Flashfiction: Number Twenty-Three by Wendy Van Camp

Number Twenty-Three
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

Gwendolyn tiptoed down a castle hallway, her flowing blue dress sweeping the floor. Strange white doors were set in the stone walls. Each wore a symbol: letters, numbers, or images.

She touched a glowing symbol.”Twenty-Three.” The door opened. She stepped into a blue light. Was this the answer to her forgotten mystery?

The world disintegrated in a shattering of shards.

Gwendolyn woke in a hospital bed. Her nurse detached the electrodes on her skullcap. “That is not it. We will try again in the morning.”

Would she ever find what they wanted? The nurse killed the lights and left her in darkness.


 

This is a 100-word microfiction written during an annual challenge for my science fiction and fantasy society.  The prompt was virtual reality.  This one bends the line between fantasy and science fiction.  Which genre would you choose for it?

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