Simulacrum Part II

This is my entry for the Chiaroscuro Writing Extravaganza - Simulacrum competition/community writing event. It is a continuation of Part I by An Intelligent Moron. I hope you like it.

Simulacrum - Part II


The plane’s body vibrated beneath Nadia as the pilot accelerated. She
caught a glimpse of the squat grey building that housed the airport.
Faster and faster they went, and just as Nadia thought they would
keep accelerating forever, the nose tilted skywards and the plane
lifted off the ground. Nadia’s mother clutched her stomach and
seemed to mutter prayers. Nadia herself felt as if her stomach had
been left behind on the runway.


Nadia wanted to ask her mother where they were going and why they were
going, yet Ms Stephanov didn’t look like she was in the mood to
answer questions or even open her mouth. So Nadia looked out of the
tiny window and watched the landscape pass beneath her. She was
tired, but she feared that she would have to relive her nightmare if
she slept.


About fifteen minutes later, a flight attendant came walking down the aisle,
a drinks trolley in tow. She asked Nadia and her mother whether they
wanted to drink something. Nadia accepted a glass of water, which she drank in small sips.


After some time, Nadia began to drift off. At first, she only slept for a
few seconds then jerked up again, yet eventually she lost control and
sank into an uneasy sleep.




Darkness shrouded a rugged, sombre landscape.
Black mountains framed a gloomy valley,
which was populated by gnarled, dead trees.
A grey sky hung limply overhead.

And right before her loomed a bottomless pit, a hole to hell.

Wind picked up and slowly pushed her from
behind. Dead leaves flew through the air.
The wind slowly got stronger, blowing
shadows past her. The wind’s pull quickly became
overpowering. She dug her feet in, tried to hold onto something,
yet she flew towards the pit down, down, down into the abyss.



A heavy jolt awakened Nadia. The plane had
just touched down and was rapidly decelerating.
A glance out of the window showed her an
unfamiliar building she assumed was the airport.
It was much bigger and somehow grander than the one she had
left mere hours ago. Behind the airport steep hills were overgrown
with small, gnarled trees which painfully reminded Nadia of her
dream. These trees, however, were full of colour and seemed much more
welcoming. The whole scenery seemed wrong to Nadia, and as she left the plane,
slowly shuffling down the stairs behind her mother, a bag in each hand, a
sweltering heat overcame her.


Luckily the cool airport building provided shelter from the heat. Nadia and

her mother were being jostled around by the crowd in a high,
glass-roofed room, and Nadia wanted to finally ask what was going
on. Yet there were still no answers from Ms Stephanov, who simply
instructed Nadia to follow her to the taxi stand.

After tedious consultation of multiple signs and people, they finally found

a large roofed area without walls, where taxis were driving in and
out, picking people up, and generally looking like a swarm of gigantic bees.
Of course it was as hot as ever, so Nadia’s mother quickly went to search for a cab.
The only answer Nadia received as to where they were going was
“You see when we get there”.

It was warm in the cab, yet not overly so. The driver had stowed their bags in
the boot and was now peeling out of the taxi-area, quickly diving into a network of streets
between tall, old houses, most of which were painted in warm colours.


“At least they could make their houses blue or green to make this
place seem cooler” Nadia thought. Outside, she saw people in short
clothing walking, drinking coffee in the shade of umbrellas and
generally having a good time.


After what seemed an eternity, yet couldn’t have been more than ten
minutes, the driver stopped in a street on the outskirts of whatever
town they had landed in. Nadia and her mother got out, Ms Stephanov paying
the driver before turning to the large building opposite them.


“This is where we live for next few days!” Nadia’s mother
announced. Nadia’s only reply was “Oh, god!"

---

Thanks for reading!