Avery's Glow

Story Details

You can always return to short stories when you've had your fill of this page.

You may feel trapped in the Majestic Hotel forever, but all you gotta do Avery is shine on and you'll see the way out before sunrise.

This short story is set within the Trans in Barking character universe. You can download it on its Itch.io page.

Story is written as daily journals told through Avery's phone recordings. In-universe, it's done as a way to help Avery god forbid she ever passes away here and someone in the real world finds her phone. She doesn't want to be forgotten, so these recordings will keep that memory alive.

Avery has been trapped in the Majestic Hotel's false reality and its varying interiors for the span of five years. This story gives a glimpse at the final week spent trapped here at the end of that timespan.

The head trauma Avery lives with following the events of this story can never fully heal. Instead, her girlfriend (thankfully a nurse) must replace her bandages weekly to help stop the flow of blood. As the years go on, Avery's become numb to the stinging pain incurred by this head / face wound.

This concept was inspired half by the character Joshua Graham from Fallout: New Vegas, and half from the depictions of scarred and psychic characters from the webcomic Crow Cillers.

Cover art featured is a drawing of Avery Lockes during the events of the story. The reason there's a candle melting on her head is to symbolize the fact that she feels like she's running out of time, as if she's going to soon die whilst trapped here. The blue glow on the candle hints towards the forest she explores near the end of the story, with its strong blow glow that is overwhelming to the senses.

The story's title is a heavy hint towards the final moments Avery spends in this hellish dimension the hotel resides within, as she's illuminated heavily by the forest's glow.

The scene involving the forest with its blue glow is inspired by a dream I had prior to this story. In it, I myself was walking within that kind of forest and taking pictures of everything I saw in there. Much like what happened to Avery, the dream ended with a harsh bang as my head within it exploded and I woke up fucking terrified.