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The evening was cold and crisp just in the way that beginning of the true spring evenings were. Perfect balance of cold and adequately warm, impeccable tuning of the soft wind; it all fit.
Yet, Fundy found himself trembling on the verge of sleep, waiting for any soft surface (like grass, moss, wood, unpolished stone) to fall in and just sleep the night away. But with the phantoms screeching right above his head, he knew that that was not going to be possible. He whistled and a small balck and white bird flew towards him and sat on his shoulder.
"Who's online Game Chat?" he asked, quiet as to not alert monsters to his presence. The bird sang out a few tones. Despite them not being words, Fundy understood. Niki and Ranboo.
"Tell them: hey guys, could you sleep?" Game chat chirped again, then fell silent.
"Please?"
Game Chat hardly had the time to react as it sang out a response from Ranboo and then from Niki. The fox boy smirked, their answers were affirmative - Niki's no doubt fed by her knowledge of his trouble with sleep.He let Game Chat go and began to make his way towards his base.The air was cold and crisp, just like an evening at the first third of the spring should be, and he really wished it wasn't, so that he would feel better about missing it.
However, he really needed to. One could figure out fairly quickly that the door wasn't getting heavier, the fox was just losing his strength.Bundled up beneath the still winter blankets, Fundy began to finally fall asleep.
For Fundy, waking up was a miracle yet to be discovered by other mortals. He couldn't get enough of the stretching, the fresh air, the constant company of chirping birds. He wasn't alone and he was happy.
Only...
Fundy's ears twitched as he put on his hat. There weren't any birds chirping.
The complete, abandoned silence was not something the fox was used to. There was always something when he was alone.
Fundy walked over to one of his doors and cautiously opened it.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope," he immediately slammed the door shut.
"That is not happening. Nope!"
He looked outside once again.
Still desert, full of sand and dead bushes and who knows what else. Decidedly not the Dream SMP, where he fell asleep. Sleep walking? Yeah, he could imagine that. But sleepwalking so far away with his house? Fundy breathed in and out as he leaned against the door.
Surely the second one must be fine.
This time, he opened both of the wings on the doors. Freezing air, that was just warming up, surrounded him like water. And Fundy felt himself drowning. The sand was a sea, calm on the outside but a raging fight of streams inside. He once again shut the door.
"There's a desert," he thought out loud, "outside of my home, which, last time I checked wasn't there!"
He thought again, this time much more confused.
"Huh?!" He rubbed the base of his nose.
"Okay wait, w-w-wait," his legs paced up and down the stairs, "what?"
He whistled and ran up to the ladder, which led him to the roof of his house.
"Game Chat?" The bird was silent, only waiting for a message.
"Uh..."
Is no one speaking right now? What- How-
Before he could conclude that train of thought, he noticed something in the desert.
"That- That is the van."
The drug van. The van his father once had and made drugs in. The van, where they signed the Declaration of Independance. Where they stood after Eret betrayed them. The van where Schlatt died.
"I- I'm kinda freaking out. I-" Fundy took a few steps back, "hold on, I need a moment."
He wasn't talking to anyone, but that didn't matter to him.
"What is going on right now?" He jumped from the ladder, running down the stairs. Wilbur would've told him to stop, that he would hurt himself, but Fundy didn't have the mental capacity to remember that right now.
"What is this? Why am I here? Where am I?" Fundy stepped out the door, "seriously, where am I?"
He closed the doors behind him. The sky turned a rich black, only fading to light blue on the horizon.
"Why does the sky turn black?" He turned around.
"What is this?"
"Well, I'm not alone at least," he stared at the beige rabbit with an intent look of a fox. Fundy stepped further out to the desert. Under his feet was sandstone. A path.
"There's buddies, but why am I here?"
The path stretched further, lined with occasional torches. Slowly, the fox made his way to wherever that path led him.
"That's the van," he stated after walking over a small dune. He heard two voices inside. One was Wilbur's and the second... he listened for a long while. The second voice was his. They were fighting - not really that much of a surprise - especially before the war fights were a daily occurence. Still, Fundy walked up to it. He pushed the button to open the door and nothing happened.
"Uh... what? Will you let me in?"
Filling up the lonely silence with talking to doors, he scoffed at himself, pathetic but better than nothing.
"Okay," Fundy returned back on the partly solid path, "that's just- alright."
He shook his head, "so be it, I guess."
Out the corner of his eye he noticed another structure. A sandstone building, made to look like almost a shrine. To whom? Fundy had no clue.
"Do I just go there?"
The sand, moving without any outside help, stayed silent.
"Might as well," in a calm trot he started to walk in its direction, "what is happening?"
The voices behind him slowly disappeared into the sand.
"Game Chat! Anyone?" The confusion in his voice was as obvious as yellow on black.
"What is happening!?" He threw his hands in the air, but not even the rabbits were fazed.
"What is going on?!"
The fox ran along the path a ginger smudge against the golden sand and pitch black sky.
"What is going on right now?" he pushed open the door to the shrine building. There awaited him a flight of stairs.
"No, no? No. What's- What's happening?" He ran a hand through fur.
"No, yes. Yes, I go here."
The desert was empty, aside from the three structures.
After careful consideration (or three seconds of thinking about it), Fundy went into the sandstone building. The air was like late summer evening. Somehow old already, warm and welcoming for mosquitos. The stairs were pristine and in perfect shape, not making a sound as Fundy walked down them.
The stairs led to a table covered in yellow fabric, with a simple carve out for a single chest. In front of that was a carpet, so rich in colour, it might've been dyed by fresh blood.
"What is this?" Fundy scanned his surroundings like a paranoid party in DnD.
In the corner, lit up like an ominous character in a horror movie, were chains a skeleton strung between them like a puppet. Maybe the party had a reason to be paranoid.
Fundy just laughed nervously and turned his attention to the chest. It seemed brand new and if it wasn't also covered by carpets, he would've assumed five minutes ago it didn't exist.
He opened it as carefully as he could.
Right in the middle lied a book, unfinished, without a name. The ink and quill still next to it, ready to be used.
Fundy let the lid fall as he opened the first page of the book.
Hi me! It read. He turned the page.
Fundy here
yeah I know, how can I have written this when I am you.
Well, not you, but, me.
I am you, but different.
It's complicated.
The writing was almost neat, as if the writer was making sure it was legible. Fundy checked the page before.
"What?"
Through all his confusion he continued reading.
You're probably wondering why you are in the middle of nowhere.
I wondered that too
and yaknow, like I said
I am you, you are me.
Fundy stopped on that for a second, before he turned another page.
But that's not important right now.
This place isn't what you think it is.
Next page.
Pretty much to sum this place up
Next page.
Well
Another page, the author, Fundy supposedly, seemed to struggle a bit here.
As was confirmed, when page 7 was empty.
On page 8 was written a simple phrase.
It's not real
Page 9.
None of this is real
"None of this is real?" Fundy repeated, brows furrowing. He turned the page again.
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
Fundy read it in a whisper ad he continued listing through the pages. He could hear his heart beating louder. And louder. And louder. And louder. And louder.
"I am not real?" the fox stared at it, fingers turning pages on autopilot.
w
a
k
e
u
p
His heart was now so loud it was almost unbearable.
wake up
Fundy rose up from his bed. He quickly put on his hat.
"What just happened?"
He stared at his bed for a long while. Hesitant, he moved to the door, opening it. A desert. This time air was a bit hotter. He closed the door again.
"Hu- WHERE AM I?!"
He whistled for Game Chat.
"WHAT IS THIS?!"
The bird sat down on his shoulder.
"ANYONE!?"
Game Chat repeated.
"ACTUALLY!"
The bird parroted once again.
"THIS IS NOT FUNNY! WHERE AM I?!"
Game Chat only repeated.
"GUYS!"
Still no answer.
Fundy huffed and called Game Chat off. Suddenly he realised something. He turned on his heel. His items! He can just get a few ender pearls a boat and he'll be back no worry. And a compass. Or a map. Or both for good measure.
He opened the first chest. Empty.
Next one. Empty.
"Oh come on."
They all were empty. His stuff was gone, he was in an unknown location where the sky was the wrong colour and he had no way of escaping.
With nothing else left to do, he returned to walk on the sandstone path.
"Where am I?" he thought aloud again, "what was that book?"
He gestured wildliy with his hands.
"I am not real? None of this is real?" he scoffed, "it sure seems real to me!"
A little more desperation escaped as he repeated: "it sure seems real to me!"
"Where is every- why am I alone?" Fundy wanted to cry. And punch something. And he wanted back home. If possible all three at the same time.
"Why is no one here?"
He looked to the sky, stopping dead in his tracks.
"Why is this happening to me?!"
No one answered. The sand just moved in it's enigmatic nonsensical patterns and the sky stayed silent in its bizarre darkness while the sun was out. Fundy growled in annoyance. He began walking again.
Once again he stood in front of the van. The shrine was closer. Or was it?
"No, I'm not," he shook his head, "I'm not going crazy. It is closer."
His attention returned to the van. It was considerably more silent, only quiet sobs escaping it.
His own quiet sobs.
"No, no, I know you were there, Will! Where did you go?" Fundy went back on the path, "he's- he's being funny," he reassured himself, now really needing to cry.
"I know what this is! Oh it's amazing! This is a prank!"
He sighed, "April fools is soon! I'm being pranked."
They must've messed something, because the sky wasn't supposed to be black, when the sun was out. But... he averted his eyes, instead focusing on the familiar sand, who would play such a sick joke on him?
"Yeah, a joke. Right?"
Once again walking up to the door of th van, he pressed the button.
"Can I enter?"
The iron door stayed silent and closed and Fundy sighed.
"No."
His gaze once again fixated on the third building.
"It really is closer. I know that," he strode towards it, "I can't be crazy."
"I'm not going insane," he concluded, avoiding the previous placement of the building with his eyes.
Sure of himself (as much as he could anyway), he walked in once again, running down the stairs.
"Alright," he muttered, walking over the torn carpet, "let's read the book again."
Was it just him or was the skull behind the table new?
He payed no mind to it as he opened the chest once again, it looked a bit more worn now, but the book was still in there.
"Yop, it's right there. Of course, it's right there," he continued to repeat to himself as he backed out.
"The same thing," he almost exclaimed, but stopped himself, returned and knelt down to open the chest again.
He hesitated reading the book again.
Hi me!
Oh, so it's the same.
Welcome back!
Yeahh, second time here? or third?
not entirely sure
"Welcome back?" Fundy's fingers glided over the letters, this time a bit less neat. Once again he checked the page before.
Listen to me Fundy
and you should trust me because,
well you know why
There are two things you can do right now
Walk back to your base, jump in bed, fall asleep, and you will wake up as if nothing ever happened
Fundy stopped once again, thinking it over. Still he turned the page.
Or you can keep reading...
And I will tell you what I know...
Next two pages were empty.
And then the circus began again.
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
You are not real
"You- don't want to know the truth."
You dont want to know the truth
You dont want to know the truth
You dont want to know the truth
You dont want to know the truth
You dont want to know the truth
You dont want to know the truth
"The truth. The truth to what?"
"The truth to-"
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
"What is going on?" he screamed over his beating heart. He heard it, it beat in his neck - deafening, quick pace of a scared prey.
Fundy woke up again. He put on his head, wiped the sweat off his forehead and began nervously chuckling. Everything was the same as before. Chest empty, bed unmade in the same way.
"This-" Fundy giggled slightly terrified and out of his mind, "this is a joke! this is a joke! This is a joke!"
He repeated over and over again.
"I am- this is- I-" he huffed, flustered, angry and frustrated.
He laughed.
"It's not real! None of this is real!" he took in a deep breath, "I am not real! This cannot be real! Why does this keep happening to me?!"
"I wake up! I step outside in the middle- nobody's responding to me! I step outside in the middle of nothing-" He he looked around in disbelief.
"It's gonna be here again, isn't it? I open this door and it's gonna be desert."
He was right. As he opened the door, he stared into the face of the sandstone build. Definitely closer.
"Yeah, no okay," he turned around, closing the hot air out of his comfortable base.
"What is happening right now?!" he paced the floor, "No, no no no. Lsiten, you're toying with me."
"They're actually- everyone is toying with me. THEY ARE ALWAYS TYING WITH ME!" he screamed, desperate and almost in tears.
"Everyone is! I'm always being played with! Why? Why always me? NO!"
"Why does it always have to be me? Every single time!"
In resignance, he opened the door again, glaring at the building. The van was nowhere to be found.
"I don't- I don't want to keep dealing with this! I just wanna- no."
His back turned to the outside.
"The book said, I have two options. I can wait here, until it's nighttime, wait until the sun sets and... I can go to sleep. And when I go to sleep and wake up... none of this is real, it's gonna disappear!"
"All I have to do is wait for midnight and then just... sleep! And all of this will end... right?" he almost laughed, "all I have to do is wait until night time and then it will all be over. I just have to sleep and then it's gonna dispappear!"
"And everyone is going to appear out of the bush and they're gonna be: SURPRISE! And I'm gonna be like: you guys!" his voice faded away, "you're always pranking me, but you've always been there for me... every single time... except sometimes... when I needed you the most..."
Fundy sniffled, "I just go to bed. And then I wake up and none of this ever happened."
"And we're gonna go to my old life, where I have fun! And join parties and join groups and only see them disappear in front of my eyes as I start to get attached to them..." he let out a shaky laugh, "yeah... that's- that's the choice I'm making. Go back to that."
Fundy almost went under the covers, waiting for the night, where he would sleep and return and-
"Or, y'know..." in long strides he went out of the door - gaze fixated on the dreaded structure. The walk was a bit less than two minutes. He sighed and breathed in.
"Wait..." he smelled something. He walked behind the structure, surprised to find the path continued. There was smoke, laying down on the ground like a thick fog. Fundy walked in the direction it was coming from.
He only saw a tiny bit of it, but that was enough. A black, smoldering crater disfigured the golden desert like a giant burn scar.
"No," the fox boy said. That was enough. No looking at the ominous crater, no sneaking around in the fire. He had a book to read.
"No," he repeated over and over.
"No, I want to find out- I need to find out."
With that, he stepped in.
There was no rug, no yellow cloth layed on the destroyed table, the chest could've been caught in a hailstorm in Australia... A third skull was looking at it all, hidden in a space in the wall.
Hi. Again.
Fundy sighed.
... Why are we so persitent
... Why are we so stubborn
... You have been heŕe before, but you keep coming back
... Why?
The fox stopped and glided over the text. It was messy - obviously written with only the intent of being written.
WHY???
The next 3 pages were empty. On page 10 was a phrase Fundy already knew.
You dont want to know the truth
Empty.
It will hurt you
Empty.
I dont want to be hurt again
YOU dont want to be hurt again
Empty.
I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
PLEASE JUST LEAVE
GO TO BED
FALL ASLEEP
ENJOY YOUR LIFE
ENJOY THE FUN THINGS
THE TRUTH ISNT WHAT YOU WANT
PLEASE
STOP THIS
STOP!!!!!
The next few pages were empty. The writing at the end was rushed and if Fundy didn't know his own handwriting he would'nt be able to read it.
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
His heart was beating in his throat again. Loud. Scared. Screaming for him tu turn around and run anywhere if it was away. Fundy didn't listen, he glided through the pages of messily scribbled down "wake up"s until he arrived at an empty page. And everything fell silent again. He was breathing heavily, but it didn't matter.
It's not going to work huh..
Listen to me Fundy...
Your mind is not safe...
You are not imagining this...
This place might not be real...
But he is.
"Who?" Fundy asked, confused once again, "who?"
Spare yourself.
"From what?" Fundy asked, flipping through the pages like a magazine. Text continued on page 75.
I need you to listen carefully.
Again at 80.
Do not join him.
Whatever he asks of you.
Do NOT join him.
"Who's he?" Fundy looked over the page, "who's him?"
his plans aren't as nice as they sound.
his intentions aren't what you think they are.
he will use you
he will destroy you
everything you ever loved
everyone you ever cared about
Fundy read it out loud - outrage clear in his voice as he questioned: "who's he?"
do not join him.
The rest was empty.
"Why is this book unfinished? Why can't I see who wrote it?!" Fundy threw it back in the chest.
"Why would I write this? W- Why?" he almost aksed what was the point, but for that he knew, he would never get an answer. He turned to leave.
"What?"
There, on the stairs, was a book. Cover shiny and new. A signed a finished book. Fundy stared at it in disbelief.
That wasn't there before; it couldn't have been. With a hint of uncertainty he picked it up. 30/03/2021 - by Fundy.
"I didn't write this," he mumbled, baffled.
note to self
hello
I just wrote this book to remember who I am
To remember what is happening
All the books I found are indeed written by me
If Fundy had a bit of dignity, he would doubt that. He didn't, so he wouldn't.
Listen to yourself
You suffer from a verry odd illness
You suffer from a form of insomnia, within your own dreams.
Now the effectsof this aren't really known, and even I don't fully know what is going on.
Neat handwriting came back, strangely finished and perfect, like the rest of this book.
but let me tell you
somehow, this world, these actions and events, are linked to reality.
"Linked to reality?" Fundy read it again, but, to his unfortune, didn't find proof he misread it.
things that happen in these so-called "dreams", tend to leak into the real world
they will actually happen.
you might wonderhow exactly this is a bad thing.
the ability to predict cert-
"No! No, no no, no! This is just- I am so lo- I am- I- I need to leave."
Fundy ran up the stair, leaving the old, decayed stench of the structure behind. He pushed the door open, breathed in the hot air-
No, cold air.
"It's night time."
Fundy smiled widely, gripping the book to his chest.
"I can sleep!" He closed the doors and sprinted to his base.
"I can sleep, and the I wake up! Yes! And then I'm back! I can sleep, I can throw away this book," Fundy let it fall to the sand, "I can throw it away..."
He watched it lay in the sand, getting dusty and dirty.
"But... but the truth." He bended over and picked it up.
"But I can sleep," he walked in the base, clutching the book, " I can sleep and everything will be normal again."
"And I don't have to read this STUPID, STUPID BOOK!"
It fell on the bedsheets, but fundy payed it no attention.
"And this can stop and I'll be back and I'll have a blast with everyone!"
Still, he opened it again, reading where he left off.
the ability to predict certain events from happening sounds pretty cool
however...
"However?"
while this might be the case for dreams...
this also is the case for nightmares...
this is your last warning Fundy
please... for the both of us...
just wake up.
And Fundy did. He sat up, sweaty, put on his hat and let out a single dry bark of laughter.
"Every single time, dude!" he screamed, "it never ends! It never ends!"
"Why doesn't it end!?"
He jumped up and began gesturing again.
"What is going on!? Am I stuck?! Permanently?!"
He knew the drill. Fundy opened the door and looked over the desert. But there was no desert. It was dark and he could hardly see anything besides his base.
But he saw very well the thing that tood in front of it. As if the darkness of the daylight sky took on a black cape, the thing was like pure unfiltered shadow. And it was looking at Fundy.
The fox heard his heart and is tilted its head. He could imagine a taunting smile on its face. And then it began to run.
Not run as much as glide through air while moving its supposed legs. fundy unashamedly screamed. He turned around, stumbling inside and up the stairs. His heart beat and he ran knowing he was being chased. He almost tripped but at the last second stabilized himself.
Finally the ladder. His hands were sweaty and he was slipping, but his terror and determination, got him up.
On the roof was a bed, buried in blackstone like in a grave, but it was a bed. Fundy had no time to think how it got there. He just jumped in and his under the covers, like a child scared of the boogeyman in the wardrobe. His eyes closed and he finally felt relief.
That it's over.
That the thing didn't get him.
That he was going home and was going to have a blast.
He fell alseep to the sound of spinning arcades and poker chips.