The Written Works: Paradox Prisoner

Meanwhile, in the log cabin, Jordini awakes to the smell of cedarwood, the crackling of logs as they were burned in the fireplace. Despite what she’d hoped, the girl from yesterday was not there. And as much as she liked the girl, and wanted for her to return, Jordini had to get going. After all, four days had already passed her by. So, after searching all around the cabin, and eating some of the food she’d been given, she packed her things up and took off.

The cold wind outside only served to ruin her mood. If it were a warmer breeze, she would be content, but the abrupt change from the cozy log cabin to the freezing cold was far too quick for her. But, nonetheless, she dealt with it and began walking in the same direction she had the day before.

This gale that surrounded her was the only thing that she could hear. Branches whipped in her face, and the earth was rough and rocky under her feet. A thick blanket of fog was covering the forest, so it wasn’t to be blamed on her if she couldn’t see some things in the distance.

But then, just in front of her, she saw a peculiar tree that made her stop for a few moments. It was a light cyan. It almost looked like it had been prestripped, because it was smooth and there was no bark on it, but it was clearly just grown like that. Spikes came out of the tree at protruding angles towards the bottom of the trunk, flies and other insects caught on them and impaled. It was something to see, quite peculiar.

Then, there’s nothing. Jordini has no idea what happened between her seeing and observing this tree, and the time she woke up. She faintly remembers a burning pain in her neck, though that’s all she can remember.

And after this sort of limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness, she awoke in a concrete room, one of the walls removed and replaced with metal bars. Of course, no amount of sleep could convince her it was other than what anyone would think it was. Though where she was wasn’t of her concern right now.

She sat on the floor of the prison cell, deep in thought, wondering how she got here and why she was here. After all, she had done nothing truly wrong in this world. All of the cells around her were completely empty, there was not a single other person in sight.

So, when she heard footsteps approaching her, that snapped her from her thoughts and she went to the bars and once, grabbing hold of them and trying to see who it was. A guard came strolling through shortly, going straight for her. She watched him approach, ready to interrogate him once he came to her.

“Well, she’s awake. I’m here to talk to you about some things, so make this easy for both of us, eh?” the guard said, his features showing a hint of enjoyment.

“Why am I here?”

“Be quiet, criminal, you know exactly what you’ve done. We don’t know your name, but you’ve got several warrants on you, do you know that?”

Jordini looked at him in confusion. It was possible that they were mistaking her for the fire clown once again.

“I’m sorry, I believe you may sadly be mistaken. I am not the “fire clown”, though I may look similar to her-”

“No, I know you’re not her. We’re after you, got it?”

She stared at the man, mouth agape, unable to speak a single word.

“Let’s see here…” the man then took out a clipboard and flipped through it. “Vandalism, stealing, and breaking and entering. Sound familiar?”

“No, those do not…”

“Well, I don’t care, you can take it up with the warden.”

“Why are there no other inmates here?” That was the next question that came to her, since her most important one had been solved.

“Because you’re in solitary confinement.”
“Already! What have I done wrong, I just got here!” she exclaimed in surprise, taking one hand from the bars and placing it on her jaw.

“You have plenty of charges against you. And the solitary confinement area is the furthest away from the coal burning section of the jail. We’ve been informed that you have nature magic. So we can’t let you anywhere near there, hm?”

And, with that information told, the guard walked away, humming a little ditty to himself, seeming rather pleased. But, of course, she didn’t belong here, in a criminal’s prison! She had hardly done anything wrong. So, she began to search the cell in hopes that there would be something she could escape with.

Of course, there was nothing. Any contraband that a previous inmate may have hidden in here was likely discarded long since. So she began inspecting the room instead, in hopes that a weak spot would present itself to her. It was the average prison cell- walls gray and unappealing, bed small and flat. There was a window, but she doubted she could break into it, since it was made from pure metal. She did check the screws, of course, but they appeared tightly bolted.

So, there was nothing she could do but sit on the bed and hope that she would eventually be outed as the innocent girl she was. It seemed like the people here all hated her, except for the girl from the log cabin, the only one who knew who she was. And it was all a big paradox to her. She created this world from the ground up, she was the author of this realm, yet she was treated like a common criminal or beggar here.

So, without much choice of her own, she stayed right where she was, on the bed, pondering many things as the lights in the prison soon dimmed, and the orange light of the sunset shone through her window. There was only one hope in her mind: that she could make it out of here before her characters were gone for good.