Alma story

A few light taps upon the pane attracted Alma’s attention. The tiny flakes, both silver and
dark, fell obliquely against the lamplight right outside. On the streets, the houses, the shops-
there was not a part of the outside world which wasn’t painted white.

The sky was dull. Colourless. Monotonous. The white, radiant snow was the only thing that
illuminated the darkness

“I’m going out to Maria’s today, ma,” Alma muttered.

Furious, her mother stormed out of the kitchen and shouted “Didn’t you hear what I said
earlier? It’s too dangerous to go alone. Countless kids your age have gone missing and
without even a trace of them left.”

Alma ignored her mother, sleekly slipped past her and slammed the door behind her. She
started running through the deep snow. She heard the faint shouting coming from her
house. Despite this, she continued to trudge on, as her feet sank in after each step she took.
A smile formed on her face when she thought about how much fun she would have at
Maria’s.

She skipped through town. It was all empty. ‘Where was everyone?’ she asked herself. The
thought instantly vapourised from her mind. The wind was the only thing that was around
her. It tore up the paper notices of missing people on her path. On her way, she glimpsed a
stone slab, covered in names written by chalk. As she walked up to it, she stood there,
bewildered at how many names were imprinted onto it. She picked up a piece of chalk and
used it to write her name down. She stood back and marvelled at the brilliant piece of art
that she had contributed to.

CREAKKK.

She looked back, slowly.

She looked back, into the window of the shop behind her to see a miniature model of
herself inside the shop.

Curious, she walked towards the shop, her eyes attracted to the doll located in the middle of
the store. She wiped off the fog on the window using her gloves and peered inside.

There it was, stood up on a pedestal, as if asking to be taken away.

Joyfully, Alma ran to the door and aggressively tried to tug it down. However, it had no
effect on the door. It wouldn’t budge. With her hopes down, she turned away and was
about to leave when she heard yet another creak behind her. She glanced back at the door
to see it open, slowly. As it opened, the squeaking noise grew louder and louder. Alma
returned to the door and pushed it open even further. She stood at the doorway, stunned at
the well-crafted dolls in the shop.
The shop was dark, shrouded in darkness. Cobwebs had formed in nearly every single part
of the room. Every item in the room apart from the dolls had a layer of dust covering it. The
only exception was the pedestal in the middle of the room: it was dust free and spotless.
The floor also had dust layered up but there were also outlines of shapes on the floor that
had no dust in it. Shapes that looked similar to footprints. There were so many and yet not
one of them passed the pedestal.

The dolls were lifeless, yes, but they looked as if they were once alive. Alma’s eyes drifted
back towards the doll that resembled herself. Its facial features and clothes were identical
to her own. Its texture looked as if it was actually skin. She started walking towards the doll,
dismissing her surroundings from her thoughts. The doll was just a few centimetres away
when she felt something poke her feet. When she looked down, she saw another doll that
was pedalling a cycle. She put it upright and as soon as the wheels touched the ground, it
zoomed off towards the door. As if trying to prevent the doll’s escape, the door shut, leaving
the doll on the bicycle inside the room. Nevertheless, the doll still banged on the door
continuously.

Alma looked back to the pedestal, and to her surprise, found that it had disappeared.
Frantically, she searched the rows of dolls for her one, until she located it on the third shelf.
She walked to it, unaware of the piercing stares from behind as well as in front of her. She
was so indulged that she didn’t realise the slight movement of the doll next to her, as if they
were trying to warn her about something. Ignoring them, she reached out for the doll. She
was a few centimetres away from it. The number of eyes watching her increased.

She touched the smooth texture of the doll. It felt just like her skin. As she looked closer at
it, she realised the miniscule features that they had in common. Suddenly, a rush of energy
overcame her. She felt her body getting reduced to atoms. To the quantum realm. And her
soul was sucked into the doll.

Her mind went blank. To nothing. It was empty.

She couldn’t feel her body, her legs, her arms, her fingers. Of course, they were non-
existent.

She opened her eyes, slowly.

Her breathing instantaneously changed from calm to agitated. Her eyes wandered around
the room.

She was sat on the 3rd shelf, surrounded by dolls that all looked towards her. Their bodies
were motionless, but their eyes weren’t. Just like hers.