The Whispering Gate

The quiet rhythm of Pulasaren, the small coastal town where you live with your grandparents, feels safe. Just six years old, you've started elementary school and found two friends, Medi and Rian. One sunny afternoon, the three of you detour from the path home, drawn by Medi’s idea of exploring nearby toy shops.

But your small legs can't keep up. Medi and Rian race ahead, their laughter fading around a corner, leaving you alone on an unfamiliar street. Trying to find your way back, you stumble upon a weathered building resembling a small Javanese keraton, silent and walled off.

Drawn by an invisible pull, you enter the courtyard. A large bedug drum hangs silently. A strange heaviness fills the air. You follow a path to a plain stone gate leading to the back garden.

Stepping through the gate, everything changes. The air thickens, the light shifts, and the world falls silent. The garden is gone, replaced by a vast forest of impossibly tall black trees reaching into a dark violet sky. Terrified, you run, praying to go home, until you see a pulsing light in the distance. You dive into it and find yourself back in the keraton courtyard, gasping, with the gate behind you. You run home, leaving the memory behind.

Later, a terrifying 'Red Storm' fills the night sky, bringing with it fast-flying, shadowy figures with horrifying eyes and smiles that look directly at you through the window. Your house doors are inexplicably locked, and when you finally reach your room, the storm enters your dreams. The next morning, Grandpa's confusion about where you slept confirms that the horror was real, leaving you with a terrifying secret and the chilling knowledge that your world has shifted.