Just Another Day

Mike Anderson was riding his bike to school, as he usually did. Spring break had just ended and the weather was horrible. It was constantly cloudy or rainy with everything always being casted in shadows almost all day. It was strikingly similar to his mood, dark, dreary, and lonely. He wasn't very much of a social guy, his nightmares made sure of that. The few friends he ever had all left him whenever he'd tell them about his dreams. Mike was the laughingstock of the school, known as the skinny kid who never stood up too a fight and hated large crowds. He hated it here, at Challenger, the name even helped set the idea that it was dismal here, seeing as it was based off a failed space flight.

As he pulled up, he spotted the one that usually tried to hurt him the most, Jaythen, walking down the sidewalk across from him. Mike immediately swerved his bike behind a pole, almost ramming into a concrete railing as he tried to avert Jaythen's gaze. He thankfully avoided his wrath as Jaythen never even noticed him. Probably too immersed in that smart-phone of his Mike thought bitterly, he wasn't the poorest kid around, but he was jealous that a brat like Jaythen got all the cool smartphones while he had to deal with old half-broken flip-phones.

After Mike locked up his bike he headed to his locker, dodging and weaving around the other students, not very eager for a confrontation. Once there, he hastily put all of his stuff in his locker and grabbed what he needed for the day, not really wanting to discuss the current rumors. There were rumors going around the nation. That an island the size of Texas appeared in the middle of the indian ocean and that it was surrounded by a pink wall. It was quite a stupid notion though, Mike knew the media could be more creative than that when they wanted to draw attention.

Just as he was closing his locker, he heard the one voice he didn't want to hear, "Hey, Toothpick!" came the rough voice of Jaythen as he walked up behind Mike. Mike immediately got up and tried to book it, but it was too late as Jaythen already had a hold of his shirt collar and was pulling him back, not caring how much he was choking. Mike had always has been abnormally skinny, no matter how much he ate, he would never gain weight, although he was also above average in height, this shape earned him the name "Toothpick."

Mike wheezed as he was shoved against his locker, with Jaythen wearing his usual smirk. "Toothpick, you know what day it is?" he said in a sing-song voice. Mike barely managed to shake his head no. "Today marks the one-year anniversary of our first meeting, which means we should celebrate by re-enacting our first encounter!" Jaythen grinned maniacally. Mike's eyes widened as he recalled that the first time they met, he beat Mike to a pulp for bumping into him. He immediately started struggling to get free so he could get away, but Jaythen's grip was too strong.

"Please don't do it, I will do anything!" Mike pleaded, but Jaythen's smirk only widened.

Then the punching began, and then the kicking, all he could hear was the laughter of Jaythen and his friends around him as he was beaten, but Jaythen didn't stop after a minute, he kept going, not stopping even when his friends started getting worried about how much Jaythen was beating Mike up. Mike was in a world of pain, no one was going to help him, he knew that, but that didn't get rid of the pain that was both emotional and physical. Mike tried a desperate defense and punched Jaythen in the stomach, but that only enraged Jaythen as he only heightened his attack. Not stopping even as Mike felt a rib break. Then Mike snapped.

Mike got a sudden burst of anger, stronger than any anger he has ever felt. He was tired of being mistreated and abandoned and bullied. His injuries only adding fuel to the fire. "No More" Mike said as he rolled away from Jaythen faster than most could react and stood up.

Jaythen smirked as if expecting a fun fight, but then took on a look of horror and backed up in shock. Mike didn't know why he did that, but he took the opportunity to punch him in the face and then shove him into the lockers. He kept punching until he realized everyone was staring in terror as well. It hit home with him as he recognized those expressions. They were the same from his nightmares.

He looked back down to Jaythen, who he saw scrambling away who was still staring at him in horror. Jaythen got back to his feet and started stammering "St-stay away from me f-f-freak!" Mike was at a loss for words at this point, but caught a glimpse of something in the reflection of his locker mirror and It made my heart drop into an abyss, abolishing any anger he had and replacing it with a sinking feeling.

His pupils were blue and slitted.

Mike had gone into shock and had froze. The terror he was feeling was immense, because he could voices and for the first time, they were real. Everyone around him was yelling, screaming, and throwing things at him. He didn't even feel the books and binders hit him as he had retreated into his own mind. He could only see Darkness, and feel the endless accusations against him, weighing him down, breaking him.

Mike was pulled out of his trance as Jaythen ran up and smashed a laptop across his head. "FREAK!" he had yelled.
It had hurt but, surprisingly Mike didn't fall from it or even bleed. It only made the terror grow in everyone's eyes. Mike, broken and hated ran, trying to get away from the nightmare that this day had become. He ran, and ran, desperate to just get as far away as possible,

Mike was wheezing and shivering as he ran up the steps to his house. He hastily grabbed his key, unlocked the door and threw himself inside and slammed the door closed as if trying to keep out a hoard of zombies. His parents wouldn't be home until five so he didn't have to give them an excuse about why he was home so early. He collapsed to the ground and cried himself to sleep as the nightmares came crawling in.

It was Half past noon by the time Mike woke up and he was feeling no better than before. He anxiously made his way to the bathroom, scared the see what would be in the mirror. To his thankfulness his eyes were no longer slitted which calmed him down a lot, but then seized up when he realized his iris' was still blue, not their regular bright green.

He just gave up at that point of making sense of anything and trudged out of the bathroom dejected and wanting to take his mind off of the days events. He got on T.V. and tried to watch a cartoon, but it just pained him more to see how happy the characters were. He tried playing some Video Games, but he just couldn't focus on them.

Mike decided to just turn on the news and see what the reporters were saying about the "island" that appeared in the middle of the ocean. He suspected that it'd still be vague as before and as dumb as before, but what harm could come from that? He pulled up the news and was immediately flooded with images of naval ships from a helicopter view as they floated near the "barrier" as some were calling it. Then the reporters voice came through. "-re live here at the magic island that has caused a media storm as the Australian Navy sends a drone into the pink wall." The camera zooms in a drone as it flies towards the endless sea of pink and then slows down as it gets close, the moment it goes through it disappears, although land is visible beyond the wall, the drone vanishes as if it never existed.

Mike was lost in thought as the reporters rambled about how it disappeared, but attention was caught again when he heard the reporter shout "My god, look at that." There were specks on the other side of the barrier, gradually getting larger, then passed right through. Mike was surprised to see some flying creatures come through, hard to make out due to the distance, but they appeared to have something raised. The reporter in his awe dropped the camera and the feed cut out.

The camera came back on and I nearly fell out of my chair as I say flying equines that looked too close for comfort with the creatures in my dreams. I calm myself down and keep watching as they flight towards one of the ships with a white flag raised. They land and they converse with a the captain of said ship.

After a while of tense anticipation, a bright flash is seen on screen, the color drains from Mike's face, thinking they were attacked, but the flash fades and what is left behind makes Mike jump up so fast he hit the fan. He would recognize her anywhere even if she looked slightly different

"Greeting, I am Queen Celestia, I wish to converse with your leader."

Author's Note

This took a lot longer than I thought it would to make.
Not very proud of it but I did my best, Critique is appreciated.