All Bottled Up
Midnight Illusions Collection of Short Stories
Story for immature_girl
Written by SHINeeDreams
@ http://midnight-illusionsx.blogspot.com
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Help!
Somebody...
Anybody...
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It was a cool day in late March, and everyone was anticipating to leave; it was now spring break.
Sooru was especially looking forward to break because she was excited to go on her annual spring break hiking trip with a few of her friends.
"Hey guys! Are you all packed for the trip?" Sooru said as she approached them.
"Sorry Sooru. I might have to skip this time. I'm leaving town."
"I can't go either."
"Me neither."
"Sorry..." They were all unable to go due to their busy schedules, but it wasn't going to stop her from going; she decided that she would go on her own, and she guaranteed that she would have a wonderful time, even if she was going alone. She always went up the same path anyway, and she was usually the one to lead the trail, so she knew it was going to be a piece of cake going up the mountain.
Right as Sooru got home, the first thing she did was pack everything she needed for her exciting trip. Her mom was worried that something terrible might happen to her, but Sooru reassured her that she was going to be okay; she was now 20, and she was able to take care of her own self, she thought. She traveled from one room to another, making sure everything she needed was tightly packed away. It was going to be a great day, and she didn't want her lack of preparation to ruin it.
The next morning, Sooru went off to go on her hiking trip. She took the bus to where the mountain was located, and off she went by foot to the trail. Unfortunately, it was quite hot, so she had to make multiple stops, either at a nearby river or at a regular rest stop. But even with the super hot sun shining down at her, she couldn't help but to admire the beautiful view. This was what always help her to keep going; it was her motivation to continue on to the top of the mountain.
While there was the view to help her continue on, there were also the many obstacles she had to face on the way. And because of these obstacles, she made a lot more stops than she usually did. As she was getting near the top, she made one last break at a river after realizing that canteen ran out of water; she took this as a chance to cool herself down as well. But when she got there, she discovered something she had never seen before in the river; it was a bottle with a rolled up sheet of paper in it.
"I don't remember seeing this here last time; maybe someone left it here by accident." It seemed like it was meant to be read, and even though she knew it was wrong to read someone else's note, she opened the bottled.
"Help! Somebody...Anybody...Help...Please.." was all the note read, and along with it was a map. It was a trail to the top of the mountain.
What was this all about? Who put this here? It was all very strange to her. Seeing the map, it was a trail that she had never taken before, and she wanted to check it out for the first time. She placed the two sheets of paper and the bottle in her backpack, quickly refilled her canteen, and took off. Although she had been hiking up this mountain for several years already, this was a new experience for her, but she enjoyed it; there was a whole new side to the mountain that she had never seen. While the trail that she normally took had a more clear view of the sky, this trail had more trees and wildlife, so it created more shades. It was all so beautiful, but why hadn't people told her about this side?
After walking for about an hour or so, Sooru discovered a cabin, and she wanted to check it out. She peeked through the window and it seemed very empty, but she decided to explore the inside anyway. Looking around, Sooru only saw a bed and a picture hanging on the wall. She walked over to look at it when she kicked something. When she looked down at her feet, she discovered another bottle with a rolled up sheet of paper in it. And yet again, she took a look at what it was. She opened the bottle and flattened out the sheet; it was a letter.
It read:
"Grandpa, how have you been? I hope you haven't missed me too much. I know I haven't been able to see you, but just so I could make sure you don't forget me, I brought you this picture; it's of you and me when we built the cabin. Grandpa, you've probably been lonely but don't worry; I'll be going by your side soon enough.. I was afraid of being alone, but I'll soon be seeing you, Mom, and Dad. I hope you'll wait for me up there. I miss you all a lot and I love you guys! Love, Onew."
"Onew? And what picture?" Sooru looked back up to see the wall and wondered if the picture on there was the picture that was mentioned in the letter. It was of a boy and an old man standing in front of a house...it was the cabin that she was standing inside of. She was so confused to why this letter was here or if it even was supposed to be here; nothing made sense. She's already seen so many strange things while walking through this trail, and she didn't want to deal with any more strange occurrences. She placed the letter back in the bottle and decided to leave the cabin to go back on her quest to the top of the mountain.
Another few minutes passed and she finally reached her destination. Admiring the view from the very top, Sooru was daydreaming about all the things she was hoping to do while she was there, but she was interrupted when she heard the sound of rustling leaves from behind her. She quickly turned around, startled by the sound, but there was nobody there.
"Hello? Is someone there?" Sooru called out, but when nobody answered, she just went to mind her own business by going toward the railings to take some pictures of the view; it was absolutely marvelous, and she wanted to capture the moment in her camera. But she heard the rustling noises again, and all of a sudden, the thoughts of the note that she had read at the river came back.
"O..onew?" For some reason, she felt like it could be him. She called out his name a couple times, hoping for someone to reveal his or herself. And after getting no reply once again, she tried her best to go back to admiring the view.
She was awestruck by it all that she didn't even realize what time it was; it was getting late, and she had to find a place to sleep. She went over to the lodges where she would be able to sleep on bunks, but when she arrived, she was told that it was full due to so many people coming up with their families for spring break. She didn't know what to do; the next lodge was about forty minutes away going down the mountain, and it was getting very dark. That's when she remembered that she had discovered the empty cabin from earlier. It was pretty close so she decided to go back and check it out.
When she arrived at the cabin, it still looked the same way it did when she left it, so she assumed that nobody was actually occupying it. Even though she felt guilty for trespassing into someone else's property, she thought it was more worth getting in trouble in a cozy cabin than having peace while lying on the cold ground outside; she was willing to take her chances.
Entering the cabin, Sooru was slightly frightened by the fact that she was going to be sleeping alone in the pretty large cabin. But even with this fear, she went on unpacking her things to get ready for bed.
"Sooru, what do you think you're doing? This is wrong.." she thought.
But she didn't really want to leave.. "Sooru, it's way better than sleeping outside. Besides, nobody is here anyway; it'll be okay." She was in such deep thought about the while situation that she didn't realize how tired she was; her mind started slowly drifting off, and she just lied down on the floor, falling sleep next her bag.
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Sooru's Dream
Sooru was walking through a trail, and at the end of it was a tree, but it was quite extraordinary; it was glowing very brightly. She walked near it and in front of it was a bottle, so she tried to pick it up. She held it in her hand, and there was nothing in it. Right as she was about to put it back down, she was surrounded by a shadow so she looked up to see a familiar face. She didn't realize until the figure got closer that he was the boy in the picture.
"Aw-new? Are you Aw-new?" Sooru asked.
"I'm Oh-new. O-N-E-W, Onew." His voice was deep and yet it was really soothing soft. "I saw that you found my messages; thank you for coming here, even though it's probably not for me," he said while smiling. At that moment, her legs felt like they were going to melt; it was just so cute.
She cleared to stop herself from staring hard. "So, what is all this? Why'd you.."
"I'm no longer living a normal life like you are; I am no longer alive. Last winter I got lost while coming up here due to all the snow. I wanted to send a letter to my grandpa. See this tree? It's where my grandpa is, and because I haven't been able to send it to him, my spirit still hasn't been able to go, which is why I'm still here."
"So why me?"
"You opened my messages in a bottle. And I won't be able to rest in peace until my task is complete. Would you mind burying that letter and picture next to this tree? You'll see it behind the cabin. You're the only one that could do it since you're the first to have opened them. Please.."
"Are you sure I'm the only one you could trust right now? What if I can't?"
"You'll do great. Please help me get to where my grandpa is."
Sooru saw Onew's face and knew right away that she just had to get the deed done. "Okay, I promise."
"Thank you! Thank you so much.. Thank..th...." Onew slowly started disappearing into the light.
"O..onew? Where are you going? Onew!" And there was a cool breeze as everything started going black.
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Sooru awoke from her sleep, and saw that it was early morning. She looked around and saw the bottle along with the picture resting right next to her.
"Onew," she whispered, "I promise that I'll get it done; I won't let you down." She quickly grabbed the two objects and went off to search for the tree.
She checked and checked and checked, but she just couldn't seem to tell the trees apart from one another; they all looked alike. But she couldn't give up since she gave Onew her word to help set him free. She tried her best to remember what the tree from her dream looked like, but it was unnecessary after seeing a beam of sunlight shine over one of the trees a few feet away from her. Thinking it was a sign, Sooru rushed over to it, and she knew right away that it was the right one.
Carved on the tree trunk were the words "Onew and Grandpa," and it was definitely the right tree. Sooru didn't hesitate to dig a hole as best she could even though she didn't have a shovel; her only goal was to bury the letter and picture. She carefully placed them in the hole, buried them, and placed a few rocks over the are in order for her to remember where exactly they were; she wanted to be able to locate them so that she could visit the tree whenever she wanted to.
After finishing the deed, Sooru thought she was ready to head on back home. She took another close look at the tree...but she felt somewhat empty inside. She sat down on the ground for a while and began to think; she went into deep thought once again about everything that had happened to her the previous day, and she finally thought it would be a great idea to write a note...for Onew. She took out a pen and paper, wrote the note, and buried it next to the other buried items while saying, "I hope you like it."
Now she finally knew it was time to head on back. She enjoyed the trip down due to the fact of knowing that she was not alone throughout her trip both up and down. She didn't know Onew at all, but it just felt like his presence has been there close by her for a long time.
She happily skipped over to the bus stop and sat down at the bench; she couldn't wait to get home to tell everyone about how exciting her hiking trip was. And the weather was just so nice that she had to take more pictures; she set her backpack down and opened it to get out her camera, but out came a different object; it was a bottle. She didn't remember putting one in her bag. And this bottle was quite different from the ones she saw earlier; this one had a cork on top.
She examined the bottle and saw that there was something written on top of the cork; it was the name "Onew." She was so fascinated by it that she kept it close to her chest for the longest time until she decided to look at the content inside. And of course out came a rolled up sheet of paper. She read over what was written on it, and she felt her heart throb after finishing it. She put the paper back in the bottle, placed the cork back, and held the bottle in both hands while looking up at the sky.
"Thank you for accompanying me. I had a wonderful time talking to you, and I hope you're doing well with your family." As she said that, she felt a cool breeze tickling her, and she knew that it was Onew because it was the same breeze she felt when she met him for the first time: in her dreams from the night before. As the breeze blew past her, Sooru felt like it whispered something to her: "Thank you.." And as she heard it, she knew that her deed was officially done; she had helped him roam free to reach out to his family.
"Onew, you and your thank you's. I'm just glad you're not bottled up anymore."
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