I always remembered her eyes... and how she wanted to be real.
I always remembered the way she looked the day when she realized she was. When I realized she was.
I was only ten. My name is Anna. The year was 2016. I loved the show My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic. I used to hurry home every day after school and watch it on TV when I discovered it at age nine.
I was a bit annoyed I had to spend my summer at my grandmother's house. My grandmother was old and stinky, and even though she was always giving me hard candy, I wanted to be free in my own neighbourhood with the other kids my age.
Not in the middle of the country side in the blazing heat by myself with no other children around.
I had a sad face on me when I was dropped off at my grandmother's. She looked at me with a big toothy grin and I just frowned, turning my clear blue eyes down to the ground.
"Don't worry, Anna... mum will be fine. Just be good for Granny." My dad had told me. I knew mum was sick and was in hospital and dad needed to be there for her.
But I wanted to be there too. She was sick, me being there could make her better.
I missed her lovely brown hair. It was gone now. All I could see when I looked at my mother these days was just a bald scalp. And hollows under her eyes, her pale skin.
My granny took my hand and led me into her old crooked house. It was wooden and made of timber I think. I don't know. I didn't want to be there... I looked outside the kitchen window as she led me around and said to me.
"You can play in the backyard whenever you like. Just tell me first."
"Yes, Granny..."
"Anna, don't be worried about your mum. She'll be fine."
"I know..." I said. I wasn't even thinking about mum. Just thinking about how I was alone here with my grandmother. No cousins, no kids to play with and hang out with. No one.
"Well, go outside and play, while I make dinner."
I opened my eyes surprised to hear that. It was only three in the day. Who ate dinner this early? I sighed, and nodded my head. I headed for the front door, and just turned my head back around to look at the old house.
There was cobwebs in the corners of where the ceilings met the walls. There was dust everywhere. I sighed again, and left.
I went outside and saw I was surrounded by many trees and dry green grass. I kept in the shade so that the heat wouldn't hurt my skin. I played a game where I jumped to each shadowy spot of grass, avoiding the sun. As I jumped to the last shady area, I suddenly felt a gust of wind and tripped forward a little. I felt the wind blow my clothes and hair chaotically around and I shivered as I heard it howl like a wolf.
I was scared. I did not like my granny's place. It was scary and isolating. It was where my dad grew up with his three siblings. I don't know how he could've been brave enough to live here.
I stood there, grabbing the sides of my arms as I shivered, and saw the sun hide behind a cloud. I walked back indoors and closed the door.
I could smell food cooking. It smelt like potatoes and pork. I stuck out my tongue a little. I didn't like potatoes that much. They were icky.
I walked to the living area and saw a tiny old square television with a big boxy backside to it in a wooden cabinet. I looked at it, and sighed. We had a thirty inch television at home. This one was so small. I didn't feel my enthusiasm for this place increasing at all. No, instead it was the opposite. It was decreasing with every minute that went by.
I looked at the time on the old coo-coo clock to see it was time for my show. I suddenly beamed a smile and turned on the telly. I wasn't sure how to work it exactly. It didn't have a remote and only had dials and buttons on it.
I flicked through the channels by pressing the button that had a down arrow and finally my show popped on.
My little pony, my little pony...
I sat down and watched it, listening to the theme song play loudly and watched as my show started.
I looked to see it was a new episode. Princess Twilight had to deal with Spike getting too cocky, and I laughed as I watched this. There was a scene with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, where Rainbow said.
"Look's like we'll have to investigate. The cool way."
I giggled at the way she said that, rubbing her hoofs together evilly, and she suddenly blinked, looking around confused, while Fluttershy spoke.
"Oh, Rainbow. I'm sure he's acting this way because of his new friend."
Rainbow seemed to glitch a little in the scene and I crooked my eyebrows up confused, watching her, lost.
"Yeah, you're right Fluttershy. But we need to be sure."
"You tell her, Rainbow Dash!" I shouted at the screen and Rainbow Dash seemed to glitch a little again in the screen. Her eyes suddenly seemed to gaze right out to me and I jumped a little, frightened.
"Who said that?" Rainbow said.
"...m-me..." I mumbled. The screen seemed to freeze a little. Like my granny's TV had really bad reception, but I could see Rainbow Dash blink as she looked at me. She was the only one not fuzzy and she spoke back quietly.
"You...?"
I screamed, and the TV flashed a few colours, before she glitched again and the next scene had come on, showing her back to normal and talking to Spike and Twilight.
I quickly ran up to the television and turned it off. My granny hurried into the room, as fast as an elderly granny could, and looked at me terrified, asking.
"Anna, what's wrong...?"
"The- the- the pony on the TV t-talked to me!"
"The what, honey?" My grandmother asked, baffled, and I swallowed, getting up and bursting into tears.
"The pony Rainbow Dash, looked at me, and she TALKED to me!"
"Anna, don't be silly." My granny told me, with a relieved laugh. "That's impossible. You imagined it."
"N-no..." I peeped, wiping my eyes and she nodded her head knowingly.
"That's a cartoon... and you are a real girl. In the real world."
"But she w-was real..."
"I thought you were getting a bit too big for make-believe, Anna." My granny told me, shaking her head with a tsk tsk sound. I stood there, not knowing what else to say, before my granny said to me with a kind smile. "Come on, time for dinner."
I had red eyes from the tears I had cried. But I obeyed her, and followed the grey haired woman out to the dining room, where my meal of potatoes and pork were waiting for me.
I didn't feel like eating. My stomach felt like it was doing flips and tosses in terror at what I thought I had seen. Did I just imagine it? I didn't know. I felt really stupid now. Maybe I had day dreamed it... but it seemed so real.
I had to check out if this phenomenon was real. I would google it after dinner.
I asked granny if I could use her computer after I had forced the food down my throat and she just laughed.
"Sweetie, I don't have a computer."
"What?"
"Yep... you're old fashioned granny doesn't believe in them."
"Well do you have any internet?"
"Nope. That stuff corrupts the mind."
"No, it doesn't..?" I said confused and my granny just laughed.
"Yes it does, silly."
I sighed, disappointed and frustrated.
After dinner I got out my phone to see if I could get any internet reception on my phone, but there was none. I think the trees were blocking it. Plus there was some mountains a little in the distance that would've disrupted the signal as well.
I sat down on the couch with a big huff out, in despair. This all couldn't be happening. I needed to know why I thought I saw Rainbow Dash talking to me on the screen. I had never seen anything like that before in all my life. Was I crazy...?
Was I a nut like those crazy people in those asylums I had heard of?
I didn't feel crazy? If I was crazy I would be jumping all about the place and screaming and shouting... I'm pretty sure I would.
Plus, I was ten. And even though I did stupid things every once in a while, I rarely did anything that was even slightly insane.
X
I lay in bed that night, shivering and shaking in fear of the creeks and whistling I heard in the house. There was a draft that made everything squeak and shake and made me nervous and upset over it all. I was such a coward. I couldn't help it.
I normally wasn't afraid of the dark. But in this country side, it was completely black. At home in the city suburbs, there would always be some sort of light from the street lamps outside, or from a neighbour's house.
And there would be normal noise like dogs barking, cats meowing and people talking in the houses next door.
Here... the noises weren't normal... no, they were scary. They were unnatural.
They were of squeaks, and of wind howling outside. Of things creaking and the sound of crying.
I paused as I could hear the crying, and blinked my eyes confused. I listened to it in the dark. It sounded like someone young, but still older than me.
My granny was asleep. It didn't sound like her anyway. But the reason why I knew it wasn't her was because I could hear her snoring loudly. Another sound I didn't like here.
I heard the crying voice call through out the house then.
"...h-hello...?"
I froze. It sounded like... no, IT COULDN'T B-BE...
But it sounded like her so much.
"...h-hello..? Little girl..?"
I began to shake and cry myself in terror. I looked out my open door from my bed, shaking there in utter fear as I saw white light illuminating down the hall. I said back in a scared beg.
"GO AWAY!"
"Please... can... you hear me...?"
"What do you want?!" I cried, tears splashing down my cheeks as I was so afraid and upset. The voice seemed to be shaking too in it's words and it said to me, slowly.
"Please come out... please..."
I shook my head quickly in fierce rejection. "No! You're not real!"
"Please... p-please..."
I began to shake, and shiver. I got out of my bed, and felt my little feet hit the cold wooden ground. I walked out towards the hall, standing just at my door as I looked at the light in the distance coming from the living room.
"P-please..."
I swallowed, scared. Afraid. But wanting to see her again... wanting company in this scary house... which this voice should be making scarier... but it was her.
Someone I knew.
Well... who I thought I knew...
As fictional... suddenly becoming so much more.
I entered into the living room slowly, but took a frightened step back when I saw the static screen on the television.
And Rainbow Dash just sitting there in the static... by herself, her cartoon eyes filled with tears, as she had been crying.
But she had seen me, and she said quickly as I began to run away.
"Please... wait!"
I froze. And turned around. I looked at her, my chest going up and down in heavy breaths and I said in a quaky, scared voice.
"You're not real..."
"Who are you..?" Rainbow asked, smiling a forced kind smile and I stumbled back more towards the door. Rainbow's big eyes opened wider and she begged, "PLEASE! J-just... I won't hurt you... I can't anyway."
She tapped the glass of the television, and I swallowed, taking a small step back towards her, so confused.
"See... I'm in here... you're out there."
"You're not real! You're not real!" I begged and Rainbow just sighed, looking down to her hoofs... and muttering.
"I... I know..."
I sat down nervously on the lounge, keeping my distance from her. But she continued, slowly. She looked right into my eyes as she said this.
"But... somehow... I am... now..."
"N-no..." I said, shaking my head in fear. "You aren't!"
"But... I heard a voice today... I saw something. I suddenly saw light. I saw you... I'm real. I'M REAL!"
"Okay...!" I said in a scared cry, my voice breaking up in my tears and she asked me, her eyes angry now as she demanded this.
"Now tell me."
I swallowed, looking at her.
"What. Is. Your. Name."
I shook as I sat on that couch, and only looked at that cartoon pony's ruby eyes. Not knowing what to say but finally the word came out my mouth.
"Anna..."
Rainbow just stared at me, still crossed. She look at me for a a whole minute, the two of us keeping quiet before she finally said.
"Now... tell me this... Anna"
I swallowed, listening. The space between us was so far yet so small, as the whole room glowed of the white static light that was coming out of the TV.
"What did you do?"