Fatal Coma

• Blake Macdonald, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2014

Mary observed a waterfall of a thousand colours flowing swiftly into the pool of imagination, each one twirling and swirling to create an image of perfection. She saw colours at war, each one firing bombshells of destruction and correction to create a reality. Nothing can stop them until one of them begins a revolution moulding and combining the rest so that a treaty is born. Mary opens her eyes and the treaty is made, she blinks in confusion as the colours create scenery of lush forestry. A forest of beauty, magnificence and splendour, as Mary stumbles to her feet she tries to recall her recent events being that she is not sure of her location or why she is wearing her blue and black running outfit. Unable to remember she begins to carefully examine the environment surrounding her, taking notice of unusual shadows and potential hiding spot in case something elusive attacks. Mary thought to herself "I have to find someone" and being an athletic person she begins to climb a tree tall enough to touch the heavens. Once reaching the peak the true beauty of Mother Nature was revealed to her. The sun was gleaming like a beacon of happiness and its warmth felt like the steam off a fresh, hot bowl of soup. The forest from such a perfect view was like a spider’s web, so complex and strategic, every strand placed in the exact position to form a dazzling wonder that can only be truly admired with the right perspective and with an open mind. Now that Mary knew what her situation was she began to feel queasy and afraid and as confusion and panic began to run free gravity started to take effect, her palms began to sweat and she began to slip. Now Mary truly began to panic and she began to ease her way down SNAP! Mary began to fall and time slowed, she started waving her arms trying to grab something steady when all of a sudden she fell lightly into the arms of a stranger. She looked up at the figure and had a gut feeling something wasn’t right, the stranger who was dressed in a dark cloak dropped her and produced a small axe from his cloak. He held it to his side allowing her to witness the gleam of its head and asked her “Do you know where you are?”
“No”, she replied
“You are in a coma”, he said in a sinister voice “but not in an ordinary coma.”
“What do you mean?”
“The traumatic event causing this anomaly has intertwined your fate with this coma.”
“What event?” Mary asked nervously. As the axeman explained horror struck a vicious blow at Mary and Mary asked “How do I stay alive”
“By ringing the bell”, he produced a tiny blue bell and threw it about a metre, “Of course if the bell is life, what am I?” he sneered. Mary leaped after it and the axeman swung his axe…