ERTIFFERRAH WRITTEN BY: ELAY UNDERSTOOD - CHAPTER 5 THE GIFT ROOM -- Elay TV Content Creator
She never realized how large the room was and she assumed that no one else noticed it either. If she had known just how far back the room went and all the treasures that lay ahead, without question, she would have rummaged a little further. So much was crammed onto the numerous shelves.
It was like a super-sized warehouse on steroids! The first half of the room was in meticulous order. Color-coded shelves were filled with gifts of all kinds, from all around the world. Each color represented regions of the world from which they came. Furthermore, the gifts from each country were broken down into groups according to cities.
Before each gift was sent it its designated shelf for storage, it was signed in at the front desk by the person who brought it. A brief description was written alongside its name in a large white book. Next, the gifts were taken to a small area behind the sign-in desk and placed on a black marble table. There, the gift was scanned by a green light for impurities, obstructive devices (heaven forbade), and so forth. Once scanned, the gift was placed on a conveyer belt and delivered to the Distribution Room. This is where Ertifferrah is planned to work this coming summer, as getting the job was as easy as breathing.
The further she walked into the room, the dimmer the lights became and so, proceeding with a little caution was exercised.
With aisles and aisles of gifts to choose from, she didn’t know where to begin or what to pick. Thoughts of paying Lady Governess more visits crossed her mind, so she could get more gifts but dismissed the thought because it would have been wrong to be so greedy.
In the distance, was a white wall that marked the end of her private adventure. Approaching slowly, she came face to the cold wall which was lined with hundreds of silver shelves.
“An empty wall.” She painfully sighed softly to herself, wishing secretly that it hadn’t come to an end. Peering at the white wall, she smoothed her hand against it. Using her imagination, wishing somehow that the wall would lead to the heavens and to the sun, for the wall reminded her of the sky and the silver shelves, the clouds.
Suddenly coming down from the high of her daydream and into the emptiness of the area made her feel eerie. Turning around and seeing where she stood and how far the EXIT sign was made her skin crawl. In all her days of walking through Lady Governess quarters, never had she been in a room or even a corner of a room that made her feel uneasy like this.
The lights flickered. She gasped, realizing that it must have been closing. How she lost track of the time was a mystery to her, but then again, with the place being so large…
On that note, she thought it wise to end the adventure. Maybe I’ll come back tomorrow. This would have been a small matter if the warehouse had windows to let in the light, but, it didn’t. She moved forward at a feverish pace, seeing that the exit was much farther than she anticipated. She rushed to get there, but the lights started to turn off much faster now. Row by row, they went out. “Shoomp! Shoomp! Shoomp!
Trying to make a mental note of the pathway that lay ahead, but by that time it was absolutely dark.
Ertifferrah stopped and listened to the silence. She could hear herself breathe. Finding the way back would be difficult. She was so far in that shouting for help would be pointless – the cries would only dissipate. Waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark, a whistling noise approached her steadily, but from which direction?
Listening in panic, the sound came closer, until-WHOOSSHH! A large force of wind burst past spinning her around. Grabbing hold of a shelf to keep from falling, she cringed as her hand was sliced on a sharp edge of a shelf. “Owww!” She screamed. The shelf popped, bending with a jerk; thrusting Ertifferrah onto the cold floor.
Pressing her palm against the floor for leverage, she stood up but slipped in the blood that dripped from her hand. Either it was her eyes playing tricks or just some really good imagination because from out of nowhere, two glowing white doors materialized before her. Outlining them, rippling lines of blue, which revealed a starry night sky. –And in a moment’s time, just like that, the doors vanished.
Ertifferrah sat jaw-dropped in disbelief. After what felt like an eternity, she finally got up on her feet and stretched her arms out into the darkness, determined to feel her way back to the entrance of the gift room.
“One step, two steps, three, steps. Ow!” Hands jamming into a wall.
Swallowing hard, she reattempted what she had just failed but the same results happened. Not wanting to panic, she repeated the steps again. Turning around in each direction, wildly groping for a way out of what appeared to be a box. All around, a wall sealed her in, above her…, she was trapped. But how? How could it be, when a few seconds ago, she was in the chilly gift room.
Feeling trapped, boxed in. Maybe if I close my eyes and open them, this will all just go away. But to no avail, the walls remained.
Thinking of how long it might take before she ran out of oxygen, she started coaching herself as to not go into a mode of panic. “Come on, come on! We can do this, let’s do this. It’s okay.”
Leaning back against a wall, she began crying, wondering if she'd ever get out; unknowing that the wall was gradually sliding backward.
“Oof...” Her back it the ground causing a puff of dust to fly up.
“Where am I?”
Greenlight emerged from a distance casting eerie shadows across the walls.
Hairs raised on the back of her neck. This wasn’t normal, to have a feeling of danger inside or around Lady Governess’s property. With each step, she took, the further from society she felt.
In an attempt to make light of the situation, she dismissed her panic and chose to think of happier times.
-A time when her mother and father had taken a long morning walk on the beach. They silently walked the sands with Ertifferrah sandwiched in between. It was moments as such that reminded her of the strong connection they used to share. Walking together, not having to say a word and knowing that the silence wasn’t because someone was harboring dark secrets or resentments but simply because oftentimes, silence shared between the family was just as wonderful as talking.
Recalling the day on the beach when she wanted to walk on the wooden pier path that extended a branched a great length into the sea. Her parents didn’t want to go as far as her so they joined only partway and said they would continue back on the beach and finish their walk and head home-secure in knowing that their daughter would be okay.
With the thought of the pier in mind, Ertifferrah approached the beginning of a hallway that resembled the pier. The way the halls breathed out a cool sensation from the walls; like the mists of the waters from the sea, that day on the beach.
Pale streaks of light striped the walls and floor which she imagined to be the wood from which the pier was made from. The hall was almost a replication of that moment from before; all she needed now was the sun.
Eternity is how it felt walking the hall alone. Knowing that with every step she was that much closer to finding a way out. On the other hand, behind her, she found comfort in knowing that at least she knew there was a way out although it would be of a great challenge finding the door she first entered. Considering the two options, she stopped and turned around. Wondering if she should try heading back, but the thought didn’t last too long once noticing the pale stripes of light widen as more light breached through the darkness.
There seemed to be a way out up ahead! Excitement escaped her parched lips. Motioning with caution, she jogged towards a door. “Hello…?” She knocked. “Hel, hello?” A green glow seeped from beneath the door and a smell of burning metal filled her nostrils, suffocating the stale air out of her. Pausing before twisting the knob to enter, she knew that whatever was behind the door had nothing to do with the gift room.
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