“Raymond?” said Emily. She got up after me.
By the time I got out, as long as the street was, she was completely gone. I ran a little bit forward and checked every corner of the street, but she was simply not there anymore.
“Raymond!” she called my name. “I was kidding, I don’t hate you! Come back.”
I walked back slowly, my face as blank as a new notebook.
“I thought I saw someone,” I said quietly and went back in.
“Saw who?” we sat down.
“Did you see her?”
“Who?”
“Some girl with blond hair, did you?”
“No… I- is she your friend or girlfriend or?” Emily’s voice shook a little.
“She’s nobody,” I said.
“Doesn’t sound like a nobody.”
I raised my hand up. “Bill please.”
Emily was clearly disappointed, but that wasn’t my problem. We walked back through the park, and she didn’t want to let go of the topic.
“Can you please tell me who it was?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, I want to know,” she hugged her arms.
“If you want, we can talk about it later,” I said.
“Why not now?”
“I need to go home now,” I said.
“To call her?”
“Emily,” I stopped walking. Then I sighed deeply. We were back on that bridge.
“I didn’t think a breakup would be this hard,” she said. “I thought it would get easier with time.”
“It’s been three months,” I said in a low voice.
“I know,” she hid her face away. Almost hesitantly, I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in against my chest in a giant teddy bear hug.
“Whatever,” I said. “You’ll be fine later.”
“And you’re fine?” she asked, she was clearly sobbing by the looks of her voice.
“Yes, I’m over it,” I said coldly.
“Jerk,” she mumbled.
“I know,” I stroked the back of her head briefly, and then I grabbed her waist and lifted her up over my shoulder like she was a bag of sand.
“What are you doing?!” she squirmed a little.
“Shush,” I said. The sun was setting by now. People were looking at us, but we weren’t looking back. If Emily was getting embarrassed then that was an objective complete. She let me carry her through the park, but I let her down before we exited it.
“I guess that made me feel better,” she chuckled half-heartedly.
We calmly walked back towards her house. When we got there, just as I was about to say bye, she said, “do you want to have dinner at my house?”
“No,” I said abruptly, staring her in eyes.
“Jerk times two,” she looked away.
“We can keep in touch, if you want to go out some other week,” I unlocked my car.
“I…”
“Good night, Emily,” I faked a little smile before getting into the car.
“Raymond,” she said.
“Yes?”
“I expect to have that conversation later,” she said.
“Sure,” I nodded and started my engine.
Phew, finally it was over. I called up Bob.
“Beer time?”
“Beer time.”
I hung up. Shortest call ever, that’s why I love the guy so much. It’s never complicated with him. I drove towards the bar, praying I don’t end up back at her house somehow.
Surely enough, I was sobbing at the bar in front of Bob. A table in between two couches.
“Screw me, Bob,” I sniffled with my nose. “Frick, piece of bloody big ship mother fricking crap.”
“You sounded happy on the phone,” said Bob.
“The only thing I said on the phone was beer time, Bob,” I took a tissue. “I hate this. You know how she broke up with me? She said I had to do something different, and that I could write on the sideline, and that I could manage both perfectly well.”
Bob adjusted his glasses.
“Then I said no, and she called me immature and all sorts of things. She left me for a week to ‘get a break’ and when she came back from that break she said she’s never felt better. She decided to pack her bags and leave me. I begged her, I freaking begged her not to go. The ring I was supposed to give her is still lying in my bedroom.”
“Ouch,” said Bob.
I rubbed my nose briefly. “Then she left. She took everything, even the cat, and left. I believed it was my fault – she convinced me that it was me who refused to change. I hated myself, I drowned myself in self-pity, and self-hate, and I hit the wall with my fist until it bled because I knew that the greatest woman in my life will never wake up with me the same way anymore!” I placed my forehead against the table. Bob had melancholy eyes and just looked at me.
“It felt like life wasn’t worth living, I’ll tell you that. That’s the closest I’ve ever felt to wanting to die. It took me over two months of drinking like a freaking alcoholic. If it wasn’t for my neighbor slapping me awake I’d be in a ditch somewhere.”
“But you’re good now, right?” Bob tried to smile.
“I decided I’m done with her. I decided I would stop caring forever, and ever, and ever, and no matter what she said or what happened I would never let my feelings come back out. It was over. It was over! It IS over! Frick,” I smacked the table again. “Why’d she have to message me?” I cupped my face. My eyes were sore, and my chest was tight. That beautiful unpleasant feeling of love being torn apart from you enveloped me completely.
“What would happen if you just… got back together with her?”
“The same crap would happen Bob,” I brought my beer closer to my mouth, but dropped it back down. I felt dysfunctional. “I think.”
“So what would make you feel better right now?”
“Right now?” I asked with a drunk tone of voice. After a halfhearted chuckle and a long pause, “nothing.” The pause continued between us, until I broke it again. “You know how in stories there’s these… well, we call them archetypes.”
“Like the cliché stuff?”
“Yeah,” I pointed my finger at him, “exactly, the cliché stuff,” I talked slowly and with a heavy intonation in my words. “Good versus evil, love always wins, if you believe it you can do it, true friendship, all that overused crap.”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“And then in every story, there’s this stupid love story. I don’t care what comedy, or horror, or action, or fantasy or whatever, there’s always a crappy love story somewhere in there. And the movie or book always ends with a kiss.”
“Yes?” Bob took a sip of his beer.
“Yeah, I’m not about that. To hell with that. In my story I’m the lone wolf, no romance allowed.”
“I see,” said Bob.
I leaned back completely and melted into my couch. “I’m sorry Bob, I’m a loser.”
“Doesn’t look like it to me, the girl of your dreams wanted you back and you showed her you don’t need her anymore. Not everyone could do that.”
“I regret it,” I said. “I’d probably be with her on the couch right now, and instead I’m wallowing in my sorrows, drunk like an idiot.”
“I don’t know what wallowing means but, yeah, sure.”
“Thy English deficits strike me into pensive pose, for how doth thee meander about ubiquitous life when basic words are naught in thy mind?” I spoke loudly and exaggeratedly.
“Oh oh,” said Bob, “there he comes, the Shakespeare Raymond.”
“That’s all I had in me, can’t think of anything else,” I kept going lower and lower on the couch, almost lying down.
“We should get you home, I’ll get a taxi.”
Twenty minutes later, I was home. Bless Bob.
I got comfortable, washed my face, and decided to make myself a proper meal. The lights in my living room and kitchen were dim and pleasant.
I went over
to the sink in the kitchen. When I opened it, liquid fire began pouring out that glowed across the whole sink and illuminated my face. I could feel its heat almost burning me just from standing too close.
“Uh…” I didn’t think much of it, and put my hands in, scrubbing and washing them. When I pulled my hands out, from the wrist up was nothing but bones left. I moved them around in front of my face – perfectly functioning human bones. I had a dizzy smile.
I opened the fridge to get myself the steak. With my bone hands, I placed it on a plate and seasoned both sides with salt and pepper. The seasoning was slipping my fingers too much, it took a second of dexterity.
Then I turned on the stove, and instead of fire, water started pouring out. I grabbed my cast iron skillet, and placed it on the water stove.
Splashing some oil, I placed my steak gently into the pan, expecting to hear a sizzle.
Instead of crisping up and cooking, the steak began freezing right in the pan. When one side was completely frozen, I flipped it over to freeze the next side. I made sure the inside of the steak was medium frozen, just how I liked it.
I grabbed a brand new plate, prepared a fork and knife, and when the steak was perfectly done, I placed it up. I lit up a candle for myself, placed a napkin over my lap, and with my skeleton hands I began eating the frozen steak piece by piece. It was delicious.
Chapter 11
My morning was groggy, but it was nothing the usual morning beverage couldn’t fix. I had no intention to do anything today – it was going to be my relaxing day. At least, that’s what I thought before I decided otherwise.
Knock knock.
“Good morning,” I smiled to Mrs. White.
“Haven’t seen you in a while!” she smiled as bright as the sun and handed me a flyer.
“What’s this?” I glanced over it.
“Mrs. White’s Potluck Stew Party. You’re cordially invited as my charming little neighbor. I’ll have you know I won the Granny Cooking Award for four years in a row, and now I’ll be inviting the whole block to feast on it again!”
“I did not know that!” I said excitedly. “I’d love to come. I mean, you’re about ten seconds away from me so, it won’t be hard.”
“It better not be hard! My grandson helped me design that flyer. Kids these days really know their way on a computer, don’t they?”
“They sure do,” I nodded as she walked away. According to the date her little festival was in about a week. I had time, I had all the time in the world. Forget the timer saying I had sixty something hours left, I decided to hop in right now.
But for real, I was worried for Douglas ever since I was back. I had to confirm that he was still alive after that.
I closed the door behind me and locked it. I put on my shoes and comfortable outdoor clothes, then stood by my table in front of the TV with the couch behind me, remote in my hand.
Seven seven eight five. The air changed, the lights dimmed, and it became intensely quiet. A void opened through the screen that sent a cold chill throughout the living room.
Knock knock. My head turned towards my door abruptly.
“And Raymond!” she called me again. Damn it!
I went closer to the door, looking back at the screen. The shimmering lights had only just begun flickering their way out.
“Raymond?”
“Coming,” I opened the door and immediately stepped out, shutting the door behind me.
“You don’t have to hide anything from me, son, your curtains are open, I can see everything.”
My heart sank. She was right, my cursed curtains were drawn open! Did she really see everything?
“Um…” I had no clue what to say.
“Hah! If only I could see that far, I’m old now!” she laughed. I let out a nervous laugh as well. “Anyways, I know you maybe haven’t talked in a while, but if you could pass on this flyer to Emily as well. She was such a sweet girl, always helped me out even when I didn’t need it.”
“Sure,” I took the second flyer. I looked tense and abrupt in my movements. “I’ll do it.”
“You look like you need to go to the bathroom or something.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Must have been my breakfast.”
“Well get to it then,” she raised an eyebrow and walked away again.
I ran back inside, darted towards my window and closed the curtains. No one could see inside unless they were in my lawn, but I should have considered that much before showing off my disappearing act to the world.
When I turned towards my living room, the lights were all over the room. This alone was unexplainable. ‘Hey Raymond, what are these lights?’ ‘Oh, these? They’re insects, we better get out.’ That’s the best I could come up with when I was thinking about it.
Alright, mission number one! Do not end up in a horror movie, or a movie with giant insects. It’s not pleasant, and it gives me nightmares. Mission number two, try to apply what Doug taught me about teleportation. It’s simple, flowing control, like you were in a river. All you had to do was stay afloat.
I stood right next to the TV and closed my eyes. Standing this close was enough to get sucked in. I felt scattered and separated – it was like I was a dough that was being stretched and pulled. I had always focused on the surreal visual of teleporting, but never quite stopped to actually feel it.
The feeling truly was akin to a river – I was being taken away by a current through some sort of vortex of images and sounds. As soon as this happened, I ignited my jetpack. That’s right, I thought of a jetpack, and it appeared on my back. I stopped my momentum as much as I could, and tried to stop spinning so much. The passing by images began slowing down, and the sounds were becoming clearer.
Shoot him!
Get down!
I love you, Samuel.
Perish into the mortal realm from whence you-
I have a dream, that-
You’ve been hit by, you’ve been stru-
And sounds of cartoons. Those were there too, sounds that we’re familiar with like exaggerated high jumps or having a piano drop from the sky.
It was all so slow, but the more I focused, the more I recognized so many of these images. I could literally point my finger and go ‘I saw that movie!’
Slowing down this much made the spiraling vortex disappear, and I could even see my own hands now. They were illuminated with peeling off light, like I was ethereal and being shaped together by something. I was alive and well, and conscious in a place that feels wrong to be conscious in. If I was in space with galaxies and stars around me, that’s what it looked like. Galaxies of images and sounds – and they were not static, they were moving. They were showing perspectives that didn’t seem akin to cinematography, but more like you were there, as a person, standing and looking at everything.
I felt like I was moving again. The sounds and images accelerated again. I tried resisting the flow with my jetpack, but it was missing. I tried imagining it again, but it was too late. It was like the dream was collapsing and there was nothing I could do about it. I was swept off my feet and began spinning again. I was so conscious of this spin that it actually felt terrifying – the speed that I was moving at felt like I was passing by planets with no air resistance. I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound was left behind me like a distant muffled echo that was too slow to catch up. Everything went dark.
I woke up with a headache on some clean grassy earth. Not wanting to get punched in the face again, I immediately rolled over and got up on my knees. When I saw giant forests around me in broad daylight I decided it wasn’t too dangerous, and took a moment to hold my spinning head in place.
A sound reverberated through the skies – a low and deep grumble that coursed through rock and flesh. Vibrations of this roar could be felt on the tips of my fingers. Whatever it was, seemed very big, and very problematic. I moved out of open sight and hid behind a tree deeper into the forest. To clarify, this was a giant forest. The trees were tall like skyscrapers, and
wide enough that it would take over a dozen people to hug completely.
The low grumble repeated itself – my back was against the tree and I felt it vividly against my spine. I took a very slow breath in, and just as I was about to breathe out, I held my breath.
Floating like gravity didn’t exist was an insanely long black serpent. Its face resembled an evil dragon, and after a moment, I saw its wings and limbs, resting in the air. The wings were folded, the limbs were motionless, but as if it was in water it snaked around the entire forest, just barely passing me by. I think it didn’t see me, and I think it didn’t hear me.
One can imagine how quiet this thing was – utterly silent! There was no way to tell it was even there unless you saw it. Seeing it was no problem though, it was longer than any tree around. My body was probably the size of its single fang. It was HUGE.
I stayed motionless, observing its long black body curve around in a circle. It was coming right back towards me, I predicted. I had to quietly get up and stand on the other side of the tree to prevent being seen.
I was a little rodent in a foreign forest, hunted by a giant black serpent dragon. It was scarier when I couldn’t see it – because it was so quiet, I couldn’t tell if it was right behind me or far away. Its body skillfully avoided even the little twigs sticking out of the trees.
I stood lifeless, remembering as much of Light control as I could, imagining what on Earth I could create to save myself from dying too soon. Something told me my jetpack wouldn’t be fast enough to outrun the serpent.
I kid you not, I blinked, and that thing’s face was right in front of me, staring with eyes that knifed through my soul.
If I wasn’t completely still before, I definitely was now.
It moved slowly, adjusting its head in alignment with where my body was facing. I tensed. I didn’t know if it was going to whip its head forward and eat me whole, or what?
In a moment of simply staring at each other, it snaked its head around and behind me. Its long body left a spiral around that didn’t let me escape, and its head was back in front of me. Its girth was about the size of a house, its head even more so. It neared its maw towards me, and blinked once.
The Portal Page 13