The Executives and Sacrifices

By Shuke Wang

The clouds loomed over the sky. My view was a blur but the dark evil feeling enclosed me, and I knew that this wasn’t a pleasurable dream.- There, I remember, was a set of railroad tracks leading somewhere far off into mystery. There, stood the queen, in a white fluffy boa, and a dazzling gown which reminded me of a wedding woman. Not a particularly beautiful queen, but she enchanted me in the most unpleasant ways. A deep sag emerged from the rims of her eyes, and a pale face spread the coldness of the day. Looking from the second hand, she was a memorial character; the queen of Narnia. What frightened me the most, however, was that she was there, and I was also there. So was a bunch of children. Like me. And some of them were my friends. I didn’t know how stupid the kids were. They were upset, so I could tell that the queen was preparing something. They somehow obeyed her, and placed their hands on sharp long screws, nailed to the floor, and after a moment of pain and ear-piercing screeches, there was a loud indescribable sound, and they exploded. A lot of them did. The next minute, the queen was looking at me. So I ran. Suddenly, my eyes cleared up like a blue-ray tv, and I saw every detail of the naked eye. It was so dark, so wet, and so cold. Yet, it was so dry, so clear, and yet still blurry. So indescribable! That’s what dreams are like. It was fall, and the leaves were a crisp color. There was now a school, my school, and there was no railroad track. The queen was after me. A stared in a moment of horror, and then dived for the scarecrow. No idea how that got there, but I didn’t care. I saw the angry glare of the queen, and I felt a warm hand in the scarecrow. I couldn’t see a face but I could tell it was one of my friends because the feel was so comfortable. I found a metal grip, and roughly pulling it out from the scarecrow, I immediately started slashing it wildly against the queen. I couldn’t see her, but I felt the intensity of her stare. For a split second, she started slashing too, and a moment later, I heard a deafening BANG, and I dropped on to the floor. For that moment, I felt so comfortable, the warm fall air, breezing against me, and my three friends laughing. I started laughing too, until a look a terror swept over all of out faces. The queen was not so far away, but she was not longer focused on us. How foolish of me, I thought, to think I had defeated the queen. She was not easily defeated. Sadness swept over me, and suddenly, once again, I felt unsafe. Then I saw my little sister, not far away. The queen had not laid a finger on her. Yet. I was not going to take a chance like this. Grabbing her by the hand, and pulled her further away, but not any further away from safety. I was ready to take her with my friends, Two Smirking Alices, and a safe eight-year-old, Lily. Ready to go off into the mountains and climb the misty steeps, to plunge in to icy waters- I’d be risking Charlottes life. What could I do? I saw the leaving Lily, and holding my sister by the hand, I took her to Lily, and hugged her. Tears brimmed her eyes, but she blinked them back and quietly asked,

“W-what is going to ha-

“Nothing.” I staggered, shaking. Then, holding a firm hand, I gave Charlotte to Lily and whispered “Take care of her.” Lily said nothing, and carried along the road, to home. Because the queen was not after her. It was so strange, I had nothing against her. I guess life wasn’t fair. I creeped across the wide lane, a soccer field to be exact, hoping, praying that the queen was not here to see. I finally made it, to a round hedge or bush (whatever it was), and moved stealthily behind it. There was the two Alices, waiting for me. I didn’t even get why they were with me, but I was grateful. I was also grateful for what Lily did. I hoped that Charlotte would get home safely. Back to mum. And dad. There was no way of knowing. It was time to carry on. I held back my words, and tears, and crawled further into the darkness…

I woke up crying.

There are a few things that I’ll probably never know. What would happen, if I followed the railroad tracks? What was I trying to head for? There was no goal in my dream except the deep and irremovable impression to avoid the queen.

Forever.