Amy was a barmaid, working night shifts every single day, and working as a waitress by day. She led an extremely tiring schedule, only sleeping four hours a day. The reason behind everything was because of her terminally sick sister. Her sister was her everything, ever since their mother died in a car crash and their father abandoned them in the streets. He had never liked them, anyways, and always called them,"Little pieces of trash."

Amy's older sister, Alex, took care of her. Alex had been sixteen then, and Amy had been twelve. Alex dropped out of school to work full-time to earn money, and for Amy to continue school. Alex was the one who payed all the bills, Alex was the one who managed to find an apartment, and Alex was the one who took care of Amy. Amy graduated high school with honours, but never entered a university. By then, Alex had developed terminal bone cancer. Amy had used every cent of their savings so far to pay for the first surgery. It had been a success, but barely two months later the cancer popped back up again, like a gopher in the gopher game right after you hit them with a hammer.

This time, it was back with vengeance. It spread quickly, and managed to infect almost all of Alex's right leg. They hadn't saved back up yet, so they didn't have enough money. Amy had begged the doctor to save them a spot.

She began to work hard, only using money for the barest necessities. It when she had saved enough to barely pay for the surgery, walking to the hospitable to send on the payment, that our story begins.

———

I hurried to the hospitable, the wad of cash safely tucked into my coat pocket, my feet pounding on the pavement, the cold night air sting my lungs. There weren’t many pedestrians on the streets this late at night, and that worked in my favour. No need to weave or push them away.

I ran like a maniac, pushing everybody out of my way. Today was the last day of the time-limit the doctor had set for the money. If I was late with the payment, my sister wouldn't be next in line for the surgery, and she didn't have time to wait longer. No, I couldn't be late.

I ran all the way to the hospitable, not stopping for breath even though it felt like my sides were going to split and my lungs about to explode. I quickly dashed to the front table, glad the there was no line.

I stuffed the wad of cash in the receptionists' face and said hurriedly, still out of breath,"Here, here's the money for my sister's surgery!" I panted. The receptionist seemed annoyed, irritated, even. But I didn't care. As long as my sister was going to be safe, I wouldn't care if I was turned into a tree.

"Name?" the receptionist asked me, her voice even.

"Alexandra Morrain," I panted.

"Healthcare number?" the receptionist continued.

"1382798," I recited, her number was imprinted into my brain. The receptionist clicked away at her computer, and asked me a few more questions. I was getting impatient. Why are there so many damn questions? HURRY UP! I shouted at her in my mind.

"That's it. Can you please hand me the money?" the receptionist asked, the question the I've been anticipating with all my heart.

"Here!" I said eagerly, almost stuffing it in her face again. I stopped just in time, and with an annoyed expression she took it and called for another person.

"Julian, can you please bring this to Dr. Harold?" she told the man. She then turned to me and said,"Your sister's schedule will be tomorrow, at 8:00 pm. Is that alright?"

"Yes, it's alright," I responded. A heavy weight seemed to vanish from my shoulders the moment the receptionist handed the cash to Julian. All of a sudden my legs grew soft, and I noticed I was still panting and gasping for breath from the sprint here. I wobbly walked towards some benches, and plopped down.

I closed my eyes and rested, sinking into the hard bench. Now that I'm resting, my body seemed to be like lead. I was so exhausted, not only from the run, but also from the two months of barely sleeping and eating.

I glanced at my watch and sighed in relief. It read, 11:46 pm. The deadline was at 12:00 pm. I sat there awhile longer, still digesting the fact that my sister can have her surgery. I was euphoric! Right now, if someone asked me to massage their feet, I would wholeheartedly agree, and even massage it to the best of my abilities!

Suddenly my back prickled, but I ignored it. That only meant there was a person close to me. But then I heard someone screaming, “Watch out! A patient’s running!” Probably a nurse, my tired brain murmured. Her voice seemed so far away that I didn’t think to even open my eyes.

That was when I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my arm. My eyes flew open and I instinctively jerked my arm away. There was a person squatting right where my arm was, his mouth still open and dripping blood. He was wearing a patient’s uniform, his amber eyes had dark bags underneath, his young face pale, and his auburn hair messy and oily.

“What the fuck?!” I screamed after the shock wore away. I sprang up from my seat and backed away from the patient quickly. The patient stood up and took a step in my direction, but then her was restrained by a nurse.

“Sorry, sorry! Are you okay?” She profusely apologized.

I muttered, “I’m fine.”

Then with a relieved expression she led the patient away, all the while whispering to him, “It’s okay, no-one is going to hurt you.” Is he an abuse victim? I wondered. I felt a pang of sympathy and understanding towards him. I could relate, because my father was an alcoholic. When he was drunk he would sometimes beat us for one reason or another. I forgave the boy in my mind.

I sat there a while longer, resting my body. My arm had began to itch already. I glanced at the area where the boy had bitten, and to my shock, the wound had already healed, leaving only a red patch of skin. Although the wound had been tiny, it had still drawn blood. I stood up and left the hospitable.

On the way home everything felt so much more…sharp, piercing. All the colours seemed to pop out even more, as if clamouring for my attention. The usual overbearing scent of exhaust fumes and sweat seemed to become even more prominent. My body felt so hot, all of a sudden, like I’ve been laying in an oven this whole time. As my body grew heavier, my sight grew more and more blurry, the colours of the city growing into a blur of colour, swirling in circles and circles around me. I began swaying, so I quickly tried to find a support. My eyesight seemed to be gone, non-existent.

I unsteadily leaned onto a wall, then collapsed there.

———

While Amy had been asleep, the world began to bend. It warped, swayed, shivered, then, as if giving up, it bent inwards, the very fabric of our reality breaking apart, like scissors cutting through paper. Skyscrapers seemed to emerge from other skyscrapers, or from nothing. The newly emerged skyscrapers were concerning, to say the least. They were dilapidated, the glass shattered, the concrete cracked. The night sky, so heavily polluted, seemed to clear up, the stars shining brightly, yet the sky was different. It was like gazing into a clear pool, only, the pool was above your head.

That was when other planets seemed to appear in the sky, orange ones, green ones, ones that looked like Earth. Purpled, crystallized trees seemed to replace the lampposts, giant flying warships flew out from inky, black cracks in the air, their sails red, the boat itself seemed to be not made out of wood, but stone. Suddenly, every religious person seemed to hear his/her god(s) in their minds, whispering to them about immense power, so long as they obeyed.

Many people were woken up from their slumber by pains. Some mutated, some changed, some seemed to scatter into tiny pieces. Some disappeared altogether. Everybody quickly fell asleep again, reluctant to leave the safety of their blankets.

When the sun finally rose, it was, instead of the usual orange-red sky that signalled dawn, the sky instead was painted green-purple, the sun itself pink. The sun seemed to be the herald the screamed of terror, the howls of beasts, the cracks as building splintered and fell. The inky black splits closed after the battleships returned, but the damage had been dealt. Where the cracks had been, reality wavered. When the sun finally rose to the zenith of its path, it’s rays spread, illuminating everything, and then the sun went out.

Like a lightbulb, it was as if a metaphorical hand had hit a metaphorical switch, the sun blinked out. Instead of returning into darkness, the world glowed pale green. It was the pale green sky that seemed to awaken the loudest and most maniacal laugh, a laugh that seemed to silence everything else, a laugh later named by historians as the “Laugh of the Devil”.

———

I regained awareness, and cracked open an eye. Sounds seemed to swim around me, sight making the sky green. I felt like I was floating, and my head swam. The world seemed to tilt around me. I quickly snapped shut my eyes before the nausea made me vomit. Damn, overworking is really not the way to go, I thought begrudgingly.

Once my senses seemed to return to normal I cracked open my eyes tentatively again. The world was stable once more, though the sky was still green. My ears were functioning again, at least. I centred myself, and focused on the ground beneath me.

I risked another glimpse at the sky, and found it still green. Now, I was plain confused. The building around me were the right colour, my clothes were the right colour, everything but the sky was the right colour. Could it be…I shut down that train of thought. There was no way the sky could change colours. Overworking sure had its consequences. I even thought the sky was green! I snorted a laugh. Why isn’t there any noise? I noticed. There was always noise in the city, even at the wee hours of the morning.

My sister! I remembered. I quickly stood up and ran home, eager to bring her the news. I shoved any other thought aside and concentrated on her face as she learns of the surgery.

We lived in a bad neighbourhood. The type of neighbourhood that wouldn’t be out of place in a crime movie. It even had its gangs, homeless people, punks, and more. Our apartment building was in the outskirts of that area, though, so it only had most of the above.

I quickly ran home, ignoring all the hallucinations my brain had worked up, all the while laughing at the outlandish scenes it played out. Purple crystal trees? Giant vines growing on the buildings? Walking bears? Who knew I had such a weird imagination! I lamely joked to myself.

I kicked open the door of the apartment, ignoring the clang as it struck the wall. I rushed up the stairwell and opened the door to our room. I quickly walked to my sister’s room, giddy with joy. I knocked once, but nobody replied. I was getting a bit worried. Usually my sister yell, “Welcome home!” The moment she heard the doorknob turn. She always answered on the first knock on her door, too.

I worriedly opened the door, only to find… nothing.

“Sister? Sister? Alex? Where are you?!” I screamed anxiously, running around the apartment room. It was a tiny room, only had room for one twin bed and a kitchen. There was no way my sister could hide, especially with her condition.

Maybe she’s outside? I grasped for any reason for her disappearance. I quickly ran down the stairs and out the apartment building. She wasn’t there. I ran to all the places she might go, but she wasn’t there.

“Alex, Alex! This isn’t funny! Come out! You’re scaring me!” I shouted desperately, hoping my sister was just playing a joke. Maybe she got kidnapped? I thought worriedly. I couldn’t call her phone, either, because she didn’t have a phone. I had one, but an extremely old one I only used for emergencies. Quickly I dialled 911, and waited anxiously for someone to pick up, pacing in circles.

“Come on, come on,” I muttered under my breath. “Pick up, pick up!” But nobody picked up. I called, again and again, but the result was the same. Nobody was picking up. I threw the phone in fury, but instead of bounding off the wall like I expected, it exploded and put a fucking dent in the wall.

I gaped in shock at the development, and stood there, frozen. “Whatever! I need to go to the police station!” I said to myself. I ran towards the nearest station, and on the way I couldn’t help but notice a few things such as, why am I running so much quicker than usual? Why am I talking to myself so much? Once I finally arrived at the station, it was dark. Pitch-black. The lights were off, the shuttered halfway closed. Shouldn’t the police station be open 24/7? I decided to file a complaint.

I ran to the next police station, but this one was also closed. I peered up at the sky to see where the sun was, but I got another eyeful of a green sky. Am I still hallucinating?! I thought exasperatedly.

I began running to the next station I knew of, but that’s when the city finally regained it’s volume. But it wasn’t the usual sounds of a city. Instead the sounds were like a horror movie’s sound. Screams, bangs, yells, wails, and more. A few windows opened and people began screaming at nothing.

Behind me, a door opened with a bang, and a man in spandex jumped out.