Glitch | #ONC2020 ✔

Chapter One

*The Beginning*

I wake up with a jolt, my brain not comprehending anything in my tired and slothful state. A groan escapes my lips as pain erupts from my back.

My fingers reach for my pillow to scream in, but they do not find the cushion.

My eyes widen as my brain decides to finally realize where I am. My eyelids squint as the darkness surrounding me is difficult to see in.

My mind only thinks of what I know; my pillow is missing, and my bed is as hard as a rock. My mattress also feels way too cold to actually be made of the insulating materials that it originally was made of.

My eyes, that are finally adjusting to the low light, spot shadows around me. What those shadows are, I have no idea. My eyes can only see that they are not moving.

"Sorry! Due to technical difficulties, the simulation has been interrupted. Normal services will begin shortly."

A woman's voice breaks the silence. The voice sounded robotic, like the sound of those bots that read Reddit posts for entertainment.

"Wha-" I interrupt myself as the feeling of fatigue overcomes me. My body becomes limp as my eyes begin to close.

What a strange dream.

•

I wake up with a jolt, sweat making my short hair stick to my forehead awkwardly. I sigh and run my hand through my locks, trying to settle down.

My mind, not wanting me to forget anything, reminds me of the dream. I've dreamed of a lot, but never something as strange as that.

I roll off my bed, my body immediately colliding with the carpet as gravity pushes against it. I cough, the wind returning to my lungs after the impact. "Forgot I couldn't float." I laugh at myself as my voice comes out raspy.

I stand up, the soles of my huge feet touching the ground fully. I reach over to my window that is over my bed to pull the blinds up but soon regret it. Light pours in without mercy, blinding my poor eyes.

I groan and stumble a bit, knocking over a figurine of a popular iron hero.

"Is that Cyrus I hear?" A woman's voice, my mother's, carries itself through the floor and into my room, albeit muffled.

"Morning mom!" I yell back and stumble to my bedroom door. My feet are as tired as I am, so they decided that they wish not to work for me.

"Morning to you too honey." I fumble with my doorknob until my morning brain can finally realize that I need to twist it. "Get down here sweetie! I made biscuits and gravy!"

I basically pull the door off of its hinges before bolting down the stairs, greeted by my mom.

My mom is sitting at the table with a plate of uneaten biscuits and gravy in front of her. Her natural brown hair is pulled up into a medium height ponytail. "Good morning dear."

I mumble a morning greeting before walking over to the cookie sheet of freshly made biscuits. The golden brown yumminess makes my mouth water. I grab a few of the warm biscuits and shuffle eagerly over towards the saucepan full of gravy.

My hand grasps the ladle and makes the gravy drizzle on the flaky golden brown biscuits as the spoon tilts.

Once again, my mouth waters as my feet carry me to my seat. Once I finally sit down, I am quick to be into the breakfast goodness that is my favorite. As my mouth is full of the amazing food my mother just stares at me. The food goes down my throat before I stare back at her. "Anything wrong mom?"

She shakes her head before looking away from me. Out of the corner of my eye, as I continue to consume my food, I see her pull out her phone before gasping. "You need to get going, honey! School isn't going to wait for you!" She hops out of her seat and disappears in the other room.

I groan slightly before standing up and slipping on my shoes that are only a few feet away from the table. "Bye, mom!" I yell out before yanking the door open. My shoes slap against the ground as my legs pump, but I'm not tired.

The sun is shining, and no clouds are in the sky. A light breeze blows through my hair, but it isn't too windy. The weather is perfect, so it's sad that I can't just walk around.

The school, that is not that far from my house, gets bigger and bigger in my vision, before being right in front of me. I go through the door and stroll in. The door shuts quietly behind me.

I stroll over to my locker, immediately putting in the combination. "There's my favorite guy!" I jump before turning around to see a female with flaming red hair and a bright smile.

I sigh before running my hand through my dark locks. My heart skips a beat as I see her beaming face. "Hello to you too, Aira." I turn around and get out my English book.

I feel two arms grab my shoulders and turn me around a little too forcefully. I see the red-head smiling at me, forcing me to look away awkwardly so I don't look into her eyes. "You sir, are way too formal while talking." She let's go of me and giggles. "Do you know how boring that is?"

I roll my eyes and shut my locker, making sure it's locked soon after. "If you don't like it, bother someone else." I start to walk away from her.

"I never said I didn't want to hang out with you." I hear behind me before seeing Aira bouncing around next to me. "Aren't you excited? We get to read 'The Color Purple' today!"

"Oh yeah," I mutter to myself before zoning out while walking. I bump into a person, making me halt. It turns out, it's Aira the shorty in front of me. "Wha-"

"You're being strange today," she says with her eyes narrowed. "Did anything happen? I thought your mom was being better. If she's back to her old self, tell me. You can always hang out at my house again."

I shake my head at her. "Don't worry, my home life is just fine. I just had a strange dream last night, okay?" I move her to the side before entering the English classroom.

"Well it's just a dream, so don't worry!" She says brightly before sitting down at her seat.

I smile at her before sitting down next to her. "Yeah, just a dream."

Word Count Without Title: 1,113
Word Count With Title: 1,115