Viewing day

Under a beautiful dark purple night sky full of stars and a glowing green moon sat Dylena. She lay sprawled out on the ground. The purple shade flowers and pale blue grass was soft and smelled sweet as always. Dylena was excited tonight because it was the one day a year that the window would appear outside of town. In the rather average land filled with boring spirits and shadow creatures, one day a year a magical window would open and show another world. A place that looked wonderful and scary all at the same time.

Dylena stood up and stretched, he mind unable to think of anything else besides seeing the magical window again. Others knew about this window and there was a yearly celebration that counted down to midnight. Then in front of all the villagers magical images would flash before them bringing wonder and excitement. Dylena was odd though, she loved the holiday more than anything else. She would decorate her home and even dress up in her best cloths for the occasion. And when it was over, she thought about how wonderful it would be next year. The day was celebrated as “viewing day” the day to view the unknown and try to learn the secrets of it all. Dylena’s interest or even obsession in the window came mostly because of how she looked. Unlike the other attractive glowing spirits or the sleek shadows. She was pale, taller and made of a more solid material. Some villagers would boast that they were so light they could float, but Dylena was more like a skinny tree, solid and bound to the ground, cursed to only travel by walking with her legs. So since she felt like an outcast she hoped that during Viewing day she might eventually spot someone or something that looked like her. Each year she hoped, but each year she was disappointed.

This was a new year though and Dylena raced down the hill to town. In only a few hours the Viewing would begin and she wanted to be ready. She quickly went to her house and changed her clothes. She changed from the typical linen body wrappings that most people wore to a lovely black dress with small glowing lights she would put in her long black hair. The dress was to make her look elegant like the shadows and she hoped the soft lights made her more attractive to the spirits and wisps of the town.

Then she heard the horn and music started to play. Dylena’s red eyes flashed with excitement. Then she ran from the house and into the town square to meet up with everyone else. From there the town would march out to the viewing spot, singing songs about the mystery of the window and playing their little holiday drums. Dylena sang at the top of her lungs and smiled as they all marched. Once on the outskirts of town the town’s people gathered in a circle around the spot they expected the window to appear. They talked and ate various holiday foods. Some creatures could only ingest mists or vapors but more enjoyed solid foods, various meats and cake would be served that night for everyone to enjoy. Despite being a bit of an outcast, Dylena had a few people to talk to and was friendly to everyone. She enjoyed her various colored deserts and a sweet meat of a forest dweller. Which looked like fat monkeys.

As the night grew late the people sat eagerly waiting for the Viewing. There was a rumble, then suddenly a flash of light. The villagers made happy squealing noises as the window began to form. Dylena looked in wonder through the portal. It showed images of a dark blue night sky, the pale white moon, green ‘grass’. Large trees made of wood, colored in bright orange, red and yellow leaves. Everything was solid, like her. The people were strange though. They almost resembled Dylena’s shape, but they wore cloaks and hoods, strange colorful clothes and some even carried weapons. The creatures of the window not only looked different than the people of her world, but they also looked different from eachother. How odd it was to see a group of creatures and no two looked alike. One had a large orange head with hollow eyes, some were covered in white cloth. Some had faces of pink skin others had rubbery demon faces. It was terrifying and fun all at the same time.

After a few hours the window started to fade. The villagers sighed and began to walk off. Dylena stayed though. She usually stayed until every last trace of the window was gone for good. This night though after everyone left, the window stayed open, half faded but still visible. Since the crowd was gone Dylena could get as close as she wanted for the remaining time she had with the window. She even tried to touch it, hoping that one day it would be more than just an image.  Others have tried to interact with it, but none have been able to touch. As if it didn’t exist. No sound, smell, taste or touch, just the sight of another world through a hole in the air. Dylena put her hand up to it, wishing she could visit this land, wishing the night lasted a little longer. Her hand passed through the window as always, she closed her eyes and sighed.

When she opened them though, the world looked different. The Sky was dark blue not purple, the stars didn’t scream into the night and the moon was a pale white or yellow. Dylena’s mind raced, as it became a possibility that she had crossed over into the window world.

John Nasher was getting too old for Halloween, or at least that’s what his friends and even parents said. He was sixteen now but loved Halloween and tried to get the most out of it every year. He would still do parties and dress up but this was his last night to trick or treat. Even at sixteen he felt too old to be trick or treating. His friends agreed to go with him though and the free candy was nice. So here it was, his last Halloween as a ‘kid’. John walked out of his house wearing a vampire costume, Pale skin, a cloak, red eye contacts and fangs. He looked pretty great. He walked down the street of the little suburban neighborhood and was going to meet up with his friends when he saw a strange glow. The glow faded then suddenly there was a quick flash. John could see again he saw a beautiful girl standing in the street wearing a gothic black dress, shiny stuff in her hair, pale skin and the same red contacts that he had. “Nice costume” he said to her. He was startled but didn’t know what else to say. “Whats your name?” John asked. The girl looked around as if seeing the world for the first time, when she looked at John she smiled. “My name is Dylena, nice to meet you”