Dead Land

During the football match, someone shoved me hard and I fell. My head crashed into a sharp stone, and everything went black.

I opened my eyes, and I could see the sky, trees, buildings, etc. But the thing was that everything was grey in color. It seemed as if the world had been switched to greyscale mode. I stood up unsteadily. Everything around me seemed dull and lifeless. I walked a few steps and came to a clearing, where I saw…creatures. I don’t think they should be called people, because firstly they were grey, like everything else, and also because…. they were just not normal. You will understand what I mean in a moment. They were not human, they were zombies, vampires, ghosts, skeletons and other things that I did not even know the name for. Imagine my horror when all of them, as one, turned towards me and began coming nearer and nearer. Soon there was a crowd around me as everyone strained their heads to get a look at the ‘newcomer’.

“Oh, such bright colors!”, sighed a zombie, looking at my clothes dreamily. “How did you die, dear? You are so young” tutted a female voice.

Die? I did not die! And that is precisely when I noticed a large banner overhead, saying –

WELCOME TO DEADLAND

I began to understand what had happened. I had crashed to the ground while playing and now I am dead. This was the place were dead people lived. Well, that explains the absence of colors. But wait! I am not grey, am I? Which means…I am alive! The lady who had spoken earlier read my mind. “You will turn grey too, dear. And then you will be one of us.” I sighed. Then I turned to get a closer look at the woman. She looked almost human, but I knew she was not. In fact, she looked familiar. “You are Aunt Beth!” I suddenly exclaimed. I recognized her well, she is or at least was my mom’s older sister and there were photos of her with my mom at my home. I suddenly felt a longing for my home, knowing that I will never go back again. Aunt Beth interrupted my thoughts. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”, she said sharply. I explained that I was her sister’s daughter, and since she had passed away before I was born, she did not know me. There was silence for a few moments. Then she said, “Follow me”. She began walking and I followed. I found it a bit unnerving that the entire crowd of dead people was coming behind me too. Still, I walked on. After some time, Aunt Beth stopped abruptly. Then she whispered something in a ghost’s ear. The ghost nodded and went somewhere. He came back a few moments later carrying a rope. Two more ghosts stepped forward and soon, all three were holding the rope and advancing towards me. My instincts screamed at me to run, but I stood frozen at the spot. The ghosts grabbed hold of my roughly and took me to a pole nearby and tied me to it using the rope. Aunt Beth laughed creepily. It sent shivers down my spine. When she finally stopped laughing, she said “I think you deserve an explanation. You are suffering because of your mother. Jenny, your mother, and my sister were always good at everything. People admired her and even at school, she snatched away my friends from me. It was obvious that our parents loved her more. I was always put to the side. It was always ‘Jenny is so intelligent’, ‘Jenny is so pretty’. Now finally I will get my revenge by taking away the person she loves the most. You.” With that she ordered “Vampires, do your job.”

A group of vampires walked towards me menacingly. I could see several licking their lips. My knees buckled and I collapsed. Well, what do you expect? Those vampires were going to suck my blood! All of them were near now. Looking up, I saw the face of one vampire that I knew well. Mr. Burton, my football coach. My head began going around in circles and my eyes closed.

My head was throbbing with pain. With some effort, I opened my eyes. I saw the lush green football field and I felt relieved. I had imagined the whole thing about being dead. Just then Mr. Burton walked up to me. “Feeling better?” he asked. I nodded. He smiled, and that was when I saw his long white fangs.