Mal’s Awakening
Posting this for G/T July, since there’s a prompt for videogames, I wrote a story inspired by Alice McGee’s Alice in Wonderland.
Mal ran his way through the town’s streets. Running through all of the chaos as the burning city was swept into a fire that seemed endless. He didn’t know what he could do to stop it. His friends were nowhere to be seen. Townsfolk howled in fear, trying all of their might to escape the growing hellscape.
Mal wanted to ask why such a thing would happen. Who deserved an evil this rampant, big, and unfortunate?
Before Mal could consider an answer, his body became warm and as his heart grew colder. He knew something was wrong amidst the flames. He felt his hand twitching like they were dialing back on whether to relax or not. His other hand however shook erratically. He knew he was frightened, but Mal felt a stranger atmosphere from himself than the world around him.
The poor boy wasn’t aware of what was happening, but his frame that stopped growing years ago once he reached adulthood, started to grow again. Further away from the ground, the lampposts, streets, and finally the homes surrounding him. He wasn’t the lonely boy who almost everyone couldn’t stand, his presence was seen. A vivid expression came from his face as he stood, shocked at his own transformation. It was indeed a strange occurrence fitting for a stranger world. The fire was still eating away at their home but for the colossus it looked calmer, easier to tame. He breathed in a monumental breath and blew an ice -cold wind that tunneled through each flame. Every raging fire was extinguished, and the town saved by an unlikely hero.
Mal looked around at the damage of the rooftops, windows, and buildings but he already began to think of ways to help with fixing them. He only hoped no one was hurt. He noticed the townspeople, recognizing faces, all who treated him well or wrong. His incredible strength helped save his home, but fear welcomed him first.
The rising tides of shouting, screams, and jolting shrieks hinted at Mal’s arrival.
“I knew it, he was closer to witchcraft than any of us!”
“Evil has called his name and now he’s appeared before us!”
Mal looked in desperation. They couldn’t push him away. He was mistaken. No, they were. They were only afraid. We are all afraid.
The words echoed in Mal’s mind bringing him into a terror he wasn’t familiar with. It tampered with his aching soul, driving his mind to enter a spiraling madness. The people thought Mal’s power was disguised as evil, when for years they never got to know the light that was in him. This was the beginning of Mal’s demise.