Loose Grate

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words...

‘I stepped onto a loose grate.’

‘A great what?’

‘No, a grate. A metal criss-cross thing on the sidewalk.’

She peered at him with her bulging indigo eyes. ‘I see.’

He felt his patience waning. ‘For the last time, can you help me?’

‘With what?’

‘With getting home!‘ he retorted angrily.

‘Beware your hastiness,’ she hissed. Her eyes transformed to an iridescent yellow.

He breathed.

Her eyes reverted to indigo. ‘This much is certain; you cannot return whence you came.’

‘So, what do I do?’

‘What we all must do to find our way home,’ she whispered. With that she closed her eyes, touched his hand, and watched as he disintegrated.