Trapped
It was a perfectly normal Saturday afternoon. “Katrina, come downstairs and have lunch!”
my mom called. “Wait mom, I’m almost done with this book!” I said without looking up from it. After
I had my nutritious lunch, I decided to enlighten my day by going to the world I could escape to. As
my parents did not believe in the usage of the internet, the school library became my escape and my
ultimate source of information. I was researching about the theory of parallel universes and other
dimensions. Though, the other kids may have called it, “rocket science.”
As I entered the school library, I could smell the fragrance of newly printed books and oldsmelling books alike. Passing by the books, I swept my hand across them to feel the texture of the
hard and smooth covers. I stopped at one abnormally large, old but unread looking book and pulled
it out from the row of books. On the cover was a picture of an over-enthusiastic, young looking
scientist. The title read, ‘Exploring Science with Professor Zaps’. I flipped through the pages but
there were only illustrations of experiments. I thought it was a fairly interesting book so I took it
home along with two other science-related books. I never expected what would have happened
after bringing the book home with me.
I went home, went to my room and sat down on the most comfortable bed in the world and
took out the books I borrowed. As I was very sceptical about keeping my books unfolded and in their
pristine condition, I gently placed them on my lap to be read. I browsed through the pages of
‘Exploring Science with Professor Zaps’ that I had just borrowed from the school library. There he
was, on page 13, doing some experiments in his laboratory, working with some bubbly and colourful
chemicals. I could have sworn he winked at me. He literally blinked and winked at me… and he
winked again! Professor Zaps, the character in the book, actually blinked his eyes and winked at
me!”
“What the heck was that?!” I screamed internally. “I cannot be seeing things, I am perfectly
sane!” I assured myself. “Then, how could that have happened?” I was conflicted between feeling
freaked out or curious. I decided curiosity wouldn’t kill the cat this time. I kept on flipping through
the book. Every few pages, the word “unwritten” would appear, disappear and reappear again on a
separate page although this book had no words besides the title. I was confused until I looked to the
back of the book and I noticed something extremely peculiar. There was no author to be found. I
checked the inside of the book. No name. No publication company, nothing. I hastily flipped to the
page where I had left off and a different word appeared, “Trapped”. I went pale. It was as if
someone was communicating with me. “Who is this? Who is trapped??” I screamed. I realized
whoever or whatever was sending a message one word at a time. The book replied, “Zapharus.”
I could not help but continue to ask questions about Zapharus but the book did not respond
as I thought it would. As a last resort, I searched the internet in hope of finding an answer. I typed in
Zapharus and an article appeared. There was an article that read ‘What Happened to The Mad
Scientist Zapharus.’ I read the article thoroughly and discovered that Zapharus was a young
unknown scientist 10 years ago deemed mad because of his outrageous theories of undiscovered
dimensions. The article said that he went missing in the year 2014 and his current location unknown.
The scientist in the article appeared to be exceedingly similar to Professor Zaps, the fictional
character in the book. I then realized that Professor Zaps was short for Zapharus. The hairs on my
arms stood up and goose bumps appeared.
I knew that if I told anyone, they would have never believed me so I kept it to myself. I
decided to scout for answers alone. I found the scientist’s address and told my parents I had errands
to run. I hopped onto my bike and cycled to an abandoned two storey house. The house gate was
rusty and its hinges detached from it. I pushed it slightly and the whole gate collapsed. “SO close,” I
muttered to myself. I entered the house as dust flew everywhere.
There were many piles of books. Writings and calculations were attached to the wall of the
house. My eyes darted to a desk with a table lamp and scattered stationery. A scrapbook lay open in
the middle of all the mess. The pages were dusty but could be read. It showed a mysterious looking
illustration of a tree and labels attached to it. I did not understand half the things that were stated
there so I decided to take the scrapbook home along with the creepy book to speculate further.
After all, it was getting late.
I cycled with haste to go home to further my research. I was obsessed with finding the
answer. Too obsessed, that I did not notice how revolting I smelled, until my dad reluctantly
informed me. I was amazed by how fast I showered. The mad scientist, the two books and the tree
warped my mind and distracted it from thinking about anything else. I put on my night gown, ate
dinner and sat on my bed with the two books in front of me. They were, ‘Exploring Science with
Professor Zaps’ and the second being the scrapbook. I started to read.
All I could get from the book was that the tree was basically a door to a different dimension.
An address was stated at the bottom of the page to identify where the tree had been. I searched up
the location on the internet and found that the tree there had been cut down to be sent to a paper
making factory not too far away from my school. I put the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle. “What
if, just what if Zapharus managed to get to the other dimension.” “What if this book, was actually
made from the tree that was cut down?” I thought of every possible conclusion but they all ended
up to this, “Zapharus is trapped in the other dimension and cannot escape as the door has been
destroyed.” I turned to ‘Exploring Science with Professor Zaps’ and asked it, “Are you really in a
separate dimension?” I waited for as long as five minutes. Before I lost hope for a reply, the word
“yes” appeared then disappeared. Then I asked, “Are you asking me to get you out of the
dimension?” The word “yes” reappeared. “How do you suppose I do that??”I panicked. One of the
illustrations jerked its head. I yelped. It gestured to the scrapbook.
I flipped through the pages of the scrapbook until I found a what-to-do-if-anything-goeswrong page and read tentatively. The instructions were easy. Go to Zapharus’ house, operate a
machine that could convert his molecular energy from that dimension into this dimension and he
would be back! Okay. Not so easy.
I wore appropriate clothes and packed the two books, a torch light and some sweets in my
bag. I climbed out the window and cycled back to the two storey house. It was creepier at night. It
was mysterious and most definitely creepier. I could not find the machine as described in the
scrapbook. I made my way up the stairs. The stairs creaked with every step I took. When I was
upstairs, it was pitch black. So, I flipped a switch and the lights flickered. I was amazed to see a
gigantic machine. It had various switches and tubes. As a science-fiction enthusiast, I was ecstatic. I
followed the instructions of the scrapbook and placed part of the dimension (the book) into a
compartment of the machine. I pressed a big fat red button and the machine whirled into action.
It made the most deafening noises. The last instruction given on the what-to-do-if-anythinggoes-wrong page was to run. I did exactly that. I ran down the stairs and out of the house. Boom.
The entire house exploded. Broken furniture flew out of the house and onto the front lawn. Debris
rained down. If not for it being in a remote place, many people would have gotten hurt.
I observed that the only thing that remained after the explosion was the machine. From a
distance, I could see the machine door opening and out came, Zapharus. He was much taller and
handsomer than I had expected. He looked like a man in his early twenties. I approached the house
slowly as not to frighten the scientist.
“It works!” he exclaimed with a high pitched voice. “Umm, Professor Zapharus? Zaps?
Whoever you are?” “Yes?” he asked neglectfully. “I’m Katrina. I sort of brought you out of the other
dimension.” I informed him. “Oh, yes, yes I see. Thank you, Katrina.” “No biggie.” I replied. He kept
on neglecting me and went on tinkering with the machine he had longed to see. “Zapharus!”I
screamed. “Yes?” “Explain, please?” I asked him. “Well, you know that the book was part of the tree
yes?” “I sort of figured it out, yea.” “Also, you do know that I was the one sending you the one-word
messages?” “Uh yea…”I replied. “Then what more do you need to know?” “Well EXCUSE ME, but I
was the one who picked up the book in the first place and investigated and went to your dusty old
house to search for answers, I deserve that at least!!” I raged. “Okay, okay calm down, I will explain.
Tell me, what do you want to know?” “Who are you?” I asked bluntly. “I am a superior scientist. At
least I would’ve been if I had just proved my theories to be correct. Now, I can.” “Are you talking
about the theories of other dimensions?” I asked with genuine curiosity. He replied, “Yes.”
“What’s it like? In the other dimension?” I wondered. “It is beautiful. Animals there are like
none found here. The flowers produce diamonds. Also, there is actually great reception.” He
claimed. “Then why did you want to leave? Why did you say you were trapped?” He sighed “I was
alone. Over the years I stayed in the other dimension and became very much alone.” I started to feel
sorry for him. He WAS deemed mad, but he did not seem so. “I know how you feel.” I admitted. He
suddenly ran up to me and was curious. “How would you know?” He asked with his majestic eyes
wide open. “Uh..well, I’m sort of a loner. Nobody understands me. I’ve been like that my whole life,
so it’s no big deal.” I pointed the flashlight at him. “Too close.” I told him as he was unknowingly
leaning forward. “Do YOU want to come with me?” I suddenly stopped. “C-c-come with you? To the
other dimension?” I had never thought of it. “Yes, as my companion? You could help me discover
new things in that dimension. I believe you are quite gifted in the knowledge sciences and geology.”
“Says the superior scientist.” I replied.
I had never done anything like this before. Then I thought, “Wait, why would you ask me to
go to a place you could not escape from?? Are you mad? Wouldn’t we just be trapped in there
again? Wouldn’t you want to tell everyone that the other dimension EXISTS? Surely you don’t want
to remain as the mad scientist?” He smirked. He pointed to the machine. “This is not only a machine
that brings me from that dimension to this one. It is some sort of an inter-dimensional teleport. You
can get from either sides to the other. Fully automated by this remote.” He took out a quirky looking
remote. I took a moment to contemplate on what he had just informed me. “You mean to tell me,
you could’ve gotten from there to here WITHOUT MY HELP??” I screamed. “Woah, woah calm down.
I told you I was lonely. I needed someone who was smart enough to help me and WOULD
accompany me. So I set the whole thing up, just so I could find the right individual. And it seems the
right individual, happens to be you.” I couldn’t help but feel a slightly accomplished. “Alright. I’ll
follow you. Just let me tell my parents.” I rushed home to find my parents sleeping. I wrote a short
note telling them to not worry about me. I brought as much money, food and clothes I could bring in
my bag along with my 3 favourite books. I followed Zapharus without even thinking twice. I did not
think of the consequences and I felt like I had an adrenalin rush. I was ready to face whatever it was
so I could escape my daily, boring, uneventful life. I was no longer trapped in my world.