Forgotten?

Violet eyes opened only to be greeted by a small circle of light with darkness beyond.  Lumina sat up onto her knees from where she was lying on her stomach and clasped her hands in front of her chest.  'Where am I?' she thought and looked around at the inky blackness beyond her small circle of light.  "Hello?" she called, her voice echoing off of walls she couldn't see.  'What's going on?'  Suddenly, there was the sound of metal grinding on metal and a large door opened a fair distance away.

"Why hello there, dear.  What are you doing sitting here in the dark?"  an old raspy voice called.  Footsteps sounded and echoed as someone approached.  Lumina squinted into the dark and eventually saw that the owner of the voice was a small wrinkled old woman with a kind smile.  "I haven't seen you before.  Are you a new arrival?"

"New arrival?"

"I'll take that as a yes.  Well, come along then."  she turned to head back to the door.  Lumina stood and followed the old woman out of the building and realized that the reason her voice had echoed was because she had been in some sort of a warehouse along a board walk.  The ocean caressed the shore a short distance away, the salty air catching in her long blue hair.

"Please ma'am,"

"Grandma.  You may call me Grandma," the old woman said.

"Grandma.  Can you tell me where I am?  The last thing I remember is being at a party with Len-kun."

"That's where your story was cut off dear."

"My story?"

"Yes.  The world you are looking at is known as the Dimension of the Forgotten.  It's where characters from stories that are discontinued or left unfinished go.  At least until we are forgotten entirely."

"I don't understand."  Lumina said and looked down at the ground only to notice that she could see the sidewalk through Grandma's dress.  "Grandma!  You're disappearing!"

Grandma chuckled.  "I'm being forgotten.  It appears I have only a little time left here before I vanish completely."

"You mean you're dying?"  Lumina asked, her eyes filling with tears.  Though she hardly knew this woman, the idea of her death was still a sad one.

Grandma looked over her shoulder in surprise.  "Not at all, child.  Being forgotten is not death for those of us here."

"What do you mean?"  Lumina asked, her tears vanishing.

"Let me start at the beginning miss..."

"Lumina."

"Lumina.  Stories are complicated.  To help keep order, they are divided into six worlds.  The World of teh Imagination, The Human World, The Land of Fairytales, The Land of the Unwanted, The Dimension of the Forgotten, and the Realm of Muses.  The World of the Imagination is where stories are born.  Inspiration takes root and grows usually in the form of dreams or random ideas.  After it is born, it moves on to the human world where it is written down for others to read and share.  This gives the story its life."

Grandma turned from the shore and started heading down a nearby street with small cottages on either side.  "The Land of Fairytales is where stories that will be remembered for the rest of time reside, stories like Cinderella and Snow White.   The Land of the Unwanted is where stories that have been completed yet forgotten end up.  The characters there live out their lives in peace and never move on.  The Dimension of the Forgotten, where we are now, is reserved for those stories that are discontinued or remain unfinished, but since our tales were shared with others we remain here until they forget us.  After that, we move on to the Realm of the Muses, the last of the worlds and the one that connects to the World of the Imagination.  When we vanish from here, we are sent to the Realm of the Muses where we are transformed into beings with the ability to grant inspiration and bring new stories to life in the minds of humans."

"So then, I'm here because my story was left unfinished, but people still remember me?"  Lumina asked.

"Correct."  answered Grandma.  Then, she turned down the walkway of one of the houses.  "Come along.  We'd best get you settled in.  I don't have much longer here and you'll need a place to live."

Lumina followed her.  "What about the others? My friends that were in my story with me?"

"I'm sure they're here too.  You just have to find them."  Grandma answered and entered the house.  Lumina followed and Grandma pointed to what looked like a television set.  "You can use that."

"A t.v.?"

"In the human world perhaps, but here we use it to find our companions."

Lumina ran into the living room and knelt in front of it.  "How do you turn it on?"

"Don't know, actually.  I only met one of my fellow characters once in my story and never had the urge to search for him.  Make yourself at home;  I'll make us something to eat."

~*~

Several hours later, Lumina sat on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest.  She had tried for a few hours to get the t.v. to work, but to no avail.  It was now that the true hopelessness of her situation was sinking in.  She was alone in the Dimension of the Forgotten with an old woman who was vanishing faster with every passing hour.  Her eyes stung with unshed tears and she buried her face against her knees.  'Len-kun.  Where are you?'

Suddenly, there was a soft click, like that of power coming on, and a soft glow filled the room.  Lumina looked up from her knees and froze in shock.  The t.v. was on.  Not just on, but showing an image.  "Len-kun?"  Lumina whispered and uncurled herself, crawling across the floor to the screen of the t.v.  "Len-kun?"  Her hand came up and ran across the screen of the t.v. and it zoomed in closer.  No.  It wasn't Len-kun.  It looked like him, but this boy was different.  Where Len-kun had long blue hair and wings that looked like they belonged on a pixie, this boy had long red hair and black feathered wings.  "What is this?"  Lumina asked and in answer words appeared on the screen.  "Cursed Wings."

"My, my, looks like your Len-Kun isn't here after all."

"What do you mean?"  Lumina asked, not taking her eyes off the screen and the boy that looked so much like her Len-kun.

"You called that boy Len-kun, did you not?"

"Yes, but, it's not him."

"Then why did you call him Len-kun?"

"Because he looks like him."

"I thought as much.  Your Len-kun is not here because he is there.  His essence was reborn into that new character,  He is now a part of another story."

Lumina finally tore her gaze away and looked at Grandma only to freeze.  "Grandma!"  The old woman was nearly invisible, only her outline remaining.

"I suppose this is it.  Farewell, child, enjoy my home.  I hope you and your Len-kun find each other someday."  And just like that she was gone, crossed over into the Realm of the Muses to help inspire the next generation of stories.

Lumina turned back around and threw herself against the t.v. screen.  "Len-kun!"  Come back!  Don't leave me here!  I don't want to be alone again!"  Tears poured down her cheeks and smeared onto the screen, speckling it with streaks of multi-color.  "Len-kun!!!" she screamed and poured all her hopelessness and anguish into the cry because now she was truely alone.