The air whipped by so fast her eyes hurt. The landscape raced below as if she were a rocket. It felt proper to put her hands out front like superman, but that didn’t help her steer.
“You don’t scare me.” She kept herself from yelling. If she woke the god up, everything would truly be over.
Everything. Literally.
She arced up to the cluster of holes. One was clearly filled with luminescent sky. A fluffy pink cloud drifted by.
As she flew through, she yanked the string and world folded out around itself until the sky was everywhere and the black land became a single dot, just an island below her. She scanned the sky strings, cloud strings, island strings.
Far below was the collection of holes, each one an entire universe.
What if she led the mad god into one and shut the door? Was there was a string to lock the god away?
“I AM THE UNIVERSES! YOU CAN’T LOCK ME IN ME.” The mad god’s voice was everywhere.
Ugh, she’d forgotten to block her thoughts.
The sky flooded with portals to universes, a huge panorama of billions of worlds.
“I CONTROL EVERYTHING.” The portals spun past. “WHEN I REMEMBER TO.“
There were strings everywhere, strings making the pattern, strings holding the doors open. Some felt so massive, she didn’t think she’d be able to budge them if she tried.
“I MAKE UNIVERSES LIKE YOU MADE CINDY.” There was a long pause. The sky darkened almost like it was frowning. “I DON’T REMEMBER HOW RIGHT NOW.“
One of the portals centered itself in front of Miranda. “BUT I CAN CLOSE THEM.“
Miranda felt overwhelming amounts of power drag and press on the portal. It shimmered and bloated.
With a pop, it was gone.
She tried to feel for it, but the strings were gone. She couldn’t tell if the god had destroyed it, or just sent it away.
“NEITHER DO I.”
She reached at the void, but other portals filled the space where it had been. “Can you bring it back?”
Another portal engulfed her and she hung in the sky above endless ocean. “NEW GAME!“
Her flying powers were gone. She fell with a surprised yelp.
Part of her brain tabulated strings. The ground rushed up on her. She couldn’t think.
A island appeared below her and grew as she fell at it. She shook her head. The reality strings that connected her to the ground popped into view. One string was gravity. One was falling. One was her.
She didn’t think, just grabbed two strings and adjusted them, just a little.
The falling stopped so suddenly, her teeth clicked together.
Once she caught her breath, she lowered herself slowly toward the ground. Could she die in here?
“ONLY IF YOU WANTED TO.“
She’d forgot to block her thoughts.
Her descent stopped. She wasn’t sure if she had done that or the god. She just needed a second to clear her head. “Am I immortal?”
“YOU CAN BE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE. YOU CAN BE PURPLE. YOU CAN BE A PIECE OF MUSIC.“
She didn’t know how to wrap her head around that. She decided to not think about it.
“SEE, ISN’T THIS FUN?” The voice chuckled, dispersing the clouds near her. “I CAN DO ANYTHING. SOMETIMES I’M TOO DISTRACTED TO DO IT. THAT RASCALLY FATHER OF YOURS TOOK RIGHT ADVANTAGE OF THAT, HE DID.“
She looked for the reality string to lower herself again.
Clouds reformed into two eyes and a mouth. It grinned. “NOW, JUST WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH YOU?“
Miranda screamed.
The cloud face puffed out in pleasure. It giggled.
Miranda was clean out of fear. At this point she was just angry.
Hundreds of strings made up the clouds. She yanked and the clouds dissipated.
The god laughed and she fell again. The ground rushed at her and she grabbed another string. She fell faster.
She’d find out if she was immortal or not.
The air thickened around her. First she was falling through clouds, then rain, then she was surrounded by water.
Water went down her throat and she gagged. She reflexively yanked at strings and water exploded away from her. She coughed out water, distantly aware that she was falling again.
She reached out for other strings, but nothing caught in her fingers.
Random strings slid past her hands. The sky turned green. The continents swirled below her. Confetti blew around her in a cloud. Still the ground rushed at her.
“YOU’RE THE BEST DAUGHTER EVER. SO MUCH FUN.” The mad god let out an explosive laugh. A new hole expanded around her and she fell into a new universe.
She was in space.
