#worldnextdoor

Exciting news! @akidearest joins the cast of The World Next Door in her voice acting debut! 

Above prompt by reddit user FrankieNukNuk. Answered 06/26/16. Possible series. Supernatural/Adventure

World Next Door

~

I ducked my head as I hunched uncomfortably between the house and the bushes, my knees and hands dug deep into the gritty soil as I tried to steady myself. Another shot rang out from within the house, rocking me even from my hiding place. I fell to my elbows as I covered my ringing ears with my hands, ignoring the grit now smudged across my face.

A loud crash from the room nearest me caused the wall to shudder and I held my breath. It had to have been mom’s China cabinet: a gigantic glass structure which covered nearly an entire wall of the dining room, filled to the brim with fancy glassware and plates, none of which we’d ever used, much less touched. The shattering crash continued for several seconds, then silence.

I stayed frozen in my spot, waiting.

Five minutes, ten minutes, the silence wore on.

I grunted as I shifted from my spot, slowly pulling myself forward one limb at a time. I had to get inside… check on my family… My joints creaked as I stood up, making sure to stay flat against the house’s metal paneling. Funny enough, being so cautious almost made me feel sick. One wrong rustle of the bush and a crazed gunman would rocket from the front of the house and have me down in a heartbeat. Heartbeats, that’s precious now, isn’t it?

My thoughts wandered vividly as I approached the corner and shifted my sights to the front porch where the door stood ajar. Its ornate woodwork was badly splintered, a series of spirals nearest to the knob now reduced to frayed wood and sprinkled with a rainbow of colors from the fragmented crystal glass. Mom would be so upset.

I made my next decision in an instant, my concern for my family outweighing my fear for my own safety. I dashed from my spot and out into the open in the space of only a few seconds, adrenaline pushing me faster through the grass and then bounding up the stone steps.

I felt exposed in the doorway, but lingered there for a moment, taking in the scene. Cherry wood was really never meant to take such a crimson tone. Inches from my feet lay the first body, collapsed on her stomach with one arm tucked under herself and the other reaching forward, resting on what looked like a test tube. I didn’t recognize her, nor did I recognize any of the other bodies in the tattered living room. There were four total, two male and two female, and all very, very dead. Several artifacts were strewn about as well, foreign décor even for my mother’s tastes. An abascus, something which could have been a stuffed taxidermy owl, and a strange book, bound in scarred leather.

Strange that none of the dead got past the living room…

I snapped my head up at the sound of creaking wood, and my eyes met with the dark infinity inside the shotgun’s barrel. I looked away for the free moment I got, observing its wielder as the man clicked the hammer back on his gun.

I’d never seen such a creature before, and even though I saw him for only the better part of a second, his image became sketched into my brain. It was like some sort of reptile/ram hybrid, covered in night black scales. It had the head of a scaled ram, two horns twisting out of its skull and ending in dangerous points. It stood like a human, even wearing clothes. A Hawaiian shirt of all things adorned its chest, while cargo shorts covered the thighs of the beast. A long tail stretched out behind it and up the stairs, how had I not heard that thumping as it came downstairs?

The strangest thing was its belt. Across the waist it wore a normal leather belt, but attached to it were four golden, translucent balls; maybe even eggs, I couldn’t tell. They seemed to glow, but were dimming fast.

Then I heard a click. It was all gone.

A soft bell rang as darkness overcame me. Ding...ding...di-

~

I shot up in my bed as the world began to buzz. Light from my open windows glared into my eyes, blinding me even as I tried to get my bearings. My hands swam through my sheets and blankets, seeking the source of the buzzing and seizing the rectangular device at once. I blinked away the sleep and the light as I fiddled with the power button on the phone. I haphazardly typed in the phone’s PIN- 7117- and slammed my pointer finger down on my alarm’s dismiss button. I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that my own miniature earthquake was now concluded. The shuddering from the dream- nightmare- I’d had was only beginning, however.

How spooky, and I didn’t even live with my family anymore… And the fact that I recognized no one in the dream was even weirder. Usually at least one of my friends starred in those horror adventures with me, plus I was pretty sure I’d read an article once that said only people you had seen or knew could show up in your dreams.

I glanced down at my screen as the first message of the morning caused the backlight to glow brightly. I was distracted from the message only momentarily by the digital clock display at the top of the screen: 7:32, and I hadn’t snoozed. I felt a moment of pride that almost threatened to wipe away the memory of my dream, which even now became fleeting as I became more and more awake.

“Good morning, sunshine,” the text read, and I smiled. It was so sweet that Evan knew my morning routine well enough to send a good morning text. What a nice guy. I texted back a quick return greeting, stretching as I lifted myself up and out of the bed.

It was at this point that a number of red flags began to go off. The first of which was that my bed was still perfectly made, even after I launched myself out of them and onto my floor. The second thing was that I couldn’t pick up anything- and I mean anything. My shower knob? Fresh underwear? An apple for breakfast? Nothing was working. Well, almost nothing.

I felt another buzz as my phone, now tucked into my pajama pant pockets, went off with another text from Evan. “See you at work!”

I was dumbfounded, especially when tripping over myself while unlocking the phone caused me to discover that I could fall through walls.

Well at least the commute would be nice today, I noted as I lay half in and half out of my apartment, observing the freeway that connected my complex with the rest of the town. Not a soul was on the road, or outside heading to their cars for work. It was empty. Entirely empty. Yes, an easy commute, I tried to entertain the thought.

I smiled stupidly as I tried not to freak out about all of my new revelations this morning. Too much at once could really give me a bad day, and I didn’t want that… I mean, turning into a ghost that happens to be the last person in her community and yet still able to use her phone and text is a totally average thing for a Tuesday, right?

On Proof: Svanetia, 14 Years Later

Photographer Aaron Huey returns to Svenetia, the first place he made a photo story. "I’d fallen in love with the people and the landscape and the songs of this remote region of the Georgian Republic on a journey I took there with my first camera in 1998. I knew that I wanted to find some of the same people I had photographed back then. In my bag I carried an envelope of portraits, and I wandered the villages looking for old friends."

Read more about his journey back on Proof. 

On Photographing Your Child

We have many photographers with niche specialties around Your Shot: underwater, wildlife, astrophotography, to name a few. One of my favorite groups are the parents. We have many parents on Your Shot that bring us sweet, heart-wrenching, funny, raw moments from their children’s lives. With The World Next Door assignment running this month, I thought it would be a good time to feature some of our incredible parent photographers. I’ll let them share some of their thoughts on these intimate, beautiful images they make. 

  Photographs by Rita Thompson, Mike Melnotte, Tytia Habing, Sorin Costache, Karine Puret. Please visit their galleries to see more of their work.