Purple fields.

A Story by ploftis

Canadian young man Jacob goes to bed in his house as any other night, only to wake up in an alien world. will he live or will he die? find out in this experimental short story.

Short story: Fields of purple.

The sweet smell of flowers invaded the resting mind of Jacob. He woke slowly, the sickly sweet aroma and soft, warm soil, although strange, made his eyes heavy and his limbs lazy. His restfulness is interrupted by the realization that he was no longer in his bed. The man sits bolt upright and looks around.

All around him, Jacob was surrounded by a strange purple flower with large purple leaves and deep blue flowers. The field he was in would have been beautiful to him, has it not been for the shock of not being in bed and the sickly sweet smell of the flowers mixed with the strong scent of rotting meat. “Where the hell am I?” Jacob asks himself out loud in an almost whisper tone.

He stands up slowly, he felt lighter than normal, like he’d lost some weight in his sleep, or possibly the Earth wasn’t holding him down as much. He takes the time to look over his body, no signs of surgical cuts or weight loss, so he assumed he still had both his kidneys and this wasn’t some bizarre kidnapping. He had no shoes and his scrawny figure was mostly bare, sparing his boxers and a white tank top. His void black hair was messy as ever and his ghostly white skin was softer and more thin than usual, deep blue veins were clearly visible through his skin. Jacob looks up, something was wrong with the sky. It wasn't the brilliant blue of his hometown in Canada. The sky was a deep and intimidating red with a slew of sickly green clouds, a pure blue ‘sun’ hung high in the sky, sending waves of warmth over his body, certainly warmer than he was used to, but not uncomfortable. He took his time looking around, absorbing all he could see. There was a forest not far from him, possibly north, but it was impossible to tell. The sun was not of Earth’s, this was clear enough so there was no guarantee that the sun would move as Earth’s. To the opposite side of the forest, the purple field went on as far as he could see. To his left, he saw what seemed like a village possibly help, or possibly dangerous.

Jacob quickly decided he didn’t want to test his luck, the forest was his best bet. Possibly he would find some food and water or maybe some shelter. It was warm now, but Jacob didn't want to find out if it got colder at night, he was determined to find some kind of shelter.

Jacob didn’t make it 50 feet before he got a chill down his back, subtle sounds surrounded him, moving in the waist-high purple flowers, he picks up the pace, forcing himself to almost sprint, in spite of his tired legs and lungs. The air was breathable but extremely thin so the young man couldn’t work his body too much without feeling like his muscles were melting into a puddle of liquid Jacob.

The shaking in the florals got louder and closer as Jacob ran, he figured he wouldn't be able to outrun them. He was far from a good fighter so his only option was to run and pray they’d simply lose interest in him.

Jacob didn’t make it very far. As soon as he began to slow down he felt a something heavy with sharp claws pounce on him, dragging him down to the warm soil, dagger-like hands dig into his left shoulder forcing a shrill scream out of Jacob’s lips. “I'm going to kill you for what you did, Jacob!” the creature shrieked. He remembered hearing somewhere that if you're attacked by a wild animal to try and punch them in the eyes or the nose. He flings his hands wildly, getting a lucky shot dead on the creatures...beak? He didn’t take the time to look at what was chasing him, he was just relieved that he was able to get out of its grip, though he was positive something heard his cry.

Clutching his shoulder, Jacob bound into the forest, the blood-curdling screech of his attacker stopped as soon as he crossed the border into the tall, dark trees. He’d lost a lot of blood and he was pretty sure his shirt was useless. So Jacob took off his tattered tank top and tied it around his shoulder to keep the pressure on it. Praying it was enough to clot the wound. After some searching, he found a tree larger than others around it, the gnarled roots as thick as a bodybuilder’s arms and stock easily 80 feet tall, there was a large crevasse on the side of the tree, easily big enough for Jacob to fit into.

The inside of the tree was much larger than he imagined, it was at least 7 feet high and 5 feet across. With walls thick enough to insulate the coolness of the tree. The air was cool and dry enough to get comfortable. Jacob was exhausted so the poor boy didn’t see the scratch marks on the walls. Or the small feathers that lined the floor. Or the human skeleton with a caved in skull he laid just 2 feet from. Quickly, the tired young man fell asleep.

Hours passed. Jacob woke, having no idea how long he’d been asleep. He sits up slowly, though his eyes were blurry he could make out something moving in the dark. Two perfectly round circles floating directly above his head. Too late he realized what was above him. Another creature of this strange place was hanging above him “finally, you’re awake, dear. So glad you could join us” the voice sounded like a sick old lady who’d smoke a pack every morning for breakfast. Slowly and steadily he began to move, the eyes followed him, but the creature did not pounce on him yet. Without thinking, Jacob turned his back to the exit, but almost instantly hurt a soft *thud* of 4 feet hitting the hardwood and the soft clicking on talons rasping against the ground.

Jacob had never seen such a horrific beast in his wildest dreams. It had the body and head of a black horse, but the normality ended there. Its mouth was that of a dog and large blue wings folded to its sides. Where horse legs and hooves should have been, 4 slender monkey legs with a hawk’s talons instead of feet held the beast up. It was covered in what seemed like burns and several of its feathers were melted, it was clearly hurt, but the look in its eyes was hungry and fierce, like a lioness that finally got to latch onto the neck of her prey.

Slowly, the beast creeps towards Jacob. Its sour breath seemed to singe the hairs in his nostrils. Jacob starts slowly inching to the exit, keeping an eye on this monster while trying to make sure he didn’t trip over something and die like a fool. Jacob’s foot stumbles over a small hunk of metal. Slowly, keeping an eye on the monster he reaches down and picks it up. In his hand, he held a knife. It was an oddly shaped blade. Perhaps 15 centimeters and was curved slightly at the end, but what was really odd was the material. It was shiny and clean like stainless steel and it seemed sturdy. Jacob brandishes his new weapon at his attacker. His arm throbbing from his previous attack, but he was determined to not show weakness. The beast seemed to shudder and back away from the weapon, almost like it was poison. He lunges out and drives the knife across the monster’s throat, then stabbing it into its eye. It never had the chance to call out as it fell to the ground. “That’s right” Jacob taunts as he steps out of the tree into the shade of his temporary home “stay down!” he demands. The creature made a slew of strangling sounds like it was choking on its own blood.

Jacob finally lets out a deep breath, without realizing it he had held it until he got outside. He expected it to have been night already, but the light beaming through the now hot forest was a bright shade of pure white. “Must have been the night when I went to sleep.” Jacob decided. Cautiously he finds a beam of light and runs his hand through it. Instantly his skin felt like it was on fire. He let out a less than manly screech and clutched his hand, falling to the ground. His hand now blistered and bright red, he laid there shaking in pain. Quickly he looked around and started running through the forest, desperate to find water. Every now and then he would run through a beam of light and it would burn his back and face. By the time he found water, Jacob’s skin was a mass of blisters and burns. He basically crawled to the river, it was under the shade of a cluster of small trees so no light shot through, he felt the water and immediately his hand felt cold and relaxed, he lifts his hand out of the water and his skin was healed. No scaring or signs of his burns. He forces himself to crawl face first into the river.

As soon as he was under the water, Jacob felt mounts better, but there was a huge pulsing in his head like he was being hit over and over by a bat, his hands were clenched hard and his teeth were tight. He started to not be able to move his arms or legs at a slightly bent angle. His vision began to turn white, his bodily functions stopped working, his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton a loud ringing resonated in his ears and voices began to speak to his sides. “He’s coming to.” one of the voices said at a near whisper “the police have been notified of the incident and he is to be moved to a more fit location” Jacob tries to lift his head to no avail, his hands felt fuzzy but were warm. An odd metallic headpiece was stuck to his head. “Welcome back, Jacob. I’m sorry it ends like this, but we had no choice but to go for electric shock. You lost control again and this time there were victims”

The Police came and showed him pictures of two people who were also in the hospital with him. A young man with a long nose that was bent in odd angles and shone a deep purple. And an old lady with schizophrenia. A gash across her jugular and a scalpel was driven into her eye.

Jacob Gibson was 23 years old. He suffered from severe schizophrenia and was plagued with psychedelic episodes. On July 17, 2018, at the age of 19. Jacob killed both his parents and all three of his sisters. On December 12, 2020, Jacob was found and brought to court. He was tried and plead insanity. He was moved into gems psych ward in Toronto, Canada. February 9th of 2022 he suffered his last psychotic break, killing 67-year-old Janice holland and 30-year-old Henry Powell. February 10th Jacob Gibson was pronounced brain dead due to an ‘accidental’ over-use of electroshock therapy. His last audible words were simple “Take me back to the fields of purple.”