Author name: Koi

It was dark beyond the hillside. The wind whirled gently, caressing the face of a farm boy perched atop a haystack. He stared into the abyss, watching the stars take form.  And that’s when he saw him—a man in a white mask and flowing cape, descending from the night. “You,” the man scoffed. He bore a candle with a flame that flickered in his hand. He extended his other hand, offering what the boy assumed was a mushroom. “Your path to freedom will be through enlightenment.” The mushroom had freckled skin and a single, gleaming eye staring back at him. Silence thickened the air. The boy raised his head. “Where’d you go?” But the man had left no time for questions—his body had already wilted into smoke, drifting skyward like a bundle of balloons. It looks so juicy, the boy thought. What would happen if I… He took a bite, chewing slowly, the earthy taste coating his tongue. Before his eyes, a leather book materialized from thin air, giggling. “He-he-he!” It sounded feminine. Though unmoving, the book radiated warmth—an inviting presence. The boy reached for her, tracing his fingertips along her spine with “Read Me” embroidered in gold. He opened her. The pages were filled with his  handwriting. One passage fluttered into view: He came from the sky, masked in white, and offered me a mushroom with a blinking eye. I took a bite then he faded like a dream… The book then closed abruptly. “You have been creating your own story since you were a child, the power you possess lives inside of your mind.” She declared with a grin. The boy smiled, “The rest is up to me now!” Koi, author of Reality Loop- Mobile, Alabama, USA