The World Walkers: Taithmarin: Siobhan: Stepping onto Taithmarin
When I took on the job of being a guide I didn’t realise how difficult it would be. Every time I meet a new arrival I deal with the same emotions I felt when I first stepped through the door and the first time I thought it was a job I couldn’t do, no matter how much I wanted to. My first new arrival was crying when I stepped into the hallway they’d found themselves in, which was something I’d managed to stop myself from doing, even though it had been hard to force that urge away, because at that point I had no idea what had happened to me. All I knew was that I had been going to step into my bedroom, after having dinner with my parents and three younger siblings, to see if there was anything left I wanted to take to the flat that hadn’t yet started feeling like home.
Only that wasn’t the room I found myself in. Instead I found myself in another hallway, this one looking like the one I’d left when I closed the door to the flat I shared with my two best friends, but there were differences that told me it wasn’t the same place. Trying not to let my imagination get the better of me I turned to look, not believing for a moment that I’d see a door behind me, so it wasn’t a surprise when it wasn’t there, and when I turned back there was someone walking through the door at the other end of the hallway. My eyes met with hers, just for a moment, before she smiled at me.
“Good morning, Siobhan.”
“Morning?” I asked, before realising that she’d already known my name. “How do you know who I am?”
“The book tells us the name of all the new arrivals and yes, it is morning, the door normally would bring you through at the same sort of time you left, but I’m guessing it didn’t this time.”
I shook my head. “I just had dinner.” A tear trickled down my cheek, even though I didn’t want it to. “Where am I?”
“Taithmarin. It’s another world, one with magic and races that you’ll never have seen the like of before.” She bit her lip. “I’m Arian and I’ve been through all this, so I know what you’re feeling, and I promise you it does get easier. As time passes you do get used to being here, although it isn’t easy.”
“Why me?”
“If I had an answer to that question I would be a very happy person. No one knows why the door chooses the people it does, unfortunately, but some people believe it choses people who will be able to use the magic of this world. That doesn’t mean that everyone brought here fits it. Most of the humans find themselves clinging to their own kind, because it’s easier, so in every town we find ourselves in there are areas just for humans and they’re always much bigger than those for the other races.”
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.