Ouroboros | Teen Ink

Ouroboros

September 14, 2022
By Inter_loper__ BRONZE, Pasadena, Texas
Inter_loper__ BRONZE, Pasadena, Texas
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
The world's best swordsman doesn't fear the second best, he fears the worst. For the worst is unpredictable.


The door to the foyer swung open. Two figures stepped through the threshold of the door as they entered the house. 
“What... is this place?” breathed the girl 
She was short thing, wearing jeans and a teal shirt. Her hair tied up into a neat bun.  
“This place will serve as the beginning and end of our tour. A sort of hub, if you will.” answered the figure behind her 
Behind her trailed the vague figure of a tall man. Save for his mouth, he had no face—His stature so inhumanly tall that his head nearly touched the ceiling. 
The girl shuddered as she surveyed the surround interior. 
The dining table, the bulging blanket in the corner, The TV—all of it felt familiar, Something like home. But it also left a bitter after taste. A sensation that it was sterile and abandoned at the same time. 
“This place gives me the creeps.” she sighed 
“Then let's get on with this,” Spoke the man—clapping his hands together, “Go ahead and walk through that door.” 
The girl’s eyes traced the path leading from the man’s finger to a door at its end. She obeyed and opened the door, reluctant without knowing why. 
“Go on.” spoke the man 
As she stepped through the threshold of the door frame her sense of perception became warped for a moment. When she turned around out of reflex to run away from a sudden sense of danger, she found that the door was already closed and locked behind her. 
“What are you so afraid of? Look ahead, otherwise you’ll miss the show.” spoke the man 
She didn’t know just what she was afraid of, she just knew that she was. 
Once she turned around she was met with the sight of a broken family. A girl the same height as her wearing different clothes with her hair loosely tied back was being abused both physically and verbally by her mother. 
“This is insanity,” she grimaced, “Where is the father?” 
“Gone.” responded the man, “Nobody but he knows where he went.” 
“I think we’ve seen enough.” they continued, “Let's head through the next door.” 
As they walked through the next door they were met with the sight of a taller woman in desert camouflage and body armor cradling a rifle surrounded by men and women like her. all their hair at buzzcut length, with the back of her head pressed against a short mound of dirt from where she and others crouched as suppressive fire was laid down on them just above her head.  
“I always thought it was insane how war has always been a part of human nature.” 
“Agreed,” spoke the man with a twinge of amusement, “next.” 
This time when they stepped through the door, they saw a woman just a bit shorter than the last. She was in an alleyway sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, her face obscured. Her clothes were worn and tattered and her long hair was clearly unwashed and unbrushed. 
“Insanity.” the girl breathed 
“Now now, I wouldn’t be so harsh on her were I you, even if you are correct,” the man spoke, “Let’s head back for the hub.” 
When we stepped back into the familiar small hub room we stepped through a door we hadn’t crossed before. 
“There's one last thing I would like to show you before we end the tour.” he smiled 
Only now while following the man towards the corner of the house nearing the end of the tour did the girl realize that she couldn’t remember where she came from before the tour even started.  
“Back there, you kept calling everything that I showed you insanity.” 
As he spoke, he stood beside the blanket in the corner and gripped it. 
“But you were wrong.” 
The creature then faced the girl and a wild grin appeared on him. A grin that spread further than the canvas that was his face, all the way past his cheeks up to the corner of his jaws. 
“This is insanity.” 
He spoke as he ripped off the blanket revealing a girl the same height and wearing the same clothes as the one that walked through the door. Her hair an unkempt mess that flowed down her head, arms, and back as she sat—facing the corner hugging her knees to her chest 
“Who is this?” She asked, bemused 
The man now had disappeared, nowhere to be seen. Still, she heard his voice drift through the air. 
“Why, that would be you of course.” 
 Me 
 
The girl suddenly realized that her favorite blanket had come off of her. She didn’t know how or when. Maybe mother felt regret and came back. She dared not move not even blink if mother came back. She didn’t want to do anything that might make mother hit her. 
After a long time she decided to get her blanket. Behind her, she looked through bloodshot eyes and saw that no one stood behind her and that the blanket had made only a short distance away. She shifted her weight and weakly crawled on her knees towards the blanket. When she had picked it up and off the floor she fumbled to drape it over her back and returned to her original position in the corner. 
The door to the foyer swung open. Two figures stepped through the threshold of the door as they entered the house. 
“What... is this place?” 


The author's comments:

I had this idea for a story about a month before the teacher said we were going to be writing a short story


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.