The Soul Spectrum Dimension

Prelude/Intro: Crossing Barriers

Today Sucked...

The road was paved with shades of gray, twilight blue, and slate as Garion drove silently in the car down the highway that afternoon. Thoughts of hopelessness fell through him as he pulled off onto the exit. They always do. Every day they always do.

Screaming pain resided in the abyss of his mind that kept haunting him when he was not being caught off guard by something worth noting.

The Road turned sharply to left, passing an accident that must have happened to a young driver who had sped too fast along the curb. Smoking and lined with cones and police cars, it heaped in a mess laid out smashed against the median. Several yards away, an overturned truck was being attended to by a couple policemen. Not wanting to be distracted, he carefully drove by while pushing the image out of his mind.

Garion was a dreamer, which was pretty much all he was good at, besides drawing, music. He preferred doing the things that he could use to make his daydreams feel more real.

"That's all that I ever do," he thought to himself, "I'm never satisfied with reality, and this is what happens to me."

Today, he was done pretending.

This was life all around him. Interstates with an endless parade of separate vehicles mindlessly gliding in one direction, without ever looking back to see what they left behind. Every broken chain fence was the same, and the road ahead always brought him back to the same little apartment at the end of each day. Some days, he wished he go back and retry growing up. Those were the days that he should have had appreciated more.

While many thoughts like those could have been distracting him right now, the only thought going through his mind right now was that today he failed, and he probably would never get a second chance. Just what was his point in the world again, exactly? Fading away was every day for him.

He had never felt so close to success than he had today; if only he had been more spontaneous in his audition. He had gifts. He had things he wanted to show the world, but now…

'Shut up and watch the road,' he thought to himself.

Nevertheless he shared an apartment with Aaron, a skinny, unusual guy with glasses, who had an odd way of going completely insane, to a low temper, and then going berserk. They had just met a few weeks ago and they lived in the same apartment because they were both pursuing the same interests and figured they may be able to help each other out somehow.

On account of not being able to afford their own house, money management was the big factor that involved their teamwork together, despite their contrasting personalities.

The defining difference between them was that Aaron was the type who just went out to take destiny into his hands rather than take the time to educate himself in the field like Garion. Neither one of them were successful.

Garion wasn't even really that close to Aaron or knew much about his back story, but what he did know was that they were both unappreciated in their abilities, and both wanted more. Other than that, they kept to themselves...

It was July 3, 2016 and Garion decided to drive out to Bellevue to pick up a few fireworks for Independence Day. Even though they both pretty much lost hope in achieving their lifelong dreams, there was no reason why not to blow a few things to ease the ire of their current situation.

He pulled onto Corn husker road to the nearest Walmart. He didn't know why, but there were always like a thousand firework stands at that specific parking lot in this time of the year.

He parked the Saturn, and then walked out towards the charity stand, since the other booths were far beyond his financial state. This particular stand was bustling with people, and several people left with their bags full of fireworks before Garion reached the door.

He pushed open the screen door and stepped into the suddenly silent wooden framed structure. Everybody that he just saw was now gone. There were a few tables but very few fireworks. The cashier was the only other person in the room.

“Hello and welcome!” she said cheerfully with a bright smile, sitting in a folding chair behind a table.

“Hi,” he replied, completely lost. Turning away from her gaze, he viewed a sign, showing that this stand was for the funding of a homeless shelter. 'What in the world is going on?' he thought to himself.

The lady was short and thin, wearing a black hoodie on her body.

Garion gazed out around the room, drastically terrified of the sudden apparition that he was witnessing. It caught him so unprepared, there was just no logical action that he could think of at that moment. Only a few boxes of Smoke bombs, 2 parachutes and a few firecrackers were available.

“Is this seriously all you got?” asked Garion, who then gasped out loud at his oddly casual comment.

The cashier responded, “Well you waited till the last day to pick these up. You should have taken the chance much earlier.” And she closed her eyes as if suddenly asleep.

Garion glanced around and then looked back at the cashier, “But I could have sworn there were people in here, and stacks of fireworks piled on the tables just moments before I walked through that door.”

“You may have just been daydreaming.” She said justly.

Umm, No. I don’t think I was, Garion thought. What could he possibly do? The cashier didn't appear disturbed at all and acted so formal, that he almost believed for a second that what he saw may have truly been an actual daydreaming. But he wasn't about to just let it go.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that he could do or say, to help anything. Maybe, he had been thinking to himself, and all the people he saw had left out the back door before he got in, and for some stupid reason, he had just so happened to have missed it. Garion ducked and looked under the tables just in case.

He sighed and said, “Fine. I’ll take these,” and he took the parachutes, smokers, and whatever else he found and put them on the counter.

“That'll be ten dollars” she said. Garion got out his wallet and pulled out the cash. She peered at him and he started feeling uncomfortable.

“Hey, why do you look so glum? It’s a beautiful day,” she said.

Garion looked out at the sky through the screen windows, “What are you talking about? It’s been overcast all Week. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”

“Sure, it matters.”

“Whatever. I'm just not having a good day.”

“I understand, we all have those kinds of days.”

He phased out and muttered to himself, “I wish…I wish”

She put the items in a small bag and said, “Now, do you have close friends?”

“Um, no”

“Ok... Do you believe in Magic, or anything like that?”

Garion looked at her for a moment, “Oh, well GEE! In this world?” he announced with an overly sarcastic voice, “Actually, yes. I can suppose there is. When I think of God, nature, music, and colors, it’s like a natural type of magic; the kind we can't control. But why the heck do you ask?” Then he stopped and paused for a moment, “I’m pretty sure I could have sworn that there were people in here…”

At that time the lady’s mood seemed to change, “You know, there was another firework you may not have seen yet,” she said, pointing to the corner of the booth. Garion scanned his eyes over and took notice of a small, unremarkable, little 12 barreled cylindrical looking thing, lying in the shadows. He walked up and peered at it.

“There’s no label,” Garion said flatly.

“Well it doesn’t really require one.”

"Really? How much is it?”

“Three hundred.”

“Three dollars?”

“No, I said three hundred.”

Was she just pulling a joke on him? “Are you being serious? The thing’s barely bigger than my fist.”

The woman got up and shook her head saying, “Well that’s why no one ever takes it. But we always get one of these every 3 years from some far away supplier who always sends us these to use for our charity causes. But they insist that it’s worth ten times more than it looks and all the work and production they put into it, makes it the only thing they can ever send. They won’t make anything else. So it's priced high. But those who would have purchased it would have been a great help. I’m not at all trying to pressure you though. You don’t have to get it if you don’t want to.” And she sat back down, reading a magazine.

Garion looked back at the little blue paper cardboard object that he held in his hand. Strangely enough, he actually felt like he had the urge to get it.

He was the type of guy who, though seems pessimistic about everything, still often keeps an eye out for anything unusual because he believes that nothing is impossible, it’s just that miracles prefer not to show themselves around him. He had this strange feeling, that maybe this whole, crazy occasion was a sign to him that he needed to buy this.

That- or, this was just a big charade to get him to buy a piece of junk worth more than anything this small should ever cost.

But why not? He essentially failed his lifelong dream today and it wasn’t like he was going to get anything else special with his money anyway. He was feeling so down right now, that he just wanted to do something reckless for a change.

“Do you want that in cash or in a check?” he asked.

“Anything will do. Thank you, sir.” She replied happily, “and have a beautiful day.”

…

Despite having the nagging feeling that he was colossally ripped off today, surprisingly the whether actually did look a little bit nicer. Clouds were beginning to let in the sun. And so Garion drove back home. His Apartment was just Past the Henry Doorly Zoo.

He pulled into the parking lot, noticing that Aaron was already back from his work, his car being stationed in his usual parking spot. Garion set the brake and got out of the vehicle. Now that the clouds were gone, it was getting very hot. He opened the trunk, slung his backpack over his shoulder and took the bag of fireworks inside. His apartment was on the ground floor so all he had to do was walk into it through an outdoor fresh hold, except that it was locked. So now he had to walk through all the hallways just to get to his room.

Unlocking the door, he entered into the living room. Aaron was sitting on the couch watching some random Anime. Garion put his stuff in his bedroom which was filled with books and posters and fantasy novels.

He thought maybe of considering inviting Aaron to lighting them off tomorrow so that he might get to know him more “Hey Aaron, I bought some fireworks that I was going blast tomorrow. Did you want to join in?”

“Uh, Sure Man. I have no auditions for the rest of this week. But I have to pay the monthly bill. Did you get enough pay for your share?” Aaron replied from the other room.

Garion suddenly flipped. How could he have forgotten to pay the monthly rent!? How could he have been so stupid to throw away his money like that! How was he going to explain to Aaron that he had just spent over 300$ on fireworks! He just stood there frozen for a few seconds and awkwardly said, “Um, I don’t have any money.”

“Wait, didn’t you get paid today?”

“Yeah, but I uh….nnngh….um…We’re in trouble.”

“What, why?”

“We don’t have any money,” Said Garion, trembling. He was missing a firework: The blue one that he spent an arm and a leg for. Plus there was a hole in the bag.

“What! What happened?”

“I bought fireworks.” Garion said plainly, walking towards the living room window outside. There it was, he saw, sitting outside on the hot cemented parking lot in front of his car.

“How much did it cost?” said Aaron, looking through the bag of fireworks, “There’s barely that much in here.” he then noticed Garion staring blankly at the window.

Aaron walked up and looked out towards where Garion was staring at.

           Garion’s heart just kept racing as the fuse to the firework seemed to be emitting smoke. The sun was reflecting strongly off of the cement and cars.

“How much did all of this cost?” demanded Aaron.

“Three hundred and Ten Dollars,” Said Garion, feeling very stupid.

“WHAT?!”

Just then the fuse caught alight and silently the sparks followed the wick down into the little station. Garion and Aaron just stared at it, from behind the glass window. Then a single fireball shot out from the center of the top into the sky.

And that’s all it did; didn’t even explode in the air or nothing.

“So Garion, that was a pretty good prank there,” said Aaron.

Garion just kept looking out the window.

“I mean, if you had just burned 310 dollars in the atmosphere, we’re both screwed and most likely even worse,” Said Aaron, who then looked back into the bag, looking for the receipt. Once he found it, he threw the hardest punch he could into Garion’s Shoulder, “GARION!! You didn’t spend Three Hundred Dollars on that; you spent Three Hundred and Ten THOUSAND Dollars on it!!!”

“WHAT!? That’s not what the cashier said! She said 300 dollars for that one firework and ten dollars for the rest!”

“What kind of messed up firework stand did you go to!?”

“It was for charity!”

“DID YOU EVEN LOOK AT THE RECIEPT!?”

“Um, no?”

“Where did you come up with the money for it?! What the hell made you want to spend Three Hundred and Ten Thousand on THAT!?!” he shouted furiously.

         Garion looked at the receipt again, slight tears dripping, gulped and said, “I was feeling kind of reckless. And I spent it with credit.”

At first Aaron just stood there looking off but then, “YOU IDIOT!” Aaron swung again at Garion, who backed up and picked up something off of the coffee table.

Garion was feeling terrible. He couldn’t believe all of this crap had happened and that of all ways to mess up your life in one day, why like this? Now he was feeling even worse knowing now that he was causing severe problems for Aaron now too.

         All of a sudden a bright white light surged out of nowhere from everywhere, flooding the room with a cold aura as bright as day. The Silence of the Tension was replaced by a Low hum. The tone of the hum sounded pure, like it was indicating a cry from some innocent presence who was trying to communicate. Neither of them said anything, they just stood there in place looking all around them, lost in whatever emotion they might have had at such a time as this. It was just a very, very unexpected event and nobody would ever really know what to do.

      Garion Looked at Aaron who was holding his fist in the air like he was about to sucker punch him had the strange surge of light not have happened at that exact precise second. Then he noticed that the object he was holding in his hand was a book; and to think that he was just about to whack Aaron with that.

Through the blinding vision of whiteness, a few seconds passed before they both watched themselves put their arms down, looking at each other strangely without speaking, as if in a dream. Something made them want to look at the door to their apartment. It seemed the source of the light was coming from behind it. And yet it was still bright enough to fill the whole room as if they were outside.

     Garion was the first to speak,”Uhh…I’m going to-g go out-on a-a-a limb here and say that-,” But Aaron just silently and slowly approached the door, looked at Garion, who nodded, and slowly touched the doorknob. The Sound of the Note that hung in the air seemed to grow stronger and more dramatic as he did so. He slowly gripped the doorknob, turned it, and let it swing open.

      White. Bright white light. The brightest white that Aaron had ever seen filled the whole doorframe. Not a cold, dead white like from snow, but a warm, living, singing white. “What happened to the street?” muttered Garion walking up beside Aaron. Of course he pointed out the more useless of the obvious details. They neither squinted nor flinched from the light. It just seemed to be there, a warm happy light. The tone lifted and hit a graceful chime that seemed to be the conclusion and sounded almost like it was urging them to walk through the door.

As if following instructions, they both took a step through. Aaron went in first, but once the book that Garion had almost forgot he was holding in his hand had passed the threshold, the color on the cover fluctuated. At once, colors began rapidly swirling around them.

Reds, blues, greens, all sorts of colors of many different shades spiraled around them like a vortex of abstract Emotion. Swooshing Sounds seemed like hammers or screwdrivers doing their job at building a little toy as the colors eventually began to take shape. Garion thought he noticed Hills and Mountains solidifying themselves along what would be a landscape of Green. Aaron made out trees off in the distance, now that the abstract objects seemed to take proportion.

The whole situation was so beautiful and amazing, Garion didn’t dare to blink once or try to slap himself. He could not afford to have this turn out to be just a dream or have it disappear without him seeing the whole miraculous sight of it. He wouldn't even allow himself to cloud his mind with thoughts. If this was a dream, then he didn’t want it to end. All his life since he was a child he had wanted something amazing like this to happen.

After what felt like an eternity but what actually had been maybe only a few minutes, the rushing wind died down as the last few drops of color zapped into place. Then it was silent.

10 minutes of silence later, “Wa.. wha.. what the hell just ha..happened?” Spoke Aeron dumbly. They were standing in a cartoon painting of what it appeared to be a lush green valley. Mountains lined the horizon and a forest seemed to stretch at their base all around them. They could make that out easily but the detail wasn't good. The grass they were standing on was just a blank stretch of green reaching out all around them, with a few circles bunched up in smaller circles to indicate flowers. Neither of them looked at each other or said a word, they just stood side by side looking at the landscape in front of them trying to process it in their minds.

Blue Sky.

White swirly clouds.

“So Garion,” said Aaron.

“Yeah?”

“Do you notice anything weird?”

“No, nothing weird at all. But I’m seeing something very unnatural”

“Yeah, but do you feel anything weird?”

“Not really. Wait… Now I think I see what you mean. How would you describe this feeling?”

“I feel.….flat”

“Really? Well that’s odd. I was going to say full of nausea from that experience. I think I even might ungh-”

“No! I actually feel flat!”

“Wa-what? Whoa! HOLY SNOT! What the heck happened to you!?!”

“You’re a Cartoon!”

“So are you!”

“Dang!....nnngh....WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!???” shouted Aaron with all utter insanity.

“I don’t know, it just….happened. Your eyes, they’re so huge! Your face, it looks like an upside down pentagon. Weird, your weird curly hair just looks like a black shape across your forehead with a curly line through it. And your acne’s all gone. It’s like you look ten times better. Hey, do you think that white light was an atomic explosion and we’re in heaven now and these are our heavenly bodies?-”

“I’ll give you a heavenly body!” yelled Aaron as he socked Garion in the chest. Garion stumbled back a few steps .

“Hey! I was just joking!” said Garion but Aaron stepped forward and swung at him again, missing.

“You think this is a Joke! We’re standing in the middle of Who-knows-where. Our house is nowhere in sight! I can’t even begin to get the slightest clue of what is going on! I look like a nightmare! YOU look even worse!-”

“Oh, turn that frown upside-down bro! Stop complaining! I don’t care why it happened, it HAPPENED! I’m just glad something if anything awesome turned up in my boring old life. This is flipping awesome. Besides, you don’t look too bad. Your flat-face makes you not look as scary when you’re mad!”

“WORSE I’m Stuck in This World with You!” said Aaron Grabbing Garion by the Technicolor collar…

Meanwhile, only about 50 feet away a small yellow Pegasus was just getting ready for the start of a wonderful new day. Fluttershy happily clopped down her cottage stairwell while birdies, mice and other small animals followed intently. “Good morning everyone, today is the first day of summer and I need to get you all fed so I can get ready to go Pinkie’s celebration party this afternoon,” she said blissfully. She fed each animal, making sure to carefully give the right amount of the right type of food to each individual creature. She did it every morning. She loved it. She just loved animals.

         After feeding Angel his carrots who afterwards bounded off by himself to eat his meal, she grabbed her watering can and chicken feed to go tend to the outside. Humming happily to herself, she pushed open her cottage door, trotted down to her chicken pen and fed them. After filling her watering can she trotted on over to her front garden and cheerfully watered the flowers. Oh, she was just so happy! It was the beginning of a beautiful brand new summer! The Sun was shining, the sky was bluer than ever, the flowers were fresh and ready to be eaten, the birds were chirping, the bees were buzzing, and two stick-like creatures were fighting each other off in the distance…

“Eeh!” she dropped her watering can. Her knees were shaking. These creatures..... They looked quite dangerous and at first she was afraid they had returned from the last time... But she realized now that these creatures were different from the ones before; they were worse from the ones before!

One of them was shouting something very horrifying at the other and now she was beginning to be afraid that they were the same creatures from before: angry and back for revenge, and now they were in solid form! She wanted to run but she couldn't. She had never faced these two legged beings before! They were screaming at each other and one was holding the other by the neck…

          ….Aaron was about to knock some crazy sense into Garion with his fist ready, when Garion just happened to point out, “Hey what’s that?” Aaron looked, and saw a small house not too far away a midst some trees and a creek amongst the outskirts of the forest, with what looked like a little yellow dear-thing with huge pink hair coming from its head and butt. And two big eyes. Eyes that looked straight into the deepest reaches of your soul.

“What is that?” Said Garion before Aaron socked him in the face. Garion fell to the ground, still conscious, just very annoyed. Aaron took a small step towards it. Garion got up, forgetting the punch, and asked, “Should we go talk to it? Maybe we can find an explanation.”

“I don’t know. It looks constipated.”

“Do you think it saw us fighting and we scared it frozen in place?”…

Fluttershy’s heart stopped. The two figures were now standing side by side staring straight at her! They saw her! Or maybe they hadn't seen her yet and only saw the house. Maybe if she just kept standing really still-

“Um, Hello?” One of them spoke to her.

THAT’S IT! Her rump swung behind her, her knees buckled and she bolted into the cottage, slammed the door and locked all 27 locks behind it. She ran upstairs, went into her bedroom, closed the door and dove beneath her blankets…

           …Meanwhile, Garion just looked at Aaron and said, “What the heck just happened?”