One of the goals of SPFBO is to give a chance to self-published authors to get more exposure. This year I’m taking part in the competition with my own team. You can keep updated on our progress and all of our content on my SPFBO 5 page!
Tales from the Asylum is a new feature I came up with for SPFBO. I wanted to create a unique opportunity for the authors to show off their story telling skills by taking their characters and putting them in an asylum room to see how they would deal with the situation. A lot can happen in a closed space…
The Author
I’m a 31-year-old bohemian, British rasta. I have many other labels.
My short stories earned me the nickname, Lady of the Maccabre. I’m covered in tattoos, every colour of the rainbow.
The Setting
The Scene
She wanted to wake up, go to Wilhoon on a shopping spree, celebrate last night’s victory. Her eyes wouldn’t open, no matter how much she tried, as if they’d been sewn together just like the sleeping fairy’s.
Waves crashed outside her tent. She couldn’t hear her centaur friend’s snoring. “Feyneyrey, are you there? Are you awake?”
“Doctor, I think she’s waking up again.”
That sounded like her mum’s voice. She must’ve been dreaming.
“Brittany, honey, can you hear me?”
She moved her hands, chain rattled against metal.
“It’s okay, darling. The nurses had to restrain you for your own protection.”
“What? What’s happening?” Brittany’s blurry eyes opened, focusing on a smile she thought she’d never see again.
“Brittany, you’re back”, said her mum, squeezing her into a hug so tight, both of them heaved into each other.
Brittany asked, “How come I’m back on this world? Where’s my dad?” Her mum looked at the floor.
The doctor walked forwards, blond hair flopping onto his shoulders, a smile that’d never reach his dark eyes no matter how much it tried. “If I may take over from here, Mrs Dove?”
Nodding, her mum stepped back, trying to cover her tears with her hands.
“Where’s my dad?”
“Do calm down”, said the doctor. “All shall be explained, but first and most importantly, I need you to understand where you are.”
Doctors, white walls. “I’m in a hospital. Why am I in a hospital?”
“You’ve been here ever since the bus crash.”
“No,” said Brittany, “I was in the otherworld. I’m a demon. I’m…”
“Yes”, said the doctor, big shark smile. “It does seem a little far-fetched, doesn’t it? Don’t you think that maybe you were beginning to miss your parents, in the otherworld? That’s why you returned?”
It did make sense, but everything she’d done, cutting Nigel’s arm off, defeating an entire army, visiting the Pitch Black Forest of Lilehayer, it all felt so real to her.
“Of course it did”, said the doctor. “Your brain’s tricked you into believing it. You constructed this world after the bus crash as a coping mechanism. You do remember the crash?” Something about this room didn’t feel right.
“If I’m really back, then where’s my dad?”
Her mum said, “Your father’s moved away. He’s coming to visit next week. Stay with us, darling, and you’ll see him soon.”
This can’t’ve been real. There was no way her parents would ever split up.
“Unfortunate as it may be”, said the doctor, “sometimes parents are good at hiding marital problems from their children.”
She figured it out, why this room felt so odd. “It’s you! You’re reading my mind. You’re trying to trick me, trying to keep me here.”
The doctor grabbed the top of her blanket and sneered. “Yes, honey cakes, I am trying to keep you here. It’s my job, silly. You need to face up to what’s happened.” He threw the blanket to the floor. “You need to face up to what you’ve become.”
Looking down, her chest vibrated, a tumble drier in full cycle. Three-quarters down her thighs, nothing but fleshy stumps. “No, this isn’t real!” She thrashed her stumps, chains rattling loud enough to ruffle her eardrum. “I need to get back. I need to get away from here!” Waves crashed in the distance.
“I think my baby’s slipping”, said her mum.
“It’s okay. Don’t be upset. This is progress, Miss Dove. She’s gaining more awareness. Perhaps next time-”
The dream escaped her, something about a creepy blond man. Shudder.
Feyneyrey asked, “Are you awake, Brittany?”
She yawned, wiping dew from her eyes. “I wasn’t crying in my sleep again, was I?”
Author’s Note
If you’d like to get in touch, you can find Rainbow Maccabre on social media:
Rainbow Maccabre entered A Separation of Worlds into SPFBO, which you can check out by clicking on the cover which will lead you to its Amazon page:
You can keep updated on our progress and all of our content on my SPFBO 5 page!
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