Libby

By Cynthia Li

During recess, my friend Libby asked me if I would like to fly to Saturn with her. She spread her color pencils in front of my desk, leaning over with her legs open.

“How are you going to make this happen?” I asked. 

Libby rolled her eyes and said: “Go to bed at 10, and remember not to hide any snacks under your sheets tonight.” She gave me a mysterious look and ran out of the classroom. She was definitely losing her mind. 

Still, before I went to bed, I turned on my neon light and tucked it in the wardrobe, so Libby wouldn’t be lost in her dreams when she come to find me. Thinking about Libby’s big smile, I fell asleep immediately.

I felt myself being sucked into a misty vortex. It spun and danced around me, the mist so thick I could hardly see anything. When my vision cleared, I find myself lying in a giant ice cream cone. Strawberry juice dribbled down my hair and shoulders until my shirt was soaked through. I tried to stand, but slipped on the runny mush again and again.

I looked up and saw Libby flying across the sky on a rocket. Her body was covered in a pink sheet. She soared over fountains and hills. Her sheet turned upside down in the wind.

I yelled, “Libby, just get down from here,” while trying to free myself from the mush.

“Hey, remember you are in your dream!” Libby shouted with a huge grin. “Do the funniest thing you could think of.” She zoomed her rocket right over my head. A shower of confetti splashed over me. 

I followed Libby forward. She landed at the foot of the mountains. The mountains were covered with thousands of marshmallows. Rivers of melted chocolate trickled down, pooling into a lake in front of us. As we drew near, the lake began to bubble. 

Libby set the rocket down and dipped her pinky into it. She took a deep sniff, a mischievous look glinting in her eye. “Mmm! It’s so yummy!” Chocolate splattered on her face and dripped onto her shirt. Her baby sheets were soon dyed brown.

Splash! Splash! Splash! Candy bars in red, pink, blue, yellow, and green suddenly fell from the sky. Some smashed onto the ice cream cone, and some dropped into the chocolate lake. “Wow! A sugar storm!” Libby yelled, clapping her hands. 

Before I could react, a screeching noise pierced the air. I looked up and saw Libby’s rocket hurtling straight towards my ice cream cone. The rocket plunged into the ice cream, sinking deeper, and started to shake violently. 

“Oh no! Please stop doing that! ” I hollered. I could feel the tremor getting stronger and stronger. The ice cream ball started to crack and crumble. This was a complete disaster!

The rocket was almost swallowed in chocolate. I could barely see Libby’s face. “Libby, are you going to be okay? Please answer me if you hear it.” 

“No, no, I’m fine. See, this is where the fun is.You gotta let your hair down.  ” I heard a muffled voice from beneath me. She was still eating her chocolate.

The ice cream cone began to vibrate more and more violently. Suddenly, I felt myself plunging into an endless dark hole, down and down and down. “Libby, help me!” I cried out with fear.

I sprang up, still screaming Libby’s name. But I found myself back in bed. My shirt was all sweat up. The pink sky vanished, the chocolate hill disappeared, Libby and her rocket were gone too. 

I thought of Libby at school. She danced during class when the teacher said something fun, or sang gibberish songs right in the hallway during class breaks, and sometimes showed up with mismatched socks. Everybody thought she was a little bizarre. But Libby is the kind of girl who always seemed to live in her own wonderland. She did as she pleased, and never cared about what other people thought of her. Perhaps that’s why I love her so much.

I smiled and turned off the neon lights. My sheets smelled like chocolate. I don’t need a light in the dark when I am with her. Libby, please always be yourself. Let my heart flow like the fountain, and let my mind sparkle like stars in the night sky.

Cynthia Li is a 17-year-old writer living in Southeastern China. Her short stories have appeared in The Trailblazer, Pandora’s Ink and The Alcott Youth Magazine. She’s drawn to grotesque kinds of writing, especially Gothic and Surrealistic aesthetics. Cynthia hopes to bring novel perspectives to the world.