“Where am I?” Pocia looked astounded, there was nothing but darkness hovering all around. “Where am I!” This time she was shivering with fear not knowing what to do. She then stood up. Took a grip over herself. She knew not doing anything would not take her out of this darkness. “I have to find a way out” she thought. She took a few stern steps forward. She was counting her steps, “one. . . two. . . three. . . fo. . . .ur, BANG. . .,” came a loud thud, louder than a vehicle beeping near the ear. 

Pocia stepped back, her instincts were saying not to go further, yet her mind says to move forward because she need answers! Answers to lighten the darkness. The darkness in the room. The darkness overwhelmingly engulfing her inner peace. “Is anybody there? Hello… anybody?. . .” Silence was the only response she got. A suspicious silence. She started keeping tiny mice steps again. As she moved forward her heartbeat started rising up, “lub. . . dub. . .  lub. . .dub. . .,” she then started walking a little bit faster. “Ouch. . .” she felt as if her toe was going to fall off her right foot. Something sharp. Something pointed out. She kneeled down to look at her feet. But darkness is what she can see. She tried to touch her feet; it was bleeding. She then tried to touch the thing that hit her toe. It was something sharp and pointed, “Is it a nail” she wondered. To confirm she smelled her hands, and it was the smell of rusted iron. It was a rusted nail indeed! She then touched further, she felt something flat. A wooden plank. She touched further. The wooden plank ended with a right angle and another wooden blank heading upwards, she continued to touch. Another wooden plank,  another and another going up, up and up. It was a stairway! 

Finally, a ray of hope, there should be a way out. “If I go up the stairway, I might find something, a clue as to where I am, a way to get out” but she was unable to move because her toe was injured, and it was bleeding. She then tore the seam of her frock and tied her wound. She then started climbing the stairway. 

Then suddenly she saw a light, “Does that mean I am not alone?” She felt at peace, she was not alone. “Whoever the person is, might help me” she thought. Then she was startled. “What is the man doing here? who brought me here?” She was lost in her own imaginary world. She gasped. She felt that her hands and  feet were turning numb. “Am I. . . I. . .Am I. . . KIDNAPPED!” 

“Should I go up? Should I stay? Should I cry for help? What if the kidnapper hears me?” She thought for a millisecond, and started walking up the stairs, one by one. She walked into a room. Another dark room. Probably another empty room. Yet there was something different about this room. She sniffed the air of the room. A familiar smell. “But what is it?” She was unable to recognize it. She did not have time to go after the smell or think about the smell. She has a mission. A mission to escape. Escape this seemingly horrific darkness. In the corner of the room, she saw that light, the light she saw. The light which guided her. She walked towards the door. “creeeeeekkk” the started moving. Wind. A wind! “There must be something outside this door, maybe it’s the way out” she was pretty much confident that it is the way out. She moved towards the door again. This  time a bit faster than before. She opened the half-closed door. She felt the anger burning inside her body. She was furious. Another room! 

She felt desperately furious realizing that this was not her escape route, instead it was another mirage of escape. “What if I am stuck inside this infinite loophole forever? What will happen to my dreams? How can I live without my mother? What about my father? What about my sister? Urgh.  . . What if I am stuck in this darkness forever!” She started sobbing as she continued thinking of the things she was going to miss. All her dreams shattered into pieces at a jinx. She then remembered the song her mother used to sing to her when she was sad when she was small. 

Sun goes down

And we are here together

Fireflies glow like a thousand charms

Stay with me

And you can dream forever

Right, her in my arms tonight

Melodies fill the breeze

Sweeter all the time

My love

Pocia started murmuring, “Sun goes down and we are here together”

Is always with you whether near or far

Fireflies glow like a thousand charms

How sweet to hold you

Stay with me and you can dream forever

Right here in my arms tonight

She fell asleep imagining that she was sleeping on her mother’s lap. 

“Bang. . .” Pocia woke up horrified. “Bang. . .” She stood up, not knowing where to hide, she went to a dark corner of the room and crumbled in the corner. She closed her eyes as if someone were going to pull her eyes out. A few seconds of silence passed by. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes slowly. What happened next was dreadful. There was a big shadow coming from the door of this room which was half open before. And now it was wide open like a crocodile who was ready to devour its prey. She closed her eyes again unable to think ahead, whether to run or to stay, to cry or to shout. She opened her eyes again. The shadow was still. Not moving at all. It looked like a massive man. A huge man. An enormous man. A gigantic man. “Is it a giant?” she thought. “A giant like in ‘Jack and the beanstalk’ story? Am I entrapped inside a giant’s house obscured beneath the clouds?” for one second, she felt as if she is thinking too much, and that she is becoming crazy. Yet, unbelievably, the shadow looked like a giant, a gigantic giant. But it didn’t move. “Waiting won’t give answers,” she thought. She then stood up, and slowly and silently tiptoed across the room, toward the door. 

Finally, there was a room with light. A bright room. Candles were lit all over the place. “Where is the giant?” She looked around the room alarmingly. She then noticed a giant scarecrow right next to a big candle stand, which created the gigantic and dreadful shadow. “Fuuu” she exhaled. She looked around the house. Candles everywhere. There was nothing but candles, which gave her an eerie feeling. First, it was darkness and now brightness. She now felt as if darkness felt much safer than this tacky brightness. “Let me OUT!” She screamed. “Let me OUTTTT!” She screamed again. 

“Splash” Pocia stood as if she got an electric shock. To her amusement, her mother was standing in front of her looking cross with a coffee cup in her hand. “Almost 8.30am and you are still asleep! Dreaming about what I don’t know” She was still astonished. She was looking at her mother as a newborn looking at her mother for the first time. “What are you looking at, still dreaming? What were you dreaming about? hah?” It was at that point she realized that there was no dark room, a bright light, candles, or anything, and the strong, familiar smell was all just coffee! It was just a dream. A stupid dream. Pocia jumped out of bed and hugged her mother. Mother looked at her,  “Baby, Is everything okay?” Pocia replied, “I just love you.”