(Note: This is a revised draft of an earlier piece featured in the portfolio. If you wish to read the earlier version, check here.)
The young red cube Cubey woke up in his parents’ car. His parents had been driving through the night to get him to his new school. It would be a long way from home, but the young shape still couldn’t wait to get there. This was the best school in the greatest city in all of Geomass. He would even be living there.
The car entered the city of Shapeopolis. Highways looped around skyscrapers. Roads led all across the city’s whole plain. They could take you anywhere from the southern canyons to the northern forests. Cubey couldn’t believe all the different shapes he saw everywhere. They filled every window of each office and every chair on each rooftop café. For the most part, they were the same as anyone else. Most had the same black dots for eyes that shapes tended to have. Triangles still had spikey fingers that made it hard to grab things. Rectangles were still too tall to enter most doorways standing up. Spheres still had to be careful not to roll out of their chairs.
Still, there was something different to these shapes. Cubey could see it in how they walked and how they seemed to talk. They knew they lived at the center of the world.
The car left the highways. It reached the main roads of the city’s central district. Cubey kept looking through the window. Sparkling fountains lined the streets, and electronic billboards advertised things he couldn’t even imagine. Suddenly, he felt chills run up his spine. The feeling led him to look at a distant building. Something was floating there. Cubey leaned forward for a closer look. The thing seemed to be some kind of line with eyes. Cubey wondered what he could possibly be seeing. Then he blinked, and the thing disappeared.
The car kept going past plazas, malls, and movie theatres. Soon it pulled into the parking lot of Shapeopolis Academy. The place was a mix of old and new buildings. It sat atop a grassy pillar in the exact center of the city. Trees surrounded the campus in a small forest.
Cubey grabbed his bags and left the car. He still couldn’t believe his new school. An old building with a clocktower towered above him. A shape-made lake helped bring him a pleasant breeze. The whole place rested on a short, greenhouse-like skyscraper. It almost looked like a pillar of grass and flowers.
Someone called out, “Hello, I’m Ms. Pyth. You must be the new student.”
Cubey turned around. He saw a blue triangle leaving the building with the clock tower. She was holding a clipboard.
Cubey’s mom said, “Good to finally see you face-to-face. We drove straight through the night to get here.”
Cubey’s dad patted his son’s shoulder. “We wanted to make sure this guy would be all set.”
Ms. Pyth grinned. “That’s good. So, are you ready to begin? I know starting later in the year can be rough, so I find it best to just jump right in.”
Cubey nodded. He told his parents goodbye and followed Ms. Pyth into the clock tower building. The yellow hallways were filled with old pictures of students enjoying festivals and trips. Ms. Pyth led Cubey to his dorm room. It sat at the end of the second-floor hallway. The room was okay enough. The bed was old, the desk was decent, the bookshelf was empty, and the walls were brick.
Ms. Pyth pointed to the window. “You’re lucky. You’ve got the best view of the school’s central garden. Be sure to take a look before we leave.”
Cubey walked to the window. Flowers bloomed around a tall tree. Its roots stretched to the sidewalk. The young shape leaned forward. Somehow, the same floating figure from earlier was floating there in the shade. Chills ran up Cubey’s spine. He blinked and stepped back.
Ms. Pyth reached out her hand. “Is everything alright?”
Cubey forced a nod. He had to still be tired from the ride to Shapeopolis. His sleepy mind must have been playing tricks on him.
Cubey followed Ms. Pyth outside. They walked along a stone path through the school’s central garden. The path led them to an observatory surrounded by several small science labs. Ms. Pyth left Cubey in a biology class there.
Cubey stumbled to explain himself to the class. In the end, he wound up talking about a few of his favorite videogames. Then he rushed to find a seat. First open spot he found was in the empty middle rows. Whispering circles, squares, and triangles already took up the front. Quiet pyramids, spheres, and cylinders covered the back.
Things didn’t get much better through the day.
Cubey did well enough in his classes. Grammar and math were easy enough. They were reviewing things he already knew. Still, he felt awkward trying to talk to his classmates. Most already had their groups. The rest didn’t share any interests with him. After school, he went to the library to search for movies and videogames. The place only had books and study guides. After dinner in the dining hall, he returned to his room. He collapsed across his bed and wondered if things would get better.
Another chill ran up Cubey’s spine. Strange sounds came through his window. Cubey grew curious but stayed in bed. When the sounds continued, he went to close his window. He saw the floating figure floating by the tree again. The young shape blinked to make the thing disappear like earlier. This time, the floating figure stayed.
There was only one thing left to do now. Cubey needed to prove to himself the floating figure wasn’t real. He snuck out of his room and into the garden.
Cubey approached the tree in the school’s central garden. He gulped at the sight of the floating figure so up close. The thing seemed to be a see-through line with eyes and a mouth floating over the front of it. The whole thing floated over a pair of ghostly feet.
Cubey wanted to speak, but his whole body shook. It refused to let him say a single word. He took a step back to calm himself and stepped on a fallen branch. The resulting snap and crunch echoed through the area. The floating figure started to turn around. Cubey panicked. He stepped back only to trip on one of the tree’s roots. He screamed and started to fall back. In one motion, the floating figure completely turned around. It lunged forward and wrapped around Cubey before he could hit the ground.
The floating figure shook its head. “You shapes really should be more careful.”
Cubey screamed. He fought his way out of the floating figure’s grip. The creature seemed confused. It flew in front of the young shape and stared at him. Cubey panicked again. He tried to run in another direction. The floating figure looped around and flew in front of him, laughing the whole time. “I can’t believe it! You can see me. You really can see me.”
Cubey snapped, “It’s kind of hard to miss you. What even are you?”
“That’s right. You probably wouldn’t know. Most modern shapes don’t know the first thing about us Line Spirits.”
“Whatever you are, you need to go. I’m not going to be haunted by some freaky ghost.”
“No, please, you have to listen to me. I need your help.”
Cubey kept trying to run. “I’m not letting you overshadow my body or sacrifice me to revive some evil overlord.”
Cubey tripped over another tree root. The Line Spirit gasped. It lunged forward and wrapped around the young shape again. This time, it set him down right away.
“I told you to be more careful. That’s the second time you’ve nearly fallen in the past few minutes.”
Cubey blinked. “You saved me.”
“What did you think I was doing the first time?”
Cubey shrugged his shoulders. “Trying to eat my soul?”
The Line Spirit shook its head with a grin. “You really don’t know anything about Line Spirits. We’re the guardian spirits of shapes. We’re supposed to help guide you and the rest of Geomass. Although, most of us did leave this world when you shapes started ignoring us.”
Cubey nodded along. “That explains why you were protecting me. Where did the Line Spirits go? Why are you still here?”
“Honestly, I don’t even know. I stayed here to help my brother Sceptro. He’s the last of another ancient species called the Sceptars. Most shapes don’t know about them either.”
“Okay, but why do you think I can help you?”
The Line Spirit lowered its head. “A few months back, my brother and I were ambushed. We couldn’t tell who was attacking us or why. He helped me escape, but I haven’t seen him since. Our attackers must have kidnapped him. I need to find them and save him.”
Cubey lowered his head too. “I’m sorry.”
The Line Spirit paused. “Sorry? You’re the only one who can help me. Legends talk about rare shapes called Guardians of Matter. Shapeopolis was known for awakening their powers to help connect Line Spirits to the world of shapes. You can help me navigate this world. You can help me find Sceptro.”
Cubey prepared to refuse. Then he saw the Line Spirit’s desperate eyes. “I’ll see what I can do.”
The Line Spirit jumped into the air. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I know we can do this. Oh! I’m Liney by the way.”
“I’m Cubey.”
Liney sat in the air and laughed. “Alright, Cubey and Liney, sounds like the perfect team.”
Like This Excerpt?
It’s actually part of a three-part preview! If you want to see my character Ulysses’ inspiration for this story, please check out Ulysses’ Chapter 1. If you want to see another of Ulysses’ stories, please check out Winzow and Dooz Pound a Parasite.
This story is related to a blog post about my history revising my lifelong literary project. You can also more about my history with these characters in my blog post, Shapes of Stories to Come.
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