?"

I had felt a rush of cold wash over me like I was plunged into an icy bath. This was not good. This was actually going to be really, really bad. I just knew it. I knew that whoever this was, they didn't have good things in store for me.

"Well, what else would I want you to do, Alexis?" The voice laughed in response to my fear and nerves. "You are in a book, Alexis."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" I snapped at the voice. I hated it when people called me Alexis or Lexi or anything like that. I preferred Alex, that was my name.

"I am sorry, Alex." There was a chuckle in the voice now. "I will remember what to call you from here on out." I didn't like the condescending tone that this voice was giving me. I just knew that they were trying to break me. "Now, Alex, you are in a book. What else should you do than follow the story? You will take the lead role in all the stories that you come to. You will do what you need to do to satisfy the tales." I felt my heart drop. This was the worst news that I had ever gotten in my entire life.

"A..am I going to be in fairy tales?" I just knew that this voice was going to say yes. I knew that I was going to be tortured to no end because of these stories.

"But of course." There was a chuckle in that voice that just wouldn't leave my mind. It was going to be there permanently. Every day for the rest of my life I would hear that voice, I just knew it.

"Why? Why do I need to be in fairy tales? What is the purpose of that?"

"The purpose? Well, I could say that it is to teach you a lesson. I could say that it is what you deserve because of the position that you have been taking your whole life. However, I simply think that it would be funny because you simply despise these tales. I think that it would be the best punishment for you given the circumstances."

"You're evil. You know that? You are evil and cruel." I no longer felt fear of any sort. Instead, I was feeling nothing but anger and frustration boiling inside of me.

"I haven't even told you the best part, Alex. These are no ordinary fairy tales. They will all be changed in some way. You may be visiting some of the classics this time, but they will be unlike any other fairy tale that has ever been told in your world. I think that is my consolation to you. You will be spared the same old boring tales that you hate and in turn, you will experience something new and exciting."

That voice laughed again. It was like I could feel it chuckling inside of my head. I didn't know what it meant by these tales being different from any other, but I didn't like it. This couldn't possibly be a good thing.

"Goodbye for now, Alex. And do enjoy your tales."