First Fractures
Cracked Vision
First Fractures
Derek heard a crash outside and, human instincts kicking in, rushed to the window before peering through to see what the noise was.
A smoking wreckage of a car lay before his eyes, the thick smoke drifting up to his window, obscuring his already impaired vision. The car itself had smashed into one of the lamp posts on the pavement. But through the smoke and through the blackness, he saw something – something unusual.
A small equine figure was next to the deformed car, observing what had happened. Derek wasn't stupid. He was by no means smart but his logic was adequate enough to deduce that the horse was the cause of the mess. Perhaps the driver had seen it and lost control trying to avoid it? The skid marks were certainly there as evidence of this.
However, as Derek gave the matter some more thought, it seemed something didn't quite add up. The horse look unfazed by the event; it hadn't fled yet either. Surely it would have cantered off by now? In fact, as he squinted further through the smoke, it didn't look much like the horses around these parts. It was smaller and less bulky than a regular sized equine which was understandable: perhaps it was a filly. But surely it would have definitely fled in fright?
The black smoke partially cloaked his vision but the creature's fur definitely didn't look white, black or brown: the usual colours. It looked... purple. It averted its gaze and looked up towards his window, aware it was being watched.
A few moments passed. He had to take a closer look before it most certainly ran.
Sprinting down the stairs, he ignored calls from his parents and burst into the now polluted air outside. Staggering through the smoke, the thickness of it almost choking him, he came to the edge of the wreckage. There was no equine; only the driver clambering out.
Where had it gone? Had it really left whilst I made my way down? Maybe it's still here somewhere...
Derek looked wildly around, looking down both ends of the road, but to no success.
“Oi, lend us a hand will ya?”
Derek had been so embedded in his own thoughts about the horse that he had forgotten about the accident.
Moving over, he offered a hand to the man who was trying to escape the car, the door seemingly stuck. His face and clothes were blackened but there were few visible wounds.
Knowing that he was fine, Derek's thoughts focussed once more on the thing he had seen.
“What happened, sir?” he asked, eager to get the driver's take on the creature.
“I ain't sure if I'm quite honest; I think something jammed,” the man said, dusting his clothes down.
“Oh, I thought you had seen something and tried to avoid it,” Derek added hopefully. Perhaps he hadn't seen.
“You questioning my eyesight, boy? I ain't seen nothing. I tell ya, I felt something jam.”
Maybe he was mistaken after all.
“I thought I saw a horse when I came running down to see what had happened. You're telling me this wasn't the reason you crashed?” asked Derek, making crystal clear he understood.
“Horse? What horse? I'm pretty sure I would have seen a darn horse.”
“Okay then, I was mistaken. Thanks for your time,” he muttered, disappointed, before he wandered off back to his house.
“Thanks for your time? What was this; some sort of damn survey? I had almost had a serious accident boy,” the man grumbled. “You gonna help me fix this?”
But Derek wasn't interested. He was already gone.
***
Derek returned to school on Monday, the next day. He hadn't slept well – that horse-thing had been engrained in his mind all night. He had even dreamt that the creature was still there when he had come down. That it had turned around and given him a warm smile before beckoning him to follow as it trotted away. He had started to do just that, but the dream had then ended.
The horse occupied his thoughts all through lessons that day. Just the mystique surrounding it was too much to comprehend. He had been sure he'd seen it. It had behaved in an abnormal way and its coat definitely looked some shade of purple from what he had seen. Perhaps the smoke had altered the appearance of its colour. Or perhaps he had just discovered that he was in fact colour blind.
That wouldn't come as a surprise as he did wear glasses, after all. His eye condition was one the experts could not fully explain. Despite him having the best lens possible to fix his short-sight, everything was still slightly blurred around the edges. He was going to have an eye operation next month but the doctors had no idea what to expect. Maybe he got the colour wrong after all. The whole thing was very clear though...
“Derek! What's the answer?” his teacher called, abruptly ending his thought process.
Derek didn't know the answer. He just looked blankly downwards, twiddling his thumbs and submitting defeat. His teacher had a little moan, warning him that he better not fail the test later, and continued writing on the board.
Derek didn't know if he failed the test ten minutes later; he didn't care either. He had spent most of his time trying to redraw the creature from memory on the back of the question paper.
***
Derek found himself chilling with his mates under the shade of their favourite tree on the edge of the play area. He was popping in and out of the conversation; not really paying attention. This happened most days; not just because of the events the day before held. Still, he wouldn't have been able to hold conversation longer even if he tried.
“So yeah, I got my bike repainted the other day and it now looks about twenty percent cooler!”
“Dude, what? You know I hate maths.”
Jim was spouting rubbish as usual. Derek liked to think that he has some mental issue as he kept throwing random statements in here and there. He was probably his best friend, with his (relatively) kind nature and eager state of mind.
But at the moment he looked a bit deflated, as if his maths comment was meant to be funny or appealing or something. Derek didn't know or again, care.
Just when he was about to zone out again, he caught sight of something in the distance.
There was mistaking it this time – no smoke, just broad daylight.
Wandering through the crowds of boys and girls was that creature again. No, it looked different. It was tinged yellow with a billowing pink tail.
Derek rubbed his eyes frantically but the image did not change.
“Hey guys, check this out!” he exclaimed, pointing towards the equine. On second glance, Derek noticed that actually there were small wings tucked in its fur. There was a name for that he was sure. Some mythical creature. If only I'd been awake that history lesson.
“Check what out, man? The little kids?” Jim said. The others burst out laughing.
“No dude, the friggin' yellow horse-thing over there!”
“Umm, I think your dealer gave you a bad batch, mate. There's nothing there,” Bill responded.
Bill was a well-built fellow who lacked academical prowess, but was quite street-smart. He often joked about things, regardless of the circumstances. Although a yellow horse wasn't necessarily serious business, Derek still hoped that Bill would show more faith, and not muck around.
But Jim looked different now his friend has given a brief description; he seemed to be scanning the area ferociously, searching.
“You having me on? I looked for about ten seconds flat and I can't see a thing,” he finally said.
“Jim, enough with the pointless maths!” Bill shouted, also getting pissed off by his random inserts.
Derek was starting to panic with his heart throbbing against his ribcage. He did not take his eyes off the creature, as it moved slowly in their direction before stopping a few metres away. He managed to get a closer look: its eyes were huge with the irises a light blue; those were definitely wings he had seen from afar.
Its eyes were fixed in his direction, drawing him in. It looked so cute; looked so innocent.
Without thinking, Derek waved in its direction.
“Derek, leave those children alone you monster.”
Derek ignored the jibe and lowered his hand. The creature did not respond – it simply turned away and trotted off into the distance, it's head drooped.
He felt inclined to follow it; have a private confrontation with it, but craning his head, he saw it had already vanished.
“What the hell was that thing?” Derek asked.
“Dude, what thing?
“I swear I saw a yellow...pegasus,” said Derek, pinpointing the creature's identity at last. The history lesson had returned to his memory.
“Yep, definitely a bad batch mate. I saw nuthin',” said Bill.
The others nodded in agreement, some smirking. However Jim looked uncertain and Derek quickly noticed this.
“Did you see it, Jim?”
Jim was deep in thought. The signs were there, but why was he refusing to recognise the lines he kept saying? 20% Cooler was a dead cert, yet still he hadn't reacted. Still, the thing Derek said he had seen sounded a bit too familiar. Perhaps it was an attempt to get the message across? Unorthodox but still...
“Yeah I saw it, Derek. It had a pink tail, right?”
Derek relaxed a little: he wasn't just imagining things at least. Maybe not everyone could see it?
“Yeah, that's it.” The other boys were starting to wonder what the hell was actually going on. Yellow horse with pink tail? Definitely sounded hallucinogenic.
Jim's face was starting to form a slight grin. “That's great! We'll talk about this later then over the phone. Don't worry guys, we were just joking around.” Jim gave his friend a little wink.
Both were looking forward to that phone call later that day. For different reasons.
***
Derek had only just walked through his home door, before he felt his phone vibrating.
“Oh Derek I'm so happy I've found a friend who likes it too,” said Jim gleefully.
“Likes what?”
“Umm, the show we were discussing earlier?”
“Dude, what show?” said a puzzled Derek.
“That pony you said you 'saw'. Don't worry, I got the message loud and clear.”
“Yeah, that pegasus-horse. Do you have any idea what it was? It stared right at us, yet the others didn't see.”
“Enough with the act, you can stop it now. And don't you mean Flu-”
“What act? You saying I was making that up?” Derek angrily cut across.
“Well yeah, obviously. Probably just some side-effects from LSD then I guess.”
“I don't take that stuff you idiot! You telling me that you lied and that you didn't see it?”
“Just think back and remember. Either drugs or you're ill. Only you saw it. But that's not important now. At least you like-”
“I'm not ill damn it!” shouted Derek down the line before hanging up.
He was sweating now – this was getting serious. His friend had lied to him; nobody else had seen the creature. The rest of the kids on the playground hadn't noticed either, he also recalled.
“Honey, are you okay?” called a soft voice from down the corridor.
“I'm fine mum!” Derek shouted before dumping his bag furiously by the wall. Frustrated.
“Are you sure? Either way, you're just in time for dinner!”
Derek trudged into the kitchen and sat down, making every effort to look depressed, hoping they'd give sympathy.
“Aw, honey, what's wrong?” Mum asked. She was sitting at the table, the food all laid out before her.
“I see multicoloured horses that no one else can,” he said defiantly, crossing his arms.
“That's nice boy,” said Dad from behind his newspaper, not taking in a word of what his son had just said.
“Multicoloured? Do we need to go see the optician again?” Mum said.
Derek was starting to get angry again: why couldn't anyone believe him?
“No!” he yelled, slamming his fist on the table. The table shook and his hand began to hurt, throbbing slightly.
He sat there fuming and, through his rage,thought back to the horses. They were so clear at the time; it would have been impossible to imagine. They were clearer than reality itself – his eye condition owed him that. It's not like he had ever seen them before, so there was nothing they were based off in his head.
Derek got up from the table, having eaten nothing, and stormed up to his room. He stamped up the stairs and kicked a few walls on the way up before slamming his door shut, causing the wood to splinter.
After panting for a few hard seconds against the door he turned around and jumped backwards with shock. There before him, was a blue pegasus.
This was the first time he'd seen one of the creatures so close. It's fur was a beautiful blue, but its tail and mane were the colours of a rainbow. It was exquisitely crafted, the colours vibrant but detailed with not a single strand out of place. Along its flank was some sort of rainbow and cloud fused together into a lightning bolt. It resembled a tattoo but looked more permanent, and less artificial, than one.
How had it got in?
That was answered by a cool breeze coming from the open window, tingling Derek's skin and rustling the horse's fur. It was looking right at him but... distantly.
It's huge red eyes did not seem to be interested on him. It began to look puzzled: its face forming a frown as it searched the room.
Derek began to approach; he wanted nothing more than to feel the fur. It looked so unreal he had to touch it.
He extended his hand towards the mane, ready to rustle it and feel the smooth textures.
The horse looked his way and he paused, unsure whether to advance. Its eyes stared right at him, no, through him.
The eyes he thought were looking at him only did so briefly before looking in the other direction, still puzzled.
Derek began to feel a lump rising in his throat.
Please, not them too.
His hand continued arcing forward, desperate to make contact with the creature and desperate to prove it was real. He had to prove that he really wasn't insane; that these things were real.
His hand struck air, not fur.
A tear began to form in his eye.
He waved his hand frantically but it moved effortlessly through the “horse” before him.
Please let them be real.
The creature made no sudden movements; made no implication that it had been touched. It seemed it had given up on its search too.
A defeated Derek witnessed as its wings unfurled, and it walked slowly over to the open window. It kicked off into the evening sky.
It was gone.
He simply fell to his knees. His mind was racing. It had seemed so real, so vivid, so alive. Yet no one else saw it, he could not touch it, and it could not see him. Logically, there was only one possible outcome remaining.
He had imagined it.
Drying his face, he crawled over to his bed, rolled in and buried himself in the pillow.
He wanted to sleep; he wanted to rid his mind of the illusions it had formed.
He wanted to forget everything had happened and confine it to the pit of his imagination.
He wanted to move on.
And yet he hoped that he would see them again in his dreams. Like the night before. He hoped that this time he would be able to touch them. Be able to feel them.
He just couldn't let go.
Derek closed his eyes, disregarding how early it was, and fell into a deep slumber.
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Nice story, I hope that there's more to come.
And you wrote house instead of horse in the beginning somewhere.... unless that was supposed to.
2606478 Glad you liked it. Also thanks for spotting the typo. Now fixed :)
2606605 no problem. Happy to help
NO YOU IDIOT DONT GIVE UP, I THINK YOUR WORLD EFFECTS IT SO YOU CAN TRY TO USE THAT TO CONTACT HER
Well this is interesting. I look forward to seeing more.
Not to try to sound racist or stereotypical or anything, but are you British because you seem to use words I don't know like "mates" for example.
(If this sounds stupid, I spend about a minute each day in the real world outside, and that is just to retrieve the mail)
Beautiful. I'll inform you of any typos and errors I find but in the mean time have fun.
This story is really good keep up the work bro /)
Wow, great story! Looking forward to seeing more!
Jolly good show, I wish to see more from you soon. Good day to you
.
2607476 I am British but I used those terms deliberately to make it feel more naturally like a teenage 'gang' of this era. Mates just means friends I guess.
2607900 Thanks for giving it a chance :) I will gradually reveal more of his appearance over time. Also I wrote this right after exam stress so that's why there's only one chapter. I will write more but not sure when I'll have the time with these exams.
You should describe things more: the surroundings, derek, his parents and schoolfriends, etc.
Flesh it out a bit more. Also it feels like every second sentence has the word "Derek" in it. If you use more pronouns like "he", sentences like "Derek didn't know the answer." woudn't seem so impersonal.
It's nice to see his thoughts in italics, makes him more relateable.
2610661 Thanks for the advice. I've taken it on board and will address it in the next chapter.
Okay so MLP:FIM exist in this world huh? It's an interesting beginning that show the premise of the story and after this chapter is now will decide how will your story go from there.
Oh god. They Live ponified.
Reread it ONCE?
I reread my stuff four or five times...
Are you winning, son?