THE AUTHOR

Danny Palmer’s life was just the way he wanted it to be. He had a few friends that he held dearly, good parents, a nice home on a nice street in a nice town. Most everything was within walking distance. He didn’t need to ask for any more than he already had.

One normal Friday afternoon in the Autumn, Danny was taking a walk around the town. Feeling the need for something new, he went to areas of the town that he wasn’t familiar with. This was how he came upon a dusty old road that he almost overlooked due to the dead branches that blocked the top portion of it. He moved them out of the way and wandered down the road. It had never been paved before, and consisted of dirt and gravel. There were footprints on it, slowly blowing away in the wind. They must’ve been new. Danny continued along the road for a few minutes when he noticed a lone house in his line of sight. He arrived at the house. Dilapidated didn’t even begin to describe it. There were no power lines, holes all over, everything was boarded up. If anyone lived here, Danny couldn’t imagine them being happy with it. The mailbox was gone, only a jagged stump where it should be. And there wasn’t a sign of another house for miles. It was like the world flipped at that entrance, he could swear he was standing in the middle of a Nevada desert if he looked forward, and when he looked back he could see his home town, vaguely but surely. It was like a dream.

Suddenly, Danny heard a shout from the back of the house, and then a crash. He ran around the crumbling fence to find the remains of a ladder all over the ground, along with one of his acquaintances, Erin.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Danny said.

“My cat wandered down this road, and into the house. Right up this ladder,” Erin said.

“Let’s go in and get it,” Danny suggested. “No one lives here.”

The two went to the front door and knocked. Once. Because as soon as Danny’s fist hit the door, it made a loud crunching sound and fell into the house. A cloud of dust was ejected into the air, and Danny and Erin both started coughing and frantically waving the brown cloud from their faces. The two looked at each other, then walked in.

“Mr. Snuggles?” Erin shouted. It echoed through the house as though she had somehow said it in every single room at the exact same moment. Danny looked at her.

“Mr. Snuggles? What kind of a name is that?” Danny asked.

“I didn’t name him,” Erin said, with a slight sound of embarrassment in her voice. Danny smiled. He reached for the lightswich, but didn’t expect much, and with good reason. The second he flipped the switch, it made a loud POP! and sparks flew from it. The switch fell to the ground with a few jagged cords still hanging from it.

“Mrow,” came a sound from a room hiding somewhere upstairs. The two walked carefully toward the stairs. The echoes of their foosteps were loud, and it seemed to them like anyone within a three mile radius should be able to hear them. They were slightly afraid that the floor would crack beneath their feet, and they would be plunged into the dusty darkness of whatever happened to be below the house. They reached the stairs and looked up, although they couldn’t see much through the dust and darkness. The top of the stairs was just as dreamlike as the rest of the house. The two teens looked at each other.

“Ladies first,” Danny said. Erin faked a laugh, and then glared at him. She slowly lifted her foot from the ground, and a wisp of dust probably floated up and then dispersed around her foot. She’d have known for sure, had she been able to see through the smog and black. She slowly moved her foot forward and gently placed it on the bottom stair. It got more relaxed, and finally it was resting on the stair. She turned and looked at Danny.

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” she said. She took a step up onto the next stair, and then a slow yet growing rumbling sound echoes through the house, and then there was a final loud C-C-CRACK! as the stairs shattered and fell.

“Are you okay!?” Danny shouted, running towards the wreckage. As he got close, there was another low, echoing rumble, followed by another loud C-C-CRACK! as the ground near the jagged remains of the stairway collapse broke, and Danny fell along with much of the floor. After the noise and dust settled, Danny got up. He brushed the dust from his jeans, and then from his shoulders. He watched, disgruntled, as more dust just moved in to take its place. He gave up on the hope of getting the dust off of him, and then started to move jagged planks of wood from around him.

“Erin!” he called. He heard a cough, and turned to see (as well as he could through the smoke and darkness) Erin, shoving planks off of her, and standing up. She, too, tried to remove the dust from her, and then a strange look of dissatisfaction came across her face as more settled to take the now airborne dust’s place.

“Are you okay?” Danny asked, climbing over the wreckage toward Erin. He hopped off of a pile of wood, and stood before her.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, coughing. The two looked up at the gaping hole that was now several feet above their heads.

“How do we get out of here?” Erin asked. The two looked around for a way out. Danny noticed a small, black object on the ground. He bent down to see what it was. It was a small, black ring, and Danny realized that it was the handle to a trap door.

“Hey, I think I found something,” he said. Erin went over to wear Danny was, and also bent down. Danny grabbed the incredibly dusty ring, and pulled it. The trap door went up about an inch, and then the ring tore from its hinges, and the trap door slammed back shut. The wrought-iron ring remained in Danny’s hand, and he stared at the broken splinters hanging from the remaining portion of the hinge. He looked at the trap door, and saw that there was a lot of wood covering the door, and the door hitting the wood had caused the accident.

“Help me move this wood,” Danny said. He and Erin got to work moving the pile of wood away from the trap door. It took a while, as their first plan of just pushing the wood didn’t work when more wood from other areas just fell back onto the door. They eventually cleared a ten - foot radius around the trap door. Exhausted, Danny reached into the hole where the hinge used to be, and lifted up. His finger was cut by a jagged piece of wood, and he let out a yell.

“You okay?” Erin asked. Danny watched as his finger started to bleed.

“Yeah, it’s just a little scratch,” he replied. He reached in more carefully this time, and pulled the trap door up. It hit the ground with a loud THUD! and sent a cloud of dust into the air as it hit the ground. Danny stared into the hole, and saw nothing but blackness.

“See anything?” Erin asked, still standing near Danny.

“Nothing but blackness,” Danny replied, “no ladder or stairs or anything.”

“So what do we do now?” Erin asked as Danny closed the trap door and stood up. He looked around, and when he looked up he noticed that he could probably reach the edge of the floor above them if he jumped. He decided to test his new theory, and he jumped as high as he could, and grabbed onto the ledge. As soon as his hands grasped the ledge and tried to pull him up, the ground broke even more, and Danny fell onto the lid of the trap door. It shattered, and Danny fell into the hole.

“Danny!” Erin screamed as she dove to the ground and caught Danny’s arm. He dangled there, not sure what would happen if he fell. He looked up and saw Erin, holding onto him with both arms. She smiled.

“Thanks,” Danny said.

“You moron, what did you think would happen?” Erin asked.

“I wasn’t. Pull me up,” Danny replied.

“I can’t, you weigh too much,” Erin said. Suddenly, the plank she had been gripping with her feet snapped, and she slid forward into the hole. The two fell for a short time, and Danny landed on something soft and wet. Erin landed on him. Embarrassed, she stood up, and then helped Danny to his feet.

“Are you okay?” she asked him.

“Yeah, are you?”

“Yeah, you broke my fall. Where are we? I can’t see a thing,” Erin said. The two looked around, seeing nothing but utter darkness in every direction. Then, a thought hit the both of them like a ton of bricks. They simultaneously covered their noses.

“Something reeks,” Erin said.

“Wasn’t me,” Danny replied. Erin had another of her fake-laugh-then-fade-to-glare moments, and then took a flashlight from her rear pocket and turned it on. Danny was flabbergasted.

“How long have you had that?” he shouted. Erin looked ashamed.

“I didn’t want to waste the batteries. At least there’s no dust down here,” Erin said. The lesser of three evils eliminated. Looking around, the two saw water. They were up to their shins in it, and there was garbage in it. Random scraps, so it appeared. A broken mirror (there was so much dust on it, Erin almost didn’t recognize it as anything more than an oval frame), an old typewriter with some torn, illegible pages in it, looked like it said something about rocks falling, maybe an avalanche; but Erin couldn’t make out anything more, some cameras and old, strange-looking equipment, and then something that Erin couldn’t recognize. She leaned in closer to the object, and then let out a shriek. She stumbled backward and landed in the water, the flashlight destroyed as it plummeted to its watery doom.

“What, what’s wrong!?” Danny asked, rushing over to Erin. She pointed in the direction of the object, but there was only darkness.

“There was something there... like a bug, but big... a big, big bug, a big bug...” Erin replied. Danny squinted, but couldn’t see anything but pitch black. He slowly began to inch his way forward, through the darkness, barely able to see anything in front of him. After a few moments, he could feel a slight sense on his face, like wind or hair gently brushing it. Then, his eyes were suddenly blinded by red light, as the bug’s eyes opened, and Danny was staring directly into them. He couldn’t have been any more than a few centimeters away. The light projected from the eyes helped it so that Danny could see things within a few feet of him. He got a good look at the bug, if it really was a bug. It was rather hairy, but had many legs. And, as Danny noticed, it had rather sharp-looking teeth, which it started to bare in a fierce manner. It emitted a low, frightening growl, and then flipped itself over and onto its feet. Danny decided that it had probably been upside-down before, but it was hard to tell because of the creature’s round shape. Then, it started to move. It slowly strafed from side to side, eyeing Danny, never blinking.

“Danny... what do we do...?” Erin whispered. Danny watched the thing move, and then, suddenly, it jumped. It latched onto Danny’s arm with it’s many legs, and Danny let out a cry. He started to violently beat it with his left fist, but it didn’t seem to phase the creature at all. Then, it sank its razor-sharp teeth into Danny’s arm. He screamed in pain, and blood began to ooze out of his arm and drip into the water. Erin got to her feet and pounced the thing, wrapped her arms around it, and tried to get it off of Danny’s arm. But the thin was relentless, and remained there, sinking its fangs deeper and deeper into Danny’s flesh. Erin frantically looked around, and, aided by the red light, she noticed something. She looked, and realized that it was a reflection.

The mirror.

Erin rushed over to the mirror and yanked it out of the sludge it was half buried in. Then, she set it down in the water and slammed her foot into its face as hard as she could. Then, she got on her hands and knees and carefully fished around for a large shard. She cut herself a few times, but nothing major. Finally, she found a decent sized shard, and picked it up. Then, she ran back over to where the thing was continuing its assault on Danny’s arm.

“Danny!” she shouted.

“What!?” Danny replied.

“Hold still a minute!” Erin said. Danny turned to her, and she stabbed the shard of glass into the creature as hard as she could. It shrieked, releasing itself from Danny’s arm, which was now covered in blood. The thing ran off and faded into the darkness. The two teens stood there for a few moments in silence, waiting to see if the thing would return. It was pitch black again. Every few seconds, they would see a flash of red, but never for more than a split second. It appeared in random places, like the thing was circling them.

“What do we do?” Erin whispered into Danny’s ear. He studied the creature as it ran around in the darkness.

“I don’t know, Danny said. The creature jumped all about, sometimes so far away that Danny could barely see the blazing glow of its eyes, and sometimes so close that he could hear its breath and taste its hunger. Then, Danny caught what was some sort of a wobbly pattern, and predicted where it would be next. He waited for the right time, and then dashed forward and kicked as hard as he could. He kicked thin air, and almost toppled over. Then, he saw a flash of red, and he fell over onto his hands and knees as the creature jumped onto his back and sunk its teeth into him. He screamed, and Erin rushed over and kicked the creature as hard as she could. It took a nice chunk of Danny with it as it soared through the air, and it screamed as it flew. It landed upside-down in the water, and its feet wriggled and writhed as it tried to get back up. Erin ran over to where it was, lifted up her foot, and stomped on the creature as hard as she could. The creature exploded like a water balloon as she did this, and there was yellow and green goo all over her foot and leg.

“Aw, man! That’s disgusting!” she yelled. She turned back around and went over to Danny, who had scrambled to his feet. She helped him to stand up straight, and he leaned on her somewhat for support.

“Are you okay?” Erin asked.

“I’m fine... let’s just try to get out of here before anything else happens,” Danny said. The two started searching through the darkness, hoping to find a way to get out of the basement. They couldn’t get back up through the trap door as it was, but Danny figured he might be able to find something tall enough for them to climb back out with. There were a lot of typewriters down here, among the other objects, but Danny didn’t really pay too much attention to them. Erin wandered off in the opposite direction, and the two made sure to keep in contact through sound, because sight was nearly impossible here. Danny tripped and almost fell into the water, and he let out a shout that made Erin stop to inquire about his condition. He was fine, and he let her know it, as he reached into the gradually shallowing water and picked up the item that he had tripped on. It was a book, completely black, with a Pentagram on the cover. He tried to open it but could not, so he tossed the book aside and kept going forward. Finally, there was no more water, only a floor made of hard, uncarved black stone. It was almost difficult to walk on because of how lumpy and mossy it was. There were more typewriters, but they were lessening.

Who in the Hell lived in this place?

Danny walked with his hands outstretched now, his feet always feeling the ground before him, so that he would not trip on anything. His hands touched something, and he felt around for a moment before realizing that it was a wall, made of the same hard, lumpy and moss-covered material as the floor of this place. He felt around a bit more, and his hands grazed something jutting out of the wall; a semi-round piece of rock (or whatever it was), and as he fondled a bit more, he realized something.

It can... turn?

“Hey! I think I found something!” Erin called from the darkness, startling Danny. He lost his position, and couldn’t feel the anomaly in the otherwise plane wall anymore.

“What is it?” Danny called back as he started off on his way through the darkness, toward the sound of Erin’s voice.

“I dunno, but I think if we climb on top of it, we can reach that hole,” she replied. It took Danny a few moments of trial and error to get to where Erin was standing. There was a wooden object there, not really a ladder or a stepping stool; but neither of them could really figure out just what it was.

“Is it sturdy enough to stand on?” Danny asked.

“Feels like it, but you never know; nothing else in this house can hold the weight of a person,” Erin replied. Danny sighed and looked at her.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Danny stepped up onto the wooden thing carefully, so as not to lose his balance and fall off or break this wooden object that very well could be the last chance that the two teens had to get out of this strange place and back into the arms of safety. It hadn’t even occurred to Danny until now that the two of them could die down here; get lost and never found because no one ever came down that road. He was a bit more worried now, and wanted even more to leave this sub-basement.

“Hey, say we can actually reach the upper floor using this thing. What’s going to stop it from collapsing again?” Erin asked. Danny stopped. He hadn’t even though about that. If he reached up and tried to grab onto the floor and hoist himself up, the weight would surely make the floor collapse even more. Defeated, Danny climbed back down and into the water, and he stopped and appeared to be thinking about something.

I could get you out of there.

Danny stopped cold. Had he just heard a voice in his head? One that was not his own voice?

Yes, Danny. I’m here. Accept it.

“Who are you?” Danny asked.

“I’m Erin, nice to meet you. We seem to be stuck in the same hole together, mind helping to get us out?” Erin replied.

I am the Author.

“Where are you?” Danny asked, ignoring a growing ever-more-confused Erin.

I am everywhere. I am all around you, and I am within you. I am you.

“What do you mean?”

I’d love to explain it to you, but first you ought to get out of this place. Maybe this will help...

Danny blinked, and almost jumped back and screamed. Before him was a full flight of stairs leading up to the floor above, perfectly shaped and in good condition.

“Where did those come from!?” Erin asked.

“I think... he did it...” Danny said to himself.

“What? Who?” Erin asked. Danny placed a foot on the bottom stair and pressed down. It held. He repeated the process for three or four stairs, and then went all the way up to the top.

“Well, the stairs work, how about the floor?” Erin called up to him. Danny placed a foot on the floor and pressed down. There was a small creak, but it held firm. Danny stomped on it, and still nothing.

“I think it’s okay,” he called down. Erin hurried up the stairs and to Danny’s side, and by the time she got there there was another flight of stairs leading up to the main room. The two climbed these, and ended up in the main room of the house.

“That was weird,” Erin said. There was a small noise and she almost jumped out of her skin as something rubbed against her leg, but she quickly identified the noise as a meow and the thing as her cat.

“Looks like someone’s found us,” Danny said.

“Mr. Snuggles, you furry bastard, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Erin said, picking up her cat.

Now that we’re out of the sub-cellar, let’s get down to business.

“What do you mean?” Danny asked.

“What do you mean what do I mean-” Erin started, then realized that Danny was talking to himself again, and in a trance-like state like before.

You really think I came to you without a purpose?

“A purpose?” Danny asked.

“Danny, you’re talking to yourself and it’s creeping me out, please-”

A purpose. Everything in existence has a purpose. Which brings me to the subject of my decision, of your purpose.

“My purpose?”

Yes. This may come as a shock to you, but you are not real.

“Of course I’m real!” Danny shouted, “I’m standing right here!”

Oh really? So if something is there, it makes it real? How about those stairs?

Danny turned to see the stairs that the two had just climbed were gone again.

“I don’t understand, where did they-”

They were figments.

“Figments?”

Figments of my imagination. Just like you.

“Danny!” Erin said, hitting him across the back of the head. He had practically forgotten she was there. “What are you doing? Have you gone mad!?”

“I keep hearing this voice... in my head...” Danny said.

She’s a figment, too.

“Stop it!” Danny shouted. He covered his ears and ran out of the house, he ran and ran until he was out of breath, and then he fell to his knees on the dirt road, panting heavily.

Are you finished yet? You can run all you want but you can’t escape me.

“Get away from me...” Danny uttered.

Are you ready to accept the idea that you are not real?

“Of course I’m real. I’ve been real my whole life.”

A life that is also a figment of my imagination.

“No!”

What more proof can I give you? I created those stairs and got you out of that place. But, if you insist...

The voice trailed off, and Danny was surprised. It was almost comforting; but then he wasn’t sure if it was gone or just quiet. Danny stood up and looked around. He wondered where Erin had gone, he looked back and saw the house in the distance. He wished he was away from this place.

Granted.

Suddenly Danny was in the middle of the freeway, and cars were passing by all around him, most of them exceeding the speed limit. Danny almost screamed as a car came extremely close to hitting him, and he jumped to avoid it but was right in the path of another vehicle. Some cars honked their horns while some swerved to avoid him. Some did both. Danny barely made his way across another lane and onto the median.

“Are you crazy? You’re going to get me killed!”

Oh, so now you admit that I am in control. This is good.

Danny was suddenly on the dirt road again.

“What are you?” Danny asked.

I told you. I am the Author.

“Of what?” Danny asked.

Your story. You are a figment, your whole world is a figment; everything around you, everything you’ve ever seen or felt was a figment of my imagination. Your entire life is merely a series of novels I have written.

“That’s insane, that’s not possible!”

Neither is the idea of stairs appearing out of nowhere or teleporting to the middle of a freeway.

Danny sighed, defeated.

“All right, I get it. I’m not real, then. So what are you doing this for, why have you never come out before?”

Again, purpose. I am tired, Danny. I’m tired of writing this series. It serves me no purpose; the revenue is unneeded because of my other works, and I retain no joy from writing about your life.

Danny thought for a while. Looking back, his life did seem pretty unusual at times; very storybook. Could this be real, or was he hallucinating?

“So what are you going to do about it?” Danny asked.

I am going to end the series. I am going to kill you off, Danny.

Danny froze. Could this be real?

“Can’t you give it a happy ending?” Danny pleaded. The Author laughed.

My fans would not accept that. I’m just not that kind of writer. I do apologize, it was fun while it lasted; but it’s just time for you to go. You knew it would happen someday.

Danny did know it would happen someday. But not now; not like this. He took off running toward town.

You can’t escape, Danny. I am everything.

A huge rock fell from the sky and Danny barely threw himself backward in time to avoid it landing on him. It made a loud crash as it hit, and there was a large puff of dust and smoke. Danny sat there on the dirt road, blinking. The thought ran through his mind over and over again.

“That could’ve killed me...”

Danny stood back up, and looked up at the sky just in time to see another huge boulder closing in on him. A new though raced through his mind. He held his eyes shut tight.

“This is it.”

Danny felt himself dragged sideways just as the boulder hit dirt. He opened his eyes and saw Erin lying on top of him.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Thanks,” Danny replied. The two quickly got up.

“What the hell is going on?” Erin asked. A huge boulder landed behind her, and she jumped toward Danny, who caught her.

“I’ll explain on the way,” he said. He took her hand and the two began running, dodging boulders as they went. They approached the entrance to town, hoping that just maybe that would stop this rock rain. They entered the town, and looked up. No rocks, nothing. The two looked at each other.

“He says he’s the Author,” Danny explained as he and Erin sat on separate chairs in Danny’s living room. “And my whole life is his series of books.”

Erin just sat there looking at Danny, not blinking; just listening.

“And... he’s tired of writing them. So he wants to kill me off.”

There was a pause, and then Erin sighed.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said.

“You don’t believe me, do you. You think I’m completely crazy. I knew it, I knew this would-”

“That’s not what I mean,” Erin said, standing up and approaching Danny. “I mean, I don’t know what to say... I’m sorry, I think,” she said. Danny was dumbstruck.

“Sorry? It isn’t your fault, you didn’t do anything.”

“I’m sorry I never took the time to get to know you better.”

Danny stopped. He didn’t expect anything like this, especially not in this sort of situation.

“W-what?”

“I see you all the time at school, but we never really hung out or anything. To tell you the truth... I always kinda shied away from those chances because... I like you.” She sat down next to Danny and looked straight into his eyes. “Again... I’m sorry.”

Danny didn’t know what to think. He turned away from her gaze. He didn’t want to tell her that he liked her, too. Right now, he wasn’t even sure that she was real.

He wasn’t sure he was real.

“Danny... what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just... I don’t know if this is real or not.”

Erin stood up and stepped back, as though she was offended.

“Well... you might not think it’s real... but I know what’s real to me...” she said. She turned and ran out of the house before Danny could stop her. Standing up and calling after her was as far as he got, and after she was gone he just stood there.

Oh, now look what you’ve gone and done.

“Me!? This was all you! You did this!” Danny screamed.

Did I? I’m pretty sure those words came out of your mouth.

“But this is all your story, you’re the one in control. This is your fault!”

And then it’s my fault she loves you, too, isn’t it?

Danny stopped cold.

It’s my fault she nearly died for you back there, my fault she would’ve died for you. It’s my fault she loves you with every fiber of her being? My fault she cares more about you than she has ever cared about-

“Stop!” Danny cried. He ran out of the house and looked for Erin, but didn’t see anybody. Where did she live? Danny wasn’t sure, he had never been to her house before.

“Her cat ran off and ended up in that creepy house. I’ll bet she lives pretty close to that area.

Danny took off running.

Erin sat on her couch and stroked Mr. Snuggles. She had stopped crying, but she hadn’t stopped hurting.

Poor child. Poor, defenseless child.

She stopped. Mr. Snuggles suddenly ran away as though he was frightened.

Don’t be afraid. You know well who I am.

“Danny was right...”

Yes, Danny was right. But then again, you never did doubt him, did you? You’d have believed him if he told you that Santa Clause was talking to him through a radio in his teeth. But that’s natural; especially when you love someone.

“Leave Danny alone!” Erin shouted.

You still care about him? After what he said to you?

“Of course I do, I-” Erin trailed off.

You love him. Of course you still care. Just like how he still cares about you.

Erin stopped.

“What do you mean?”

He’s out there looking for you now, trying to keep you safe from me.

Erin smiled. She didn’t think he would do that.

He’s looking for you because he loves you.

Erin’s heart jumped into her throat.

“But wait... if you created everything... then how can I know for sure...”

Suddenly Danny’s doubt doesn’t seem so unfounded, does it?

Erin sighed. She wanted to go find Danny now, to be with him more than ever, and most of all she wanted to apologize for storming off, especially in a time of such desperate need. Danny wasn’t sure if anything was real, and she was the only person in the world that he felt like he had. Without her, he was entirely alone; without her he was put on a plane of loneliness never reached before. And she had abandoned him. Erin left her home and started running toward Danny’s.

The two met up on a street outside of a junkyard. There were heavy clouds gathering above, and both had fears that there wouldn’t be any rain falling from these clouds. These clouds were different somehow; in some way that only Danny and Erin would ever be able to tell. To anyone else in the world, there wouldn’t even be a difference. The two met and instantly joined in a hug, as though they were best friends who had been separate for over a millennia.

“I’m so sorry,” both started at the same time, and then laughed. As the laughter faded, Danny looked into Erin’s eyes.

“I love you,” he said. Erin smiled back.

“I love you more,” she replied. Suddenly a huge rock fell from the sky and landed on the ground about fifteen feet away from where they stood. Smaller pebbles started raining from the sky like raindrops, and huge rocks hit sporadically every now and then.

“We have to find shelter!” Danny shouted over the noise of rocks hitting pavement and cars.

“In there!” Erin said, pointing to the junkyard. The two easily climbed over the fence and climbed into the most whole car they could find. Danny opened the door, and the two got in. Rocks pelted the car, and both knew that if one of the bigger boulder hit the car, they’d be dead. But they couldn’t bring themselves to run anymore.

“I’m really sorry I got you into this,” Danny said. Erin shook her head.

“We’ve been in this together since the start, when we very first fell through that hole,” she replied. Danny smiled and placed his hand on hers.

“I’m sorry that it has to end so soon, too. I wish I could make it through another day, just so I could see your face again... and I’d know everything was okay...” he said. Erin closed her eyes and snuggled up against him. It was getting darker by the second, and soon it would be night. Though he didn’t want to think about it, Danny wondered when it would finally come; when some huge boulder would smash through the roof of this broken car and kill them both. A part of him wished that Erin wouldn’t sit so close, so maybe once he died she’d be clear of the fallout zone; but he knew it probably didn’t matter. Danny closed his eyes, felt Erin’s breathing against him, and eventually fell asleep.

When Danny woke up the next morning, he was surprised to see the sun coming up over a pile of garbage, and only a few light pebbles were falling now. At first he was surprised, too surprised to even be thankful that he hadn’t died during the night. He gently shook Erin to wake her up. She opened her eyes, look around, and then suddenly wrapped her arms around him. He returned her hug, and then got out of the car and looked up, still holding Erin’s hand.

“I don’t understand...” he uttered.

It looks to me like you’ve got a purpose.

Danny looked down at his hand embraced by Erin’s, her soft fingers entangled in his own. Then, he looked into her eyes and smiled.

And somewhere in the sub-basement of an old house structure, a typewriter with dirty, almost illegible pages that might’ve said something about rocks falling or an avalanche began typing all on its own, carrying messages about a brand new day.