Short Story I
Alcimachea is walking through the park with bread in her hand. With her other hand, she supports her back, clearly showing signs of back pain. "Alcimachea! Where is the bag for your bread?" someone yelled from the distance. Alcimachea looked around and saw a face she slowly recognized. It was Xenodoria, an old friend she hadn't seen for a long time because Alcimachea would barely leave her house. Xenodoria showed an expression of surprise and joy at seeing her friend after a long time. Something looked different in the way Alcimachea welcomed her friend. Her eyes looked miserable and heavyhearted, her hair very short and not taken care of, and in this cold weather, she had gone out with thin clothes and slippers. "Hi.", Alcimachea replied and she looked at the bread she was holding in her hand. "I thought the bag was unnecessary.", she replied by looking at her friend, and then staring at the ground with thoughtful eyes, contemplating something that was bothering her. Without hesitation, Xenodoria put her arm in Alcimachea's arm and dragged her softly to a nearby bench. Her changed and weak body was almost falling from this small gesture. She followed her and sat on a bench and put her freshly bought bread on her knees. "You still love to eat bread, don't you?", Xenodoria asked, by folding her layered thick dress in between her legs and adjusting her scarf around her neck by loosening it and stretching it on Alcimachea's shoulders. "It's the only thing I want to eat when I remember that I have to eat." Xenodoria frowned her eyebrows, trying to understand what Alcimachea meant. "I almost can not leave my bed.", she added by turning her head a bit closer towards Xenodoria, but still not looking into her eyes. "I'm still clean. I take showers, I wash my clothes and clean my room but I feel like carrying a truck for the smallest thing I have to do.", Alcimachea said. While she was daydreaming by looking in front of her, Xenodoria saw her friend's feet losing colour because of the cold. "Okay, I should not take too much of your time before you become sick. Go home, eat well and sleep as much as you need. I will pass by this Friday, okay?", Xenodoria asked. Alcimachea looked into her friend's eyes and asked "In how many days is that? I don't know which day it is today." She turned her look away and tried to remember the date. Xenodoria stood there in silence, seeing her friend disconnecting again and she stopped interrupting her thoughts. Alcimachea stood up, trying to remember the date and started to walk away, counting and calculating things with her fingers and head, back and forth. While her friend watched her go, Alcimachea suddenly stopped and turned towards her friend. "I can't remember. I wish I didn't realize this.", she said. After a long silence she took out her slippers and left them on the street. Alcimachea turned away and walked until she disappeared from Xenodoria's eyesight. After arriving in front of her house, she closes the door and takes the spiral staircase upstairs. There is a weird feeling sinking in her that suddenly covers her stomach. These stairs feel longer to walk up than usual. She turns her head to look down but she can't see where the staircase started anymore. Her breathing becomes uncomfortable and she walks up faster, only to become dizzier as the stairs turn into an endless looking run. Alcimachea wants to hold the stair railing to balance her dizziness, but just as she reaches out, it suddenly becomes translucent, losing her balance and falling in a suddenly appeared black hole on the ground floor somewhere far away that drags her down through its thick liquid-like form. This is weird, Alcimachea thinks, I'm drowning but I’m breathing. Is this obscurity controlling me or am I controlling it? "I don't know!", someone yelled. "You don't know! No one knows!" After a long silence, the voice continued while Alcimachea tried to move in her downfall, "I have to keep dragging you down and you have to keep trying to save yourself! I have to do my thing and you have to do your thing but nobody knows why! Such a paradox!" and the forces abruptly sucked Alcimachea in itself. "And now, it's your turn, Alcimachea.", the voice said, leaving nothing but a sound of bubbles coming from its thick liquid.
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Xenodoria - a fictional, ancient Greek inspired name combining "xenos" (foreigner/stranger) and "doron" (gift), representing the gift of the outsider’s perspective.
Alcimachea - a fictional, ancient Greek inspired name combining "alke" (strength) and "mache" (battle), representing a strong battle.
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