Two Page Shorts by Nick Venom (top reads .txt) 📕

the universe, be it a city, town, or a desolate spot in a large forest. It all depends on your Location ability, which has its basic version at random. Upgrade to teleport to any specific location you want. 

The third ability is Storage, which dictates how much you can bring back. The basic version is five pounds. Carry anymore and you will be forced to discard it. As for the fourth ability, Armor, its basic version is at 0%. Upgrade to increase your armor, which doesn’t weigh your body down, instead, trickling into whatever clothing you’re wearing. The fifth and final ability, meanwhile, is another important one as it dictates how many times you can visit per day. If you do not spend all ten minutes in one visit for whatever reason, you can return if you upgrade your Visits ability. The basic version is set to 1 visit a day and any unused time is forfeited. If you don’t visit the multiverse in three days, it will NOT stack into 30 minutes; it will remain as 10 minutes a day.” Guider explained. 

Skye, satisfied with his explanation, nodded her head. “Thanks… so that means I wasted my time today. Huh?” She looked down at the silver coin which she now played with. “Interesting.”

“If you have any questions or need me, then contact me in the Journal of the Multiverse. Please do not allow anybody to see me or the Journal. Whoever steals this Journal, be it family or friends, can get their chance of exploring the other universes in your stead; however, your upgrades and information won’t be given to the new Writer.”

Skye nodded. “Thanks, Guider.”

Guider floated back into the Journal, closing it. Skyler watched him, staring at the cover of the Journal once it closed. In bold letters was the name in a bold and crazy font, changing slightly over their conversation. The cover read, ‘Journal of the Multiverse… by Skye Rollins.” Skye was shocked at her name being printed on the cover, but she couldn’t be surprised for long as a knock on the door attracted her attention. 

The “Journal” shook as she rose from the couch. She stuffed it under the couch before heading to the door, her hand lingering on the doorknob. She peered out of the window on the door, noticing her sister on the other side. She opened the door, waving her sister in - a younger and shorter version of herself wearing her high school uniform. “Hey sis, how was work?” She immediately asked.

“Tiring, how was school?” Skye responded.

“Good, no problems.” She said, throwing her bag on the couch, landing awkwardly, and sliding off. “Ugh,” She muttered, approaching and grabbing her bag. She laid it down properly. 

She then turned around to face her older sister. “What are we eating?”

Skye glanced at the kitchen. “No idea. I just got here.” She threw strands of her black hair that had gathered in front of her to the back. 

Her sister, whose name was Alainey, nodded. She strolled past Skye, heading outside. She found the mailbox on the side of the door and opened it, taking the mail out. She re-entered the house, handing the mail over. “More bills are here.”

“Ugh,” Skye muttered. “As always… I’ll take care of them.” She stated in a somewhat serious voice that Alainey scoffed at.

Alainey turned away from her sister, heading into her room. She entered her room full of pink with hints of violet, before turning around. “Don’t overwork yourself!” She warned. She turned back around, gazing at her wrists.

“I won’t!” Skye shouted from the kitchen. She held the silver coin in her palm, sitting down on a chair and staring at it. It looked to be pure silver and could even be worth a lot. The bills are piling up… I don’t have much time before we’re out of a house. Will this coin be enough or do I need more? She thought to herself.

She shot up from her chair, grabbing the keys that she left on the dining room table beside her, and raced to the front door. “I’ll be back, don’t let anybody in!” 

“I won’t!” Alainey shouted back, her voice sounding slightly off.

Skye turned to face the door, opening it and going outside. She locked the door behind her, headed to the nearest pawn shop, a few blocks away. She calmly walked towards the pawnshop and entered the small one-story building. 

Inside, she found the pawnshop to be cramped with items stacked to the ceiling. Everything ranging from magazines, baseballs, shoes, fake autographs, old toys, and more that glared at her with ferocity. 

She pressed forward amidst the glares, going through the unsafe towers of items, and approached the front desk where the owner of the building waited for her. “Good afternoon. What can I do for you?

“I would like to-” She pulled out the silver coin, showing it off. “-sell this.”

The owner nodded his head, asking for the silver coin. She handed it to him. He took the coin and began analyzing it for anything of importance, specifically a date on it. He spent several minutes comparing it to the silver coins he already had, pulling out his phone to take several photos of it. 

After he completed analyzing it, he turned to face Skye. “It’s pure silver for sure, but… it’s not worth much here. I would buy it for maybe… 30 dollars, possibly 35.”

Skye nodded. She hadn’t checked the price of silver coins before she entered, forced to take the man’s word. “Whatever price you can buy it for.” She said. The owner nodded, glancing at the coin. He held it in one hand while the other moved to the register, opening it and taking out 30 dollars. He handed the money over to her. 

“Thanks.” She muttered.

The owner nodded. “If you have more, I’ll take them.” He told her. She nodded, turning around and maneuvering through the mess of a pawn shop, before leaving through the entrance she had entered through. Once outside, she looked at the bills in her grip; a twenty and a ten. 

I actually have money… It isn’t a lot, but I got money from the coin. I could… get stuff from the other universes and sell them here. I could solve our money problems. She thought in her mind, grinning from eye to eye. Ever since her parents were involved in an accident that nearly took their lives, they had been kept in the hospital with the hope they’ll recover. It had been a year ago yet Skye was still hopeful. Although she was handling the price tag her parents' recovery put on her as well as she could, the downward trend of the economy and cut in pay threatened to pull the plug.

I need to get more stuff to sell then I’ll return to that universe I visited today and get more silver coins… No, I need something more valuable. 30 dollars per silver coin won’t get rid of the bills. She thought to herself as she trekked towards her house. Yeah, I need to get gold coins, they should be worth more. 

She thought about different ways to achieve financial stability as she headed home. She not once looked at her surroundings. She didn’t see the strange man staring at her. He was dressed in torn clothing, holding a metal pencil in his right hand and a cigar in his left. “This is the 2,905th Writer? She looks weak.” He remarked. “I won’t kill her yet. I want her to grow, so she’ll become more useful.” He reported to a floating bookmark next to him.

“Be careful. Let a sheep roam for too long and they’ll bite the dog guarding them.” The bookmark with cartoonish eyes and eyebrows remarked. 

The man nodded. “I know.”

***

 

 

Alainey left for school early the next morning at 7:00. As for Skye, her work didn’t start for an entire hour. She had enough time to go into the Journal of the Multiverse. 

She headed to the living room, grabbing the Journal from its hiding place under the couch. She opened the Journal, watching as Guider flew out. “Ready to visit?” He asked her.

She nodded her head, grabbing her backpack full of stuff to sell. “Let’s go.” Guider flew back into the Journal, flipping to a random page and pressing the ‘Visit’ button. Skye didn’t get a chance to see the title of the page as her vision quickly faded to black. The headache returned but wasn’t as vicious as it was before. It had lessened. 

She couldn’t move or feel her body, lasting slightly shorter than her first trip. Instead of half a minute, it was shortened by a few seconds. Now, in twenty-seven seconds, she was teleported to a new universe.

She regained her vision and looked around, finding herself in a forest. She wasn’t in the city of Holy Legend anymore, but in a sea of trees without a building in sight. “Where am I?” She thought out loud. “This isn’t the city.” She looked around, but she couldn’t see anything aside from trees. There were trees in every direction and no signs of life following them. She was by herself, distant from anybody else.

“Guider?” She asked out loud. “Where am I?”

“In the world of Blitz. You are in the Black Forest, the most dangerous forest in the world. A recommendation would be to leave immediately.” Guider said, materializing in front of her. 

“Why was I sent somewhere dangerous? I wanted to go to that city.” She pulled out pencils, staplers, and papers from her backpack. “I have stuff I wanted to sell.”

“You will need to upgrade your Location ability. The basic version is set at random.”

“So I can never return to the universe I was in twice?” Skye questioned.

“There’s a chance, but it’s very unlikely. You will need to upgrade your Location ability. The basic version is set at random.” He repeated, almost robotically. 

Skye nodded her head, looking away from him. “Can you see if there’s anything useful nearby?”

“Impossible. The ability is not unlocked.”

“I haven’t unlocked it… that’ll make this a wasted trip. There’s nothing but trees everywhere. Are the trees worth anything?”

“Ability not unlocked,” Guider said. 

Skye nodded, turning away from him. She walked away, Guider following her. She trekked around the Black Forest for something useful or any signs of life… to no avail. She couldn’t find anything aside from wood or dirt. No ores reared their heads out of the ground and artifacts of the human race (or any race) weren’t present. It was nothing more than nature. 

“One minute remaining,” Guider said. Skye scowled at him, clearly annoyed by the waste the trip had been. 

“Just send me home, there’s no point in being here.” She remarked.

“Return?” Guider asked.

“Yeah,”

“Returning to Earth-Prime, please stay still as you undergo the teleportation process,” Guider said. Skye nodded, waiting until her vision went black and the headache returned. As she waited, neither Guider nor her noticed the large snake eyeing them from the highest branches. The large snake, a rank S monster, was making its descent, ready to pounce on Skye and kill her with ease. Fortunately, however, she returned to her universe before she could be killed.

Skye now found herself in her living room. She quickly checked her phone, seeing that only a minute has passed. For every ten minutes that she spent in another universe, one minute would pass. It was a very beneficial time exchange as she didn’t lose out on much of her time. 

“Is that all for today?” She asked Guider to confirm her thoughts.

“You used up nine minutes and thirty-three seconds. However, Visits is set to the basic version of 1 per day.”

Skye nodded, getting up from the couch. She checked her phone again, seeing that she still had less than an hour before she was needed to go in. “Okay… hopefully tomorrow’s better.” She remarked, turning away from the couch. She headed to the kitchen.

Guider returned to the Journal after she left. “My apologizes.” He said before the Journal closed on him. “My apologizes.”

***

After completing another day at