The scratched and pitted surface of Syndi’s craft table bristled with crystals of various shapes and sizes. Every single one of them was vibrating, producing a high-pitched whine as they oscillated back and forth across the cheap particle board. The room was alive with flashing colours, blinding flashes of ultra-violet that made the white bedspread gleam dizzyingly interspersed with more visible parts of the spectrum.
Syndi backed up, one hand shielding her eyes while the other groped behind her for the doorknob. The heel of her slipper caught on the fluffy rug near the doorway, but she caught herself on a small free-standing bookshelf. Finding and turning the doorknob without ever taking her eyes away from the light show taking place in her crafting corner, she slipped through the narrow gap between door and frame, shutting it tightly behind her.
She stood for a moment in the quiet corridor, blinking away the coloured spots that danced in her vision. Then she crossed to the unvarnished wooden door that hung half-open on the landing, stuck her head through the opening, and shouted up the dusty, uncarpeted staircase that led to the Secret Spot.
“Marshall! Turn that inter-dimensional portal off right now!”
( Read the rest of the Teller Family History here )