Somewhere Not so Far Away | Teen Ink

Somewhere Not so Far Away

October 13, 2023
By GageGonzalez58 BRONZE, Norwalk, California
GageGonzalez58 BRONZE, Norwalk, California
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

“Uuuuugh!” I sigh loudly. “I'm so bored” I sit on my rickety couch alone at home. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. I wish I had friends to make plans with or to talk to. Even if I could make plans to go out it would all be in vain. All because of the rain. The pitter patter of the rain hitting against the roof catches my attention. It sounds like a gentle thud. Thud thud thud. As if there were hundreds of little puppies prancing across my roof. But the rain speaks in many different accents. When the rain hits the windows it sounds like a tap. The tap tap tap of the rain reminds me of my typewriter. And when the rain hits a puddle it sounds like plip plip plip. The plips sound exactly like my leaky faucet. The one I hear when I wake up to use the bathroom. And no matter how many times I try, or how hard I tighten it, the dripping never stops.


 I rise up from my couch to get a glass of water. My floors creak as a glide across the kitchen floor. The cool air of the refrigerator hits my face as I stare blankly at the barren fridge. There's nothing to eat, unless I'm really craving an olive ketchup sandwich on wheat toast. I close the fridge, getting that last bit of crisp refrigerated air to flow across my face. I grab the grocery list from the side of my fridge and boldly write “EVERYTHING!” and circle it a few times. With nothing to eat I go back to my couch and turn on my television set and watch my favorite late night show, Saturday Night Live. As the first skit begins to play my television begins to flicker and short circuits. ”Damn, I just got the electric problem fixed.”  


I go down to the basement to check my circuit breaker in hopes of getting my tv running in enough time to get back to my show. I flick all the switches frantically and I hear my tv back on. I run upstairs and I'm immediately hit with a blast of shrill sounding static. All sound from the rain and the wind is drowned out by the violent static that emits from my television set. I cover my ears to avoid a painful headache. And then I crawl towards my television set. As I kick over the table that the TV sat atop the noise stopped. I wonder what could have caused such a noise to leave my television. I go to my silverware drawer and reach inside to check for the warranty on my tv. 

As I'm reading my guide I'm interrupted by a loud crash. I went outside , figuring a tree had fallen on my roof, but I didn't see anything. I walked around my house a few more times just to make sure no damage had been done to my house. After noticing how wet my clothes were I went back inside so I could dry off. “Well I needed to do some laundry anyway.”  I sweep my soggy slippers across the floor mat and reach for a towel to dry my hair off. When I go back to sit on my couch the television cuts to commercials. Over the sound of the savvy car salesman on the television I hear a steel like thudding coming from my room. “Ba boom, ba boom, ba boom.” I freeze in my tracks before pivoting towards the sound of the thudding. I go upstairs to my bedroom to see what the noise might be, and I hear the thudding get  louder. I open the door to my room and notice a ghoulish green light shining through the crack of the door to my closet. “What the hell is that?” 

I approach the door to my closet and I see within it a large rectangular block of green stone glimmering like neon. On the stone there seems to be some sort of writing on the block. Its texture is like silk, but its appearance is rigid. I reach out hesitantly to touch the strange object but hesitate greatly. I eventually touch the object and blackout. 


I open my eyes and I feel the cold floor against my skin. I sit up quickly and rubbed my face. I notice where I am but everything is different. It's the waiting room at my office but it's all made of crystal. I look around to see if I can get out of the room and notice one door that stands out. One door made of jade. I open the door and I'm met with a mountain rage and a cliffside that's entirely made of crystal. I stare in awe and wonder before I begin to run through the fields of emerald and diamond and splash in the bright blue water that covers all of the floor. I smell the crisp air and I feel free. I'm not stuck at home or at my stupid office job anymore.I begin to run. I don't have to know where I'm going. I just run carefree throughout this world I barely know. I run till I'm out of breath and can hardly feel my legs. I lay down and stare at the green sky that seems so bizarre yet so beautiful.


 In the distance I hear a commotion. I walk towards the noise and spot a group of creatures who are all standing near a broken ladder. The little creatures are staring at a button trying to jump for it. One of the creatures starts to tug on my pajama pants and starts murmuring gibberish at me. The creature then points to me and the button. “Oh I get it, you need my help pressing the button.” 

I grab the creature by the waist and throw it up towards the big shiny red button and the creature smacks the button with its big stony hands but it's not enough. As it’s falling towards the ground I catch it and gently place it on the ground. “Sorry buddy it looks like you’re not heavy enough.”  

I look around at all the creatures and then I get an idea. “Ok guys here’s what I need you to do. Start bundling up into a big pile and you're gonna lift me up so I can press the button.”  The little green creatures look around at each other in confusion and then all begin to grab me by my legs and lift me up. I start to skyrocket into the air with each creature beneath me. “WOAH!” I exclaim as I struggle to find my balance. I finally get to the button and reach out and push it. FWOOSH, Click.  And the button goes in.

The creatures lose balance and we all fall towards the floor. I laugh hysterically because for a moment I felt as if I was flying. 

 To show the creature's appreciation I'm rewarded with a small emerald apple that gleams when the sun reflects on it. I take the apple and all the creatures guide me towards the room I first came from and it's transformed from  an office to a vast lake with cold rapids. I say my goodbyes and open the door that once was the office door and leave. I am instantly transported to my house inside my closet. I look back to see if the brick is still in my closet. But when I opened the door it was gone. And the emerald apple is no longer in my hands. In my confusion I go to my couch and sit down to watch my favorite late night show, Saturday Night Live. 

 

 

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“Uuuuugh!” I sigh loudly. “I'm so bored” I sit on my rickety couch alone at home. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. I wish I had friends to make plans with or to talk to. Even if I could make plans to go out, it would all be in vain. All because of the rain. The pitter patter of the rain hitting against the roof catches my attention. It sounds like a gentle thud. Thud thud thud. As if there were hundreds of little puppies prancing across my roof. The rain speaks in many different accents. When the rain hits the windows it sounds like a tap. The tap tap tap of the rain reminds me of my typewriter. And when the swarm of rain hits a puddle it sounds like plip plip plip. The plips sound exactly like my leaky faucet. The one I hear when I wake up to use the bathroom. And no matter how hard I try or how many times I tighten the faucet, the dripping never stops.


 I rise up from my couch to get a glass of water. My floors creak as a glide through the kitchen. The cool air of the refrigerator hits my face as I stare blankly at the barren fridge. There's nothing to eat. Unless I'm really craving an olive ketchup sandwich on wheat toast. I close the fridge, enjoying that last bit of crisp refrigerated air that flows across my face. I grab the grocery list stuck to the  side of my fridge with a magnet and boldly write in bright red marker, “EVERYTHING!” and circle it a few times. With nothing to eat I go back to my couch and turn on my television set and watch my favorite late night show, Saturday Night Live. As the first skit starts to play my television begins to flicker and short circuits. ”Damn, I just got the electric problem fixed.” I'm not much of a handyman. That's probably why my faucet is leakier than that soda chugging kid from Home Alone. Not the second one, the good one. The first one. 


Nevertheless I go down to my basement to check the circuit breaker in hopes of getting my tv running in enough time to get back to my show. I flick all the switches frantically and I hear my tv turn back on. I run upstairs and approach my tv. I almost thought I was gonna need to replace something else. As soon as I get comfortable the tv turns back off. “Are you kidding me!” I yell in frustration. I just messed with the circuit breaker so I figure that can't be the problem. As I walk towards the tv to see what's wrong I'm immediately hit with a blast of shrill sounding static. All sound from the rain and the wind is drowned out by violent static that is being emitted from my television set. I fall over in terror and begin to go into the fetal position. I cover my ears to avoid a painful headache and start to crawl towards my television set. I kick over the table that the TV sat atop of. After,  the TV comes crashing down and the noise stops. I wonder what could havecaused such a noise to leave my television. I go to my silverware drawer and reach inside to check for the warranty on my tv. “Great more money out of my check”


As I'm reading my guide I'm interrupted by a loud crash. I go outside , figuring a tree had fallen on my roof, but I didn't see anything. I walk around my house a few more times just to make sure no damage had been done. After realizing how wet my clothes were I went back inside so I could dry off. “Well I needed to do some laundry anyway.”  I sweep my soggy slippers across the floor mat and reach for a towel to dry my hair off. I go to wash off in my shower and over the sound of the hot water hitting the floor I hear a thudding coming from my room. I leave the shower with my robe on to go see where the noise is coming from. Or what/who could be making the noise. “Ba boom, ba boom, ba boom.” I freeze in my tracks before pivoting towards the sound of the thudding. I run upstairs with a wooden bat in my hand towards my bedroom. I hear the thudding get  louder. I open the door to my room and notice a ghoulish green light shining through the crack of the door to my closet. “What the hell is that?” 

I approach the door to my closet and I see within it a large rectangular block of green stone glimmering like neon. On the stone there seems to be some sort of writing on the block. Its texture is like silk, but its appearance is rigid. I reach out hesitantly to touch the strange object but hesitate greatly. I eventually touch the object and blackout. 


I open my eyes and I feel the cold floor against my skin. I sit up quickly and rubbed my face. I notice where I am but everything is different. It's the waiting room at my office but it's all made of crystal. I look around to see if I can get out of the room and notice one door that stands out. One door made of jade. I open the door and I'm met with a mountain rage and a cliffside that's entirely made of crystal. I stare in awe and wonder before I begin to run through the fields of emerald and diamond and splash in the bright blue water that covers all of the floor. I smell the crisp air and I feel free. I'm not stuck at home or at my stupid office job anymore.I begin to run. I don't have to know where I'm going. I just run carefree throughout this world I barely know. I run till I'm out of breath and can hardly feel my legs. I lay down and stare at the green sky that seems so bizarre yet so beautiful.


 In the distance I hear a commotion. I walk towards the noise and spot a group of creatures who are all standing near a broken ladder. The little creatures are staring at a button trying to jump for it. One of the creatures starts to tug on my pajama pants and starts murmuring gibberish at me. The creature then points to me and the button. “Oh I get it, you need my help pressing the button.” 

I grab the creature by the waist and throw it up towards the big shiny red button and the creature smacks the button with its big stony hands but it's not enough. As it’s falling towards the ground I catch it and gently place it on the ground. “Sorry buddy it looks like you’re not heavy enough.”  

I look around at all the creatures and then I get an idea. “Ok guys here’s what I need you to do. Start bundling up into a big pile and you're gonna lift me up so I can press the button.”  The little green creatures look around at each other in confusion and then all begin to grab me by my legs and lift me up. I start to skyrocket into the air with each creature beneath me. “WOAH!” I exclaim as I struggle to find my balance. I finally get to the button and reach out and push it. FWOOSH, Click.  And the button goes in.

The creatures lose balance and we all fall towards the floor. I laugh hysterically because for a moment I felt as if I was flying. 

 To show the creature's appreciation I'm rewarded with a small emerald apple that gleams when the sun reflects on it. I grab the apple from the creature and all the rest  guide me towards the room I first came from and it's transformed from  an office to a vast lake with cold rapids. I say my goodbyes and open the door that once was an office door as I leave. I’m instantly transported to my house inside my closet. I look back to see if the brick is still in my closet. But when I opened the door it was gone. And the emerald apple is no longer in my hands. In my confusion I go to my couch and sit down to watch my favorite late night show, Saturday Night Live. 


The author's comments:

I want this story to be silly and enjoyable to readers as well as being a message that Leaving your comfort zone might not always be that scary


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