The Omniscrolls

When Mary was born, her parents Arun and Maria were still living in an apartment in the city. As she grew older, however, they decided to buy a house in the suburbs so she would have a larger space to play in. When she was four, they bought a rather old but affordable house that still looked new. The area was rather secluded, but there were still plenty of neighbours around, so they thought there was nothing to fear. After moving in, Mary soon discovered an old doll that was still in good condition. Arun and Maria found no harm in letting her keep it since she seemed fond of it. During the first two weeks at that house, May played outside in the backyard for hours every day. As time passed by, however, that began to change. She grew more and more recluse, wanting to spend time alone in her room, just with the doll. Her parents tried on many an occasion to take her outside, but she refused each time saying the doll didn’t want to be left alone. Maria told her she could take the doll out...

  “Anya, are you okay, hon?” My mom’s voice brought me back to my senses. I had walked into the kitchen, although I could not recall why. “I… I didn’t remember why I came to the kitchen.” “Maybe you should get some rest. You must be still exhausted after yesterday’s game.” “Okay, mom.” I went back upstairs and sunk into my bed. Was I really tired? My body felt fine; it was just my mind that was foggy. It was then that a familiar voice resurfaced in my mind. “You forgot again, Anya. I need you to go back; you need to kill your mother.” “What? No! I’m not killing my mom!” “You will obey me,” the voice said. I suddenly sensed a chill course through my body; it felt as if thousands of needles were sinking into my skin. There was a presence to that voice that was far more sinister than anything I had ever felt before. Right then, my mom walked into my room. “Anya, were you talking to someone?” I shook my head. “No, mom.” Mom asked me whether I wanted some tea. I nodded and said yes. As ...

As a child, I was fascinated by stories of time travel. When I became an adult, I worked tirelessly to make it a reality. Years of hard work paid off when I finally managed to build a portable time machine. But that same day, the machine malfunctioned for a brief moment and sent me back thousands of years through the passage of time. I woke up to find myself in ancient Rome; I was just outside the colosseum. Two guards looked at me with furrowed brows. As they began to approach me, I got up and ran without a second thought. The soldiers chased me through the town, but I managed to lose them by dissolving into a crowd near some markets. I then made my way into some nearby woods and soon found myself near a village. Sticking to the thickets and shrubs, I tried to activate the time machine, but it didn’t work. I had no other option but to steal some clothes and find work nearby. I did heavy labor by day and tried gathering whatever scraps I could to repair my time machine by night, but it...