Excerpt: Lost in Technicolor

“The train… it’s careening off the bridge.” I said, thinking about where my brother could be. I had to find him now. “Here, follow me.”
I walked quickly over to the main doors, opening them. Looking out ahead, I could see that the front of the train was about to fall over the bridge. I looked down at the water once again.
“Almila, we have to jump.”
“Jump? But— we’re so high…”
“It’s the only way. Otherwise… Well…”
People were running amok in the corridor now, some screaming, others crying. The chances of us surviving were grim at best. The train lurched to the side— we were about to fall off the tracks now. Through all this, the peaceful jazz music was still playing softly in the background. I strained my eyes and looked around for Riol, to no avail, then turned back to Almila.
“Will you jump with me?” I asked.
She nodded. I could see tears forming in her eyes. Other people were jumping out of the train now. I braced myself, taking hold of Almila’s hand; it was smooth and soft. She gripped my hand tightly, looking down at the large expanse of water before us— and we jumped.
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“I think,” said the teacher, “You all are ready to learn more about the inner realm. This is not in your book, so please pay close attention.”
The teacher walked up the main isle until he was in the middle of the room. He seemed to brace himself than began a complex set of hand motions, including several that I had never seen before. Afterwards he thrust his hands onto the ground and a giant light enveloped his body. It reminded me of when Alois performed the realm creation a few days back. Once he was fully enveloped, the cocoon turned a strange black color— then suddenly it opened up, revealing a strange view inside. It looked like a strange meadow inside, though it was completely shadowed and had trees surrounding it on all sides. In the middle of the meadow I could see the outline of Mr. Wilier, sitting on a lone tree stump, his face hidden behind his hands. There were small particles floating in the air, and for some reason Mr. Wilier did not look as big as he should have. Then, just as soon as it had opened, it closed shut. The cocoon stayed suspended in the air for a few seconds, then slowly dispersed to reveal Mr. Wilier standing. He looked a little tired, but other than that quite normal.
“What you just saw,” he said after taking a deep breath, “Was my realm. Most of the time when someone creates a realm, they return to the same one every time. There are a special few who can create multiple ones and choose which one to go to on a whim, but we will worry about them later. Everyone’s realm is completely unique and different from the rest. They all allow a person different resources and help in diverse ways.”