"Nothing There" by Yumin Seo 서유민

Yumin Seo

Masters 2 lit 

Im John teacher

Nothing There

I can’t see anything. But what’s in there, glowing in the dark?

Anne breathed heavily as she let her eyes watch the darkness that she was facing at. She could see nothing but pitch black, and she could also feel some heavy power pushing and passing her cheeks and hair. Where am I? It seemed that she was inside a place, but she didn’t have any ideas that where she was. She slowly moved her feet. Screeeeeeeech. The floor shriecked as she made her first step. Anne reassured herself that everything will be alright. She kept walking. Her legs were quivering and her face looked like a clown. Bang. A wall was blocking her step as if it were going to ridicule her, you can never get out of here. Hahaha. Anne inhaled and slowly exhaled. Then she continued her step. But something in front of her feet was interrupting her to move. Anne slowly lowered her body and picked up that figure which stopped her. It fit as she grabbed that, and it was very hard. As she were tempering with that figure, a sudden bright white light bursted out from that figure she was holding. Anne was surprised at that moment and quickly dropped the figure. For a second her eyes were widened, her mouth dropped, and her eyeballs are settled in just one way. Then, she picked up that light-coming-out figure, and lighted in front of her. That brightened the place, and she could see the structure of the place. It was similar to the place where she lived when she was young, that a large red carpet was laid on the floor, and a wooden rocking chair was in the middle of the carpet. She could also see what she was wearing, a white dress, which had some glowing gems on it. Then suddenly she saw a big white figure passing fast in front of her. At that moment, a sudden gooseflesh was felt, and her hair was tightly bristled. Her body was shivering, and her legs were especially the worse. Her legs nearly catched the balance, and also her face was all white. Nothing could be seen from her face. Not a feeling of horror, not a relief, not an anger, but nothing. She started to quickly move her steps again. One, two, three…… As she counted five, she could see a dark grey door standing in front of her, and red thin line was drawn at each edge of the door. She could also see a dirty white cloth with a word, “Restricted” which was attached in the middle of the door. When she moved her sight lower, round and rusty doorknob was greeting her. She hesitated to open the door since the word “Restricted” was written, and after opening the door, she would not know what crazy things will happen. But her left hand itself was already heading towards the doorknob, slightly vibrating. Kreeen. The door opened. What Anne could see, was a blue luminous sky. It was outside in the woods, and diverse kinds of birds were twittering. She could feel the fresh air running towards her nostril, and it also slightly interrupt her hair from staying still.

She turned around. The door which she has opened was firmly closed. Well, that could be because of the wind. But something told her, No, it isn’t. I closed the door. Anne stopped her step. No, she didn’t stop, but she couldn’t move. The ground was not letting her go, and didn’t gave a chance to escape. Trees were now bending and creating a trap, and the birds which sang turned into raptors that have sharp teeth. The fresh air was now turnning into a tornado, and it kept running towards Anne. Anne, still confused, could do nothing but waited for this disaster to stop. Then amazingly, this all stopped. Trees stopped bending, raptors turned into birds, and the tornado disappeared. Anne was now able to move. Her eyes were still wide but lips were smiling. Her face was now a bit red than a white. She now ran towards the opposite way of the place that she was in. She ran and ran until the place could get out of her sight. She now grinned. Her back was wet with sweat, and her hair was all messed up. Some red liquid came out of her face when she got hurt by branches. Her dress was almost all torned up, and became very dirty.

She was yet still in the woods. Brown leaves greeted her and danced in front of her. Then suddenly, she could see the white figure in front of her. It blinked. A sudden pain stroked her head, and made her be rigid. The white figure slowly came towards her. It had no face, no eyes no nose no mouth. But it kept coming towards her. It was keep saying, “Nothing, nothing, nothing……” Anne again couldn’t move her feet. As the figure came, her whole body started to become hard, and tremble. Her eyes lost their focus and were wondering, not able to find a way. The creature was keep coming, but Anne couldn’t move. Now, the figure was right in front of her. Anne carefully asked, “What are you?” But the figure didn’t answer. Anne again asked, “Who are you?” Then the figure answered, “I am you, and I don’t exist.” Anne stopped asking. This figure was saying insanne that she is that figure, and it doesn’t exist so she doesn’t exist. It was hard for Anne to understand that she doesn’t exist since she can talk, move and breathe. So, she tried to argue, “……” She couldn’t say anything. Not even a word. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out from that mouth. Then, she tried tomove her legs and arms. Her legs still didn’t move, and so did her legs. She also tried to breathe, but all she could do was watching the white figure hugging her, giving its cold soul. She felt her body slowly melting. Some parts were itchy, and some parts were painful. She saw her body becoming an ash…… 

Here, in the woods, birds are chirping peacefully, and trees are standing straight. There is nothing here except a white dress torn with some dirt.