Muirex Fractal

[Harmonious_Echos]

*plip*.

Muirex knew that sound. The sound of a drop of water, falling on stone. Her ears twitched slightly and she drew a quick breath for confirmation before opening her eyes; the air was damp, stale, with a hint of sourness. She uncurled her tail with a flick of annoyance, and rubbed her big brown eyes with her paws to get out the sleep. Yes, it had happened again; she was a brown mouse, in Fractal Caverns. Well, at least she knew her way around.

Muirex hoped she’d find some food this time. Last time it had taken six hours before the slipstream had taken her back to her body on Earth. She didn’t like riding that black portal, but at least it was predictably consistent; at some point within the next 12 hours it would flood the caverns with dark water & take her back to ‘wake up’ again on Earth, as herself—Muirex, a dark-eyed, dark-haired girl of 13.

She sat up and took stock of her surroundings; same pale grey light, hovering without coming from anywhere; same mist rising in endless slow curls from the stone floor; same perfectly round domed walls slanting to a peak too high to see, with grey stone arches opening to the next perfectly domed room on either side of this one. Same drops of dark water, falling from the unseen ceiling-peak to *plip* on the floor, the only sound in the cavern besides her breathing. The only difference there ever was, was in what was on the floor. “Well, might as well look around”, Muirex thought.

This Fractal room was filled with crumbling human-life statues; some a little too life-like for comfort. A stone boy sat on a stone bench, his head in his hands; his hair was mossy, and a piece had fallen out of his nose. Further on through the pale mist, a stone toilet sat with the lid up, covered in dark green moss & a sprout of something else—a tree, maybe? Muirex wondered at that—there were never any real plants down here, only moss. She trotted towards it, but stopped as she felt a familiar pressure in her bladder. She knew full well that anything she did here translated there—and she didn’t want to wake up in a wet bed. Flicking her tail she turned around, and headed across the floor towards the other side of the room. An odd quirk of the light, combined with her smallness, had the effect of making the distance look fish-eyed, visible but stretching away eternally far from her; but she kept on, shaking her head. She knew that even in mouse form, the next wall was only a few minutes’ walk. As she walked, other statues rose out of the mist, then vanished as if covered by a curtain. A short-haired child sitting and eating something on a plate; a girl in a flowing dress, riding a horse which balanced perfectly mid-stride on three legs. Another statue rose from the mist before her, and it made her stop & stare. On a slightly elevated platform, two children were caught in motion, in the very act of throwing a ball from one to the other; and a stone baseball, complete with moss & cracks, hovered in midair between them. A seeping aura of evil flowed from the statue, a feeling which whispered for her to join their paralysis. Muirex shuddered. Averting her eyes she trotted past it, and the arch of the doorway rose out before her, with a suddenness of a misty veil dropping. Hidden real arches and repositioned illusory arches were one of Fractal’s many ‘charms’.

Starting through, Muirex noticed that the short tunnel between the rooms held a crooked, one-winged owl statue. Peering down from a nook carved high in the wall, its empty eye-sockets trickled grey light & mist. Muirex looked away, and noticed that the other wall of the tunnel was only a few inches thick; she looked back. Yes, the owl-wall was a few feet across at least. “an inner and outer wall” she thought; “so the next room is on an angle to the last one—it curves inward.” This thought brought another—what if each room here was built on the same inward-curling curve? She passed through and glanced around. This room was full of mist-covered stone animals, with a row of what looked like cherubs dancing with tambourines, in a line all the way around the room. She gazed at the far wall, where the ‘arch’ shimmered.

“If each room is built on a spiral, I can predict where the real arches are…and somewhere, there must be a center-room, where the whole thing starts. If I can just get there, maybe I can find where the Slipstream comes from and get home quicker.”

She peered over her tail at the doorway behind her, and drew a line in front of her, as straight as she could, towards the far wall. Sure enough, when she glanced up her line appeared to lead to the wall, several feet to the left of the ‘arch’ illusion. “there!” she thought, smiling inwardly. Ignoring the stone rabbits, badgers, foxes, deer, etc, she scurried as fast as she could towards that point. Just as she thought she’d run into a stone cherub, it melted away and the mist-light poured from another archway, identical except for the outside-wall’s nook—this time it held a grotesque stone goblin.

The next room appeared at first to be empty. But as she tried again to sight a course to the other wall, she saw a low, curving stone wall rising a few feet from the floor. The edge of it was carved with gothic-looking black dragons. As she neared it, it shrank—or she grew? It was hard to tell; but when she reached it she was tall enough to lay her paws on the wall & gaze over it with ease. The curving wall met on the other side to form a giant rim. Inside the rim, dark, oily water rolled & turned, and occasionally released grey mist-light bubbles into the air. The water was smoky, but clear. As Muirex gazed into it, she saw a golden light shimmering, like a pile of treasure very, very far down in the water; and above it, long, crocodile-shaped creatures moved in a steady, menacing circle. That warm golden pile looked miles away, but so tempting that she reached a paw into the water without thinking; then snatched it violently back, and fell away from the wall with a little scream, as the water’s surface ripped itself open into a set of sharp, glowing teeth which snapped at her paw. Shivering, she got up from the floor & looked again; the mouth was gone, only the same scene as before—but the eyes of the crocodile-shapes now glowed grey-green. She shivered again.

Looking around, Muirex realized she was stuck; with the pool in the way, she couldn’t plot a straight course for the far wall, and in reaching the pool she’d already lost sight of the archway she’d come through. The mist was darker here, too. She couldn’t even see the far wall clearly enough to distinguish a fake archway. All she could do now was wander until she found the other ach, or wait; and she was getting tired. She saw a small, bench-shaped stone tucked snugly into the curve of the wall by the floor, and decided she’d wait. She scurried over and settled herself on the bench, which wasn’t uncomfortable. The stone was worn smooth and flat, and was wide enough to allow her to curl up on it without sliding off. She closed her eyes, and snuggled her nose down into her fur. “At least I never get cold, in this form” she thought drowsily.

Muirex didn’t know how much time had passed, but when she opened her eyes, something had changed. She couldn’t tell what it was, at first; feeling curious, she rose and paced to the poolside wall. A light breeze ruffled her neck-fur, and rippled the top of the water. Shock coursed through her; there were never breezes in Fractal! Looking around, she noticed more; the mist was less, and it was lighter. She could see the far wall now. But there wasn’t another archway. It was all solid grey stone, and now she saw what looked like iron torch brackets, embedded in the wall at intervals—all except for a single archway, through which she could see the stone animals of the next room. The revelations were coming fast now—no second arch; this must be the center room! She could see the animals—that was the real arch, not an illusion! And why could she see straight into the next room? She couldn’t see the stone goblin at all; but she already knew she’d entered through a curved archway. What was going on?

Stumbling back to her little bench-stone, she curled up to think, staring around. She began to notice more things, things happening as she watched, slowly at first, then faster and faster; the breeze blowing suddenly smelled fresh, and a little like pine-trees and rain. The scent grew stronger, and suddenly the mist began to respond; first blowing to the far side of the room, then glowing greener instead of grey. The light turned yellowy-green, flickering, and the mist curled back on itself, wrapping around the pool like a living thing. Muirex’s fear grew, and she crouched as small as she could.

A great froth of white steam rose from the pool’s surface now, and a new sound reached her ears; the soundless water was now bubbling and splashing. The light in the room continued to grow. She could see the ceiling’s peak! How high and white it now looked. In fact, all the grey stones now looked white, and smoother, too. Suddenly, as if everything had paused, the breeze brought a single, clear, high note; a bell ringing. Muirex looked toward the sound and found herself again looking through the open doorway—but now, even stranger, she could see clearly through that doorway into the next room beyond it, and the one after that, and the one after that, further and further until the opening grew too small to see. There was still some darkness through those arches, but the rooms lightened as something, a fiery gold-green spark of something, paced slowly down the now-uncurled path. And as it came, the small, high bell sounded, once per room, slowly but definitely coming nearer. Muirex watched, her curiosity overcoming her terror. The spark grew into a tall, slender woman, a Lady, with skin the color of gold, and hair like a red-gold flame that flowed over her shoulders like water. She was wrapped in a flowing gown of emerald mist, which curled out from the floor at each slow step; and she carried with her a little golden hand-bell and a lantern made of living wood, curled around a giant glowing diamond. The only thing dark about her were her eyes; a deep, placid blue. Muirex knew she’d never seen anything so beautiful.

The emerald lady paced closer and closer, and Muirex saw one more thing; each time the Lady stopped in the center of a new room, and rang her bell, swatches of mist would gust around the statues in front of her, and the statues would come to life. The room where Muirex huddled now rang with sound; birds chirping, foxes and dogs barking. The girl on the horse rode into the room, her face shining, and dismounted to give her horse a drink from the pool. Muirex turned to watch, and saw that the pool water was now clear, and sent a thousand tiny rainbow lights dancing on the cavern’s domed ceiling, lit from below. Then she heard the Lady speak through the animal noises, clear and gentle; “Find the small one, my children. Awake, and find her. Bring her to me.” Immediately the animals, children, and other creatures began pouring into Muirex’s cavern-room. A group of cherubs danced by, linked arm-in-arm and still beating their tambourine; then a curly-headed fawn spotted her curled on her rock and shouted “Here she is, my Lady! I found her!” Muirex tried to hide, but the fawn and the two baseball-boys blocked her, then picked her up, and deposited her in a furry heap on the Lady’s warm, golden hand. Her placid eyes studied Muirex, and she gazed back at the Lady, losing her fear. Wonderingly Muirex reached up toward the Lady; somehow, she smelled of warm sunshine and sharp frost, of wild roses and dew-covered pine. Up close, the Lady’s dress looked like deep green velvet, covered with thousands of tiny green and white jewels. “What do you want, little one?” the Lady’s voice sounded in Muirex’s mind. Muirex thought for a moment, then looked deep into those eyes. “I just want to go home, Lady”. The Lady smiled. “It’s all right, Little One. Say what you mean”. Muirex’s courage mustered, she sat up and thought “I’d like to go home, please, and not come back here again. I don’t like it here.” She scratched her ear with a paw, “I don’t mind being a mouse…but it’s not really me. This whole place..” He glanced that the Lady, who nodded. “It’s just not right, for me. It’s not where I belong.” Muirex looked around, as best she could over the tips of the Lady’s fingers, and mustered a question. “Lady…are you the slipstream? You’re not like what I’ve seen here before…” The Lady shook her head ‘no’. “I hold the slipstream here, in this pool. I come here once a year, and when I come this place is renewed; the older it gets, the more it curls in on itself, and the pool decays. The waters escape as mist, which is attracted to life-light…like the light you carry, little one. But when it tries to steal your light, you awake in your own world and break the spell.You are there now, Little One—there, but sleeping. If I wake you, you will not return to this place. Is that what you wish?”

Muirex looked again at the strange cavern, with its newly-white walls and strange creatures cavorting about. It was strange, but not frightening. She was glad she’d seen it, but she wanted to leave now. She had to get back home and write this down. Looking up at the Lady, she nodded. “Yes, please, Lady.”

The Lady set her down on the ground, and stood. As suddenly as breathing, Muirex was not a mouse, but herself; and she stood beside the Lady. The Lady smiled and took her hand, pulling her to the pool. She pointed into the water, and Muirex looked down; deep in the clear water the pile of gold had changed to a pile of giant gemstones, each full of light from within. In the center of the pile lay a door, strangely square, like a frame. Muirex wondered where she’d seen one like that before. As she gazed at it, she felt the Lady press something into her hand—something hard, but warm. The door looked closer now—the door was transparent! As she watched, it grew to fill her vision, and the misty transparency dissolved. “It’s not a door,” she thought, “it’s a window.” Through the window she could see a green hillside, and part of a tree, standing against a blue sky; the view from her bedroom window. She tore her gaze away and looked around; she was in the bedroom, sitting up in bed. Stunned, Muirex just sat for a moment, wondering; then she realized she was holding something. She looked down; there, lying in her hand, was a single, perfect fire opal—shaped like a tiny mouse.

Edited December 21, 2012 by Harmony

[Snypiuer]

Ooohhhhh, I LIKE this one!

[Harmonious_Echos]

Any suggestions for bettering it? I'd like to publish this on soon, if I can--possibly as a kid's book with illustrations (I've already made one!). I'd have to cut out a lot of the decriptions, but that's OK, since the pictures would show all I needed to describe...and I think it might make a neat little story. I don't foresee Muirex ever going back to Fractal, but maybe some other place someday? She seems to have a sort of affinity for other-worldy planes. By the way, how do I post pictures to this site? I'd like to post the illustration I made for this story, but can't seem to find a way to post it.

[Snypiuer]

I'm not sure it's a KID'S book . . . young adult, maybe? It seems a step above a kid's level. More Graphic Novel. I would use Fractal, itself, as the core - I see a LOT of potential with it. Perhaps have Muirex brought back because the well is about to run dry and THEN she goes to other worlds in an attempt to replenish it. But, that's just MY opinion!

 

Uploading an image . . . hmmmmm, you can ATTACH one. At the bottom of the editor there is a box for that. OR, look right under the little Smiley face on the top of the Editor (next to where it says 'My Media'), you'll see a little white square that says 'Image' when you put your cursor on it. Press that and it will give you a screen to put a URL address to the image in.

 

Hope that helps!

[Harmonious_Echos]

Not really--this site won't let me use Facebook as a valid photo url site, and that's the only other place I put pictures online.

Edited December 21, 2012 by Harmony

[Patrick]

When you use the full reply form, you have an option to attach files. Alternatively you can host a picture with any of the free photo hosts out there (imageshack, photobucket,...) and then show it on the board with the following code:

 

[img=address of the image]

[Harmonious_Echos]

Thanks, Tinkerer! You're a lifesaver. Everyone enjoy the picture I added to the first post.

[Harmonious_Echos]

Here's another "muirex" picture

[Harmonious_Echos]

A Green Lady picture