We looked eachother in the eyes for endless seconds, as if the woman were trying to declare her authority to me even before she began to speak. I resisted the urge to look away, knowing that if I did I’d have lost the silent battle. She was judging me, and wasn’t even trying to hide it.
“My name is Mina Crystal,” she eventually began. Her voice was deep, strong – it sounded wrong coming out of such a small being. Her face remained blank, as if she were purposefully hiding her emotions from me. And still, her eyes were digging into mine, making me feel exposed and helpless. I nodded, unsure of how to respond to her words. On seeing that I wouldn’t give a proper response, the woman, Mina, opened her mouth to continue. “And you are?”
“I’m… I’m Alexandra Rogue,” My voice sounded unusually shaky, hesitant. It made me feel so much smaller than Mina, even though I must have been double her size.
I suppose not everyone can be brave when they end up in the middle of a crazily strange forest, speaking to a woman so small she could easily be a pixie.
In fact, it was quite normal to feel so scared.
But Mina didn’t seem to have any sympathy. Even if she did, she’d have hidden it under her constant mask of severity. All she said was,
“And how did you end up here?”
But where’s 'here'? I wanted to ask. However, with the no-nonsense stare aimed right at me, I decided against it, answering in another shaky whisper.
“What do you mean?” I was frightened of responding with the wrong answer.
A flash of impatience escaped Mina’s mask, before she covered it up again and responded with the same strong, emotionless voice.
“Where were you before you woke up here? Something must have happened for you to get here, no?”
I looked at the concrete underneath my feet, escaping her gaze. I knew what she was referring to, but I was reluctant to say it out loud. I felt as though telling her about the explosion would make it real. Really real. Something that couldn’t just be a bad dream or an overdrive of my creative imagination. It was only when I heard Mina saying my name, reminding me that I hadn’t answered her question, that I realised I couldn’t pretend it wasn’t real forever. I couldn’t hide from the truth, because no matter how well I hid, it would find me, and daunt me for the rest of my days.
Slowly, I lifted my head, once again becoming trapped by Mina’s eyes.
“There was an explosion,” I said, trying to follow Mina’s example and keeping my face blank of emotion. When really, inside, my limbs were being torn apart one by one, as the pain and grief entered my body, still as raw and shocking as when it was happening. However, looking into Mina’s eyes, I saw she was expecting me to say more. And after taking a deep breath, I continued. “I was at school, and it was just a… an ordinary day. Just before…” I gulped. “Just before… lunch, there was a weird sound. Like - buzzing or something. It – it got louder, slowly, and then… and then…” I stopped, unable to carry on, and horrified to find that my eyes were wet.
Mina looked away, as if trying to get away from the awkwardness of the situation.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” I said constantly, trying to hide my embarrassment while rapidly blinking my tears away.
Mina turned back to face me, this time her stare less intense.
“Could you stop apologising, please? We have serious business to discuss, and we can’t afford to waste any more time,” she murmured. I could tell that she was cross with me, but I let her impatience pass over my head, wondering what serious business she was referring to.
“You’re probably wondering what all this is about,” Mina said, mirroring my thoughts. “And, trust me, you will find out. I just need you to calm down, okay? You’re not listening to me.”
Her harsh tone took my concentration from trying to guess what kind of business we were about to discuss. Looking at her eyes, I saw anger coiled beneath them - like a snake waiting to bite, its poison ready.
I closed my eyes, trying to avoid it.
“I’m listening,” I whispered, taking a deep breath. It was all I could do to try to appear calm, when really the impatience to know taunted me, mocked my body like an unseen bully. Slowly, I opened my eyes to meet Mina’s once more, and saw that her eyes, too, appeared calmer, softer. This comforted me. I’d always found peace when people were going through the same emotions as me.
Mina stepped forward, until she was so close I could smell her floral scent. The smell was too strong, too powerful – making my throat burn and my eyes water. I didn’t turn, however – that would have only halted the process - halted the information I craved from flowing from Mina’s lips to my ears. My impatience continued kicking every bone in my body, daring me to challenge Mina, bribing me to…
“As you may have noticed,” Mina began suddenly, cutting me out of my thoughts, “This place is… different to what you’re used to.” More like absolutely alien to what I’m used to, I thought sarcastically. However, a sharp look from Mina dared me to answer back, reminding me who was boss. Reluctantly, I kept my mouth shut, storing my sarcasm for another occasion. “As I was saying, you must have noticed the difference. And you’re very confused – trust me, I know. I know.” She defined the point strongly, making me wonder how she was so sure that she knew. Anger crept inside me. I hated it how people told me what I was supposed to feel. Especially in that patronising tone that adults seem to adopt in a hopeless attempt of sympathy. I narrowed my eyes, while Mina, seemingly undisturbed by my anger, guarded her mask and continued to speak.
“But let’s get to the point. This is not your average place. The trees are sticky, I’m-” She coughed. “…small. You’ve probably gathered that you’re not on Earth, so I won’t waste my time explaining that to you,”
I gasped. Despite knowing, deep down, that I wasn’t anywhere near Earth, it was still a shock to hear it said out loud. But if I wasn’t on Earth, then were was I? I put a finger delicately to my burnt wrist, wondering what I’d do if she told me I was dead. Which seemed the only likely option, after all I’d been through.
“You told me there was an explosion – which is obviously the cause of your being here. You see, whilst a few of the people in your class died, and a handful are being treated for serious injuries but are still alive, you ended up here. In Caïros.” She rolled the r perfectly, in a way I could never hope to achieve.
Caïros.
What on Earth was that?
Suddenly, I realised what Mina had just said.
A few of my class had died, a handful survived.
I blocked the grief that ran to me. For once, I needed to forget my friends.
I needed to concentrate on myself… and where I was.
“What’s-what’s Caïros?” I asked, knowing my question sounded stupid, but not being able to say it another way with all the confusion, hidden grief, and worry that was rushing through my body – a colourful, powerful, ball of energy.
Mina’s expression changed from its mask to a picture of annoyance, obviously looking down on me for not being able to pronounce her beloved Caïros.
“Caïros is where you go when you are no longer alive, but not yet dead. Your body is currently being kept alive by electrics. You’re in a coma, Alexandra. Whether you survive or not is up to us-”
“How do you know I’m in a coma? How do you know anything? I bet this is all a trick! You can’t make me die! It’s up to me, Mina! Can you talk some sense for once?” I interrupted, letting my uncontrollable fury take over. After all, Mina was talking nonsense. If I was no longer alive, I’d be dead! And if I wasn’t dead either… well, it was impossible. Simply impossible. And how could she possibly know I was in a coma, when, when we’d first met, she hadn’t even known my name? She had nothing to do with my life!
After a few minutes of silence, with me fuming, unable to look Mina in her unnaturally emotionless eyes, she spoke again. Her tone was cutting, and it felt as if shards of broken glass were digging into my ears when she spoke.
“Will you let me explain without interrupting, please? If you’d only stop shouting in such a horrific manner and let me talk, you might just find that my answers are hardly worth all that anger.”
As I was about to reply with a sarcastic comment, I realised that the only way I’d find answers to my questions was to listen. Plus, thinking, about it, I didn’t want this woman getting angrier than she was already. Maybe in Caïros little women turned into fire-breathing dragons when they were cross, or something bizarre like that.
Maybe it was just the way things were.
So I lowered my gaze, waiting for Mina to explain the impossible.
