Moonlit misery

Augustina found herself on a tree.

Her neck was stuck in a knot, she was hanging from a branch.

She closed her eyes.

In the darkness, she saw her pink hair being brushed by her father.

He whispered:
"Don’t be afraid. Hell is not real."

Suddenly, Augustina was in quicksand sinking, screaming…Her pink hair rose upward while her body was dragged down.

Something was pulling her up, even as she sank into the black sand.


With her eyes wide open, she saw Earth being pulled into a black hole. Then more planets, stars, satellites... all sucked into the abyss.


She was back on the branch, suffocating.

Desperately, she tried to untie the knot around her neck.

Her vision began to spin. Bright lines and dark holes scattered across the vast black space in her mind. 

Thoughts rushed in: If I die here, I’ll never be a mother. But why would anyone even want to be a mother?

Sand began to cover her face. She heard a baby crying… then she started crying too. She gripped the loose end of the rope and tried to pull herself back up to the branch.


Ten men stood around the tree, yelling:

"Don’t! Don’t fight! Don’t fight! The influx will implode the world Barrierism is at its limit!

Don’t fight! The barrier will open! 

"But she didn’t hear them. In her mind, there was only a melody. Feet stomping. The wind. Crows cawing. Her thoughts fractured into pieces. Once again, she was completely submerged in quicksand. Her body fell, from the tree, into the thick, dark mist. The barrier is breached. The Zero Line is crossed. The men in black suits nodded.

Augustina once had many animal plush toys. Her favorite was a dog with one ear, the other had been missing since she first got it.

Her mother loved black tea. 

Why is her mother here now? What is this? She was walking on a thin line. She would fall. "Mom… Dad… please guide me. "Tears streamed down her cheeks as her body drifted through worlds.

She opened her eyes, and found herself in a place beyond. 

"I crossed it. I crossed it," she said softly, wiping her face.

Her smile grew. In front of her were stars, countless stars, and something that looked like opportunity. Maybe in this world, I will find purpose. Maybe this is where all the purpose from Earth went. The sky was bright. The ground, black.

 She collapsed instantly. In front of her stood… her father. But was it really him? Did she truly cross the line, or had she died and ended up in some kind of hell?

Moonlit misery hovered above.

Mist swirled around her.

And this person…There was a strange lightness in her chest, a sense of blueness, of vastness. Augustina’s voice trembled:

“Dad?” “DAAAD! Is that you?!”

A pause.

“Augustina… it is...”