The Tale of Red

I stepped out of the Logic Court and onto the fresh fake grass. I bounced like most of the Egos in my head. As I moved into the world of the city called my mind, I noticed something rather strange happening. The clouds were thinning.

Given the outside chance, I would have suspected that Rage had dulled down his factory's clouds, however that wasn't what was at play here. Something was happening to the clouds, but I knew not what was causing it.

The clouds, as I said, were thinning. Before, they loomed over with a heavy grey and brought darkness over the concrete areas of my mind. Now, they loomed over with a strange yellow tint, mixed in some black clouds. To add, the rain had stopped altogether.

I wasn't sure if this sudden change to weather was due to what I was doing, or if it was just a change in nature. Either way, I still had to continue my mission further into my mind to reach the super army of the super ego.

My square hand reached into the block pants. There I found my electronic cigarette. I pushed the blue button and the chrome tip shot out a cloud of smoke which covered my entire body. I took in a deep breath, inhaling the cloud of vapor. As the cloud disappeared, my form had returned, in dry clothes that is. My hat, tie, pants and blue shirt had returned along with my black duster. I blew the vapor out of my nostrils and took in a few more puffs from the electronic cigarette.

I walked and puffed at the same time. For just a moment, I decided to waltz through the area without flying. I needed a moment to gather my thoughts after seeing my double self.

It was strange how he didn't recognize me, even in the form of an Ego. In the past, it mattered not what I used my imagination to look like; he would could find me anywhere. I hid in my make believe Club Red for only a few minutes before he found me again to cook up some story that he could take credit for.

Could it have been that he had lost his touch? Even though that was in the remote of possibilities, I had this sense that there was a good chance that he didn't recognize me at all. Something had changed me and he couldn't place who I was anymore.

I became so deep in memory before I realized that I had entered the portion of the city that held most of the prostitues of my mind. I had to remark how damn tired I was to see these wonderful women that existed in my outside world, selling themselves to versions of myself walking around. One in particular was a pretty little red head that seemed to be vaguely familiar, but I could not place her face.

She stood slender and tall. Her hair was the bright shade of red, like an autumn leaf. Her eyes were a bright blue and her skin was very fair. Dark shades of makeup sat around her eyes and a thick layer of red lipstick sat on her sensual lips. She wasn't dressed like the others; she was proper, dressed in a black gown with opera gloves made of black silk. Around her neck sat a long red silk scarf and her feet were covered in lush red pumps.

As I walked passed, puffing on my electronic cigarette, I heard her sweet voice call out to me. "Well, if it isn't The Night Author. Tell me, what can I do for a sexy man like yourself?"

Ignorant to the call and reminder that I didn't look like myself, I shrugged. "Nothing you can offer, stranger."

Before I knew it, the red scarf had wrapped itself around my neck! Like a caught fish, I was reeled in and I stood eye to eye to the woman.

She smiled with pearly white teeth. "Who are you?"

The brim of my hat folded on her forehead and my shades slid down my nose to where I could look over them at her. "Um ... The Night Author of course."

She gave a low chuckle. "I know Night boy, and you are not him. You are someone else ... Someone I know."

Using the tip of her right index finger, the woman slid my glasses off my face and let them fall onto the ground. "I know you ... You are the creator."

I had been found out, but instead of unmasking myself, I decided to continue my charade; however I did it poorly. "Uh huh." I said with a shake to my head and look of child like stupidity, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Before I knew it, the woman had planted a red wet one on my lips. I must say, those lips tasted sweeter than any chocolate that I have ever eaten.

"Ray." She said in a seductive voice. "What brought you out of your cardboard box in the middle of the woods?"

With red lipstick smeared on my face, I tried to push myself away from her. "I am certain I don't know who you are, witch, but I am certain that you are invading my personal space."

Her scarf released me and I landed on my butt on the cold concrete, just beside my glasses.

The woman gave a chuckle. "If I remember correctly, you didn't mind me getting in your space."

I picked up my glasses and myself. As I slid on my glasses, I gave the woman a smirk and tried to continue on my merry way. "Well, if I find this Ray you speak of, I'll let him know that ... What was your name again?"

"I didn't give it and I don't have one." She winked.

That flutter. That eye. Oh God, I remembered who she was at that very moment ... She was the first woman that I crushed over. Some popstar mixed in with a few actresses. At the age of fifteen, she was the perfect woman and to admit that she was, still was brought shame to my heart.

In the early years, this ... Let's call her Red, was all I ever wanted in a woman. In times of trouble, she would appear in my mind to calm me ... To seduce me. I created a home for us in the country, by a lake and the weather was always spring. At first, all seemed fine. As time rolled into my adult years, I felt her tug at my heart and remind me of what the "perfect woman" was. I would become confused as she would whisper in my ear and tell me how a woman in the real world was not enough woman for a young man like myself. She would persuade me into believing a woman just like her would be enough. It was a good theory, but the problem was there was no such perfect woman; any woman I would conjure up in my mind was more perfect than the real thing.

My body became stiff and I lost all words as I looked at Red. "Oh ... Um ... Sorry, I didn't recognize you."

Red smiled and leaned close to my face; her body moved as though it were made of yarn or some kind of fabric. "I guess I can say the same about you. You seem thinner and taller than I remember." She gave a seductive chuckle. "And I assume you have been out in the sun. I guess camping in the woods all this time can expose you to a healthy tan."

She was up to something, I felt it. I was at a great advantage when I encountered people like her; she was in my mind, thinking thoughts in there, which meant that I could feel something was up. However, my disadvantage was that I created everyone in my mind with their own will and I lost the power of knowing exactly what was going through their minds.

I shrugged. "I guess I have been getting a tan here lately." I tipped my hat with my index finger and thumb. "Good day to you." Turned and tried to walk away. I wasn't sure what side, if any, she was on at the moment. Sure, she swore allegiance to myself, but I am certain that Red would have switched give the opportunity.

As I walked away from the "perfect" woman, I felt my body become wrapped up in a silk scarf. Within a flash, I was mummified in red silk, all the way up to the tip of my hat!

I struggled in the trap, but could not manage to free myself.

"Where do you think you are going sugar?" She asked, and if I could guess, standing by my right side. "We are going to have fun, you and I. We need to catch up on old times."

Red wasn't always the type to side with anyone beside herself, which gave me confidence that she was not going to take me to the false Night Author. However, because I had forgotten what Red was, I wasn't certain what exactly she was going to do with me.

Stuck in between fear and seduction, my worries bounced back and forth as she carried me wrapped like a Christmas present. I felt my body being lifted into the air and I floated across time itself. Over a few moments of time, I felt my floating stop and once again I rested on my feet.

"Welcome home, lover." Red said.

The scarf quickly removed itself from my eyes. Like a pull string to a machine pully, I spun around like one of those cartoons you see once wrapped in string and then spinning in a tornado after the string was pulled quickly away. I stopped myself and held out my hands in front of me. My hat lifted off my head and continued to spin into the air. My eyes rolled behind my crooked glasses. Finally, I shook my head to steady my eyes and my hat landed on my head backwards.

I adjusted my sun shades and stared at my whereabouts. After all the fears I had about the capture and the possibilities of my future, I did not expect this to happen. Sliding my hat forward, I stared at the lake side cabin I had made in the romantic corner of my mind. It sat in a green forrest, lit up by a golden light. From the pages of a fairy tale, this little piece of my mind stood out to me.

Red walked around me to face me. "Remember our little place?" She folded her arms behind her like a school girl flirting with a cute boy.

I nodded, unamused by the spot. "Yes, yes, I remember."

Red gave me a pout. "You don't look all to happy, baby."

Being away from the members of my mind and becoming homeless, I had lost the lust that I held in my heart for so long. My younger person would have blushed at the very idea of this woman flirting with me, but my present self cared less of the imaginative "perfect" woman and the romantic spot I created for her.

"Listen, Red..." I started.

Red became excited, clapping her hands and jumping around. "Is that my name?!"

I stopped for a moment and then shrugged. "Sure ... Uh, listen." I continued, talking with my hands and pointing. "I know what we had between us, but you have to understand, things have changed. I am different now."

Her excitement left her face and was replaced by a grim expression that chilled me to the bone.

I continued. "Even though I know we had something special, I have come to realize that I don't need an idea of the perfect woman. To be completely honest with you, you are kind of smothering. I want to be with a real woman, not a cheap immitation." I paused for a moment to see if she was listening to me.

Like a grave stone, the woman's face did not move and a pale color filled her skin.

As the idiot I am, I continued with my explanation. "So, no hard feelings are anything. I know we can still be friends." I shoved my open palm out to her for a shake and a large smile came across my face.

Her eyes glanced to my palm and then slid back to focus on my smiling face. "Who are you replacing me with?" She asked in an almost perfect robotic voice, I felt that Peter Weller would have been jealous.

I lowered my hand and shrugged. "No one yet, but ... But I have to keep my options open. See, if I keep up the idea that there is a perfect woman, just like you, out there, I would be searching until I die. Instead, I have come to terms with the very knowledge that I am not the match maker here; my match shall be conducted by Abba himself."

A shadow covered her face and eyes, one not caused by the atmosphere. "You are placing your romantic love life in the hands of something you cannot see?" She asked in a more angier tone.

I shook my hand and waved my hands. "Oh come on now, don't be sore." I smirked. "And to be very honest with you, you don't exist. Granted, I know I cannot see God, but I know he exists at the least."

Her hands squeezed into fists of rage and that scarf of her's began to flap wildly like a snake ready to strike. "You ... Deny ... ME?!"

I shook my head and pulled out my e-cig. "Don't go Stephen King on me, baby. What we had was not even real. I created you and this little spot because I was alone." I puffed on my electronic device, hoping to look confident in my decision. There was a part of me that wanted to give in, but I knew better than to give into my addiction.

Her scarf stopped and she relaxed her fists. The shadow disappeared and her face returned to the happy one that I saw earlier ... Which was more frightening than the grim look she had. "You honestly believe anyone can love you other than me? Look at you." She pointed at every article of clothing, my weight and pointed out how bald I was. I think the list went on and on, but I stopped caring after the 'Bald like a baby' comment.

"There isn't a woman in this world that would love a creature like you, Ray." She said with a sneer.

"Gee, someone is a sore loser." I said before puffing on my electronic cigarette. "I could have the option of getting rid of you, but I didn't."

She pointed a slender finger at me and leaned into my face. "You can't get rid of me ... You don't have the power anymore."

There was only one person that knew I wasn't up to strength in controling my own mind and that was the false Night. Since Red had intel on the matter, that told me who she was seeing on the side.

I blew some vapor in her face and chuckled. "Well now, I see you have been cheating on me, my sweet."

She backed away with a cat like hiss. "Cheating is nothing when you are dating a better version of your lover."

"You do realize what you just said made no sense. If you are implying that he is a better version of me, then you are wrong. He is like you ... Nothing but a cheap immitation of something real."

I wish, oh how I wish, that I could finish this entry with, 'So then I blew out more vapor and the woman disappeared.' However, I was not powerful enough yet and the end to this portion stalled further performance on cleaning up the city called my mind.

I felt the ground cave in on me and I slipped through a hole in the ground! I landed with a thud in a cold dark cave.

"Ow!" I said, feeling the sting of pain in my left ankle and the bruising on my left butt cheek.

"You, the so-called Night Author, creator of this world, have lost all your power. You are now in the strength of those you have created." Red called out to me from the bright hole above me.

I picked up my fallen e-cig and stood up, limping of course. My eyes turned to the woman above me. "Oh what now? You are going to trap me here and keep me for yourself? I'll break out some time."

The moment I said that, I damned my mouth. The hole began to close shut. As the woman began to disappear into darkness, I saw her smile. Sharp teeth had replaced her nice pearly white ones and pair of red eyes gleamed at me. It was then that I realized her true form. Of course I assumed at first that she was merely a factor of my imagination, but what I saw forced me to realize that Red was not just a figment, but an actual demon!

"Crap." I said under my breath. I pointed a finger to a spot in front of me in the pitch black darkness and created a yellow tinted drill out of thin air. I then waved my pointed finger to the black ceiling above me. The drill started and tried to cut through the ground above me, but it was not powerful enough.

I clapped my hands and rubbed them together. "Okay, time to get to work." I took in a deep breath and conjured up an extra motor on the machine and doubled the drill in size! "COME ON!" I yelled, forcing the machine to work faster and harder.

It was working! The drill poked a tiny little white hole in the ground. I forced it to work harder, but as I did so, I felt a sharp pain in my right foot. Suddenly, my concentration was interupted by a thought ... A memory.

The flash of memory was that of a young woman that I crushed over in high school. She and I were good friends and as I managed to gain the courage to ask her out, I discovered that she was dating another man, who treated her with disrespect. I did ask her out again, but she told me that I was only a nice guy and she didn't dig nice guys.

Even though the memory was acient and could not effect the current man in the hat, I felt a sudden saddness fill my heart. I tried to shake it off and went back to work, but then another sharp pain was felt in my left shoulder, and followed was another horrible memory of guilt in my past.

The drill disappeared as the memory faded.

"What is this?!" I said, converting my sun shades into a pair of night vision goggles. Using the yellow tinted goggles, I looked at my surroundings to search for the cause of these flash of memories. What I found sent chills up my spine.

Surrounding me were thousands upon thousands of horrible, fat rounded, black, red eyed spiders! Each with drool dripping from their fangs, ready for another bite of my flesh!

One attacked my left leg and the other attacked my stomach. Before I knew it I was in a flood of spiders and forced into a world of horrible memories that held guilt, shame and saddness. I knew it then ... I was in the pit of depression.