It was another evening of pointless sitting on the first-floor roof with legs dangling towards the street side, a time, when everything: useless rush, tight deadlines, unfulfilled dreams and expectations – could be forgotten. Twilight was coming on, and through the humid air an old paved road could be seen, crossing the rows of several houses and being lit up by weak lights of a few lanterns, shrouded in haze.
Those times, as romantics would say, I was gazing at the stars, as they shine and blink on the dark velvet of sky. But in fact, I wasn’t much of a romantic, although it was the first thing that came to people’s mind when they heard the word «writer». Looked like, in most people’s understanding, a writer was a misunderstood genius with a look into the void, who after every sneeze gave birth to another great piece. In reality many would choose this profession dreaming about their perfect lifestyles, spending the morning with a cup of coffee, pen and notebook, but when it came to real work, they would quit. Others would just realize it wasn’t their thing.
My case was different, I did like to write, but had no idea what to tell the community, living in a tiny city where every single person was known and could be seen through right away. If my stories were like the residents, it would be bare enumeration of events; and I wanted to write something the same magnificent and mysterious, as the night sky. Before I had thought there was some secret, hiding in its endless depths, and if only I looked a little further, it could be solved, or I would receive kind of a signal from another world. But as time went by, no signal arrived, and I came to a conclusion that it was just an indifferent cold black abyss, mesmerizing and absorbing thoughtful dreamers like me.
My mirthless reflections were interrupted by a sudden flash – a vision, perhaps, a hallucination – that lit up the whole road, for some moments it was enveloped in mist, and I only could see the constant light modification, its sequential transition to different shades and colors, reflecting in the pearly clouds of smoke. As the light died out, possible or not, I was able to make out a person – a guy, seemingly of my age, standing on the other side of the street below. As far as I could judge in the nightfall, I had never seen him before, which seemed strange to me, as there weren’t many visitors in my city; And even if there were some, it would serve as the main event and topic of conversation for quite long.
All this time I continued watching him, and his behavior wasn’t much less surprising than the appearance: he inhaled the fresh air deeply, greedily, as if he had done it for the first time, ran his hand along the brick wall with a weird expression and also looked up, at the sky dome. Everything about him – his figure, his posture – expressed, even radiated a great sense of sadness and loneliness. So much like me in this world...
Driven by an incomprehensible feeling, I quietly crept down, slipped through the door and, unnoticed by the guy, approached him from the back. Still quiet, he was staying there, with his silk black hair tossing slightly in the air, the same calm, the same unknown.
Probably I chose not the best way of acquaintance; to be honest, I didn’t usually come up to people like that, so it was the only thing that came to my mind. Anyways, what I did was poke my finger in his back, shouting: «hands up, or I’ll shoot! » The guy flinched and turned to me quickly with a sight of fear and concern. «What have I done that you treat me this way? » I hurried to answer that it was just me and my finger, as scaring him wasn’t my purpose. Finally, I tried to continue the conversation: «you don’t seem to be a local, do you? » A few moments were silent, and as I looked at him to repeat the question, I realized he wasn’t listening; his look… was strange, directed into nowhere, it went right through me; his eyes experienced strange transformations, pupils dilated and constricted, the color didn’t stay unchanged, either, it smoothly transitioned from light grey into jet-black, which immediately reminded me of that mysterious light. Part of his skin had changed, too; it got a shade of aquamarine blue, and when I touched it, was pulsing heavily.
I was truly scared at that moment, and the most horrible thing was that I didn’t know what to do and how to help. «Hey…! » Can you hear me? » - I said more loudly. I got no answer, and I could hear his breath fasten and start to shake in a feverish agony. We had little time. «Look», - I spoke, «Everything’s gonna be alright with you, fine? I’ll bring you to a doctor, and it will stop! »
Followed by an instinct, I grabbed his hand and tried to get him move, all vainly. Suddenly I could feel the strange symptoms repeating with myself, everything around became blurry, and I was shaking like before death. I held his hand tighter as the only connection to reality, and something scary and inexplicable started happening. It lasted only for a moment, but seemed a whole lifetime to me. We fell into the void, an endless yawning abyss that makes a soul separate from the body out of fear and tension; I wanted to cry, but couldn’t make a sound; hands went numb, and if only it lasted for some longer, I wouldn’t stand, but at last we were thrown out.
The amazing thing was that I felt no pain anymore and had no sign of recent fear and panic. I only couldn’t understand what that all was, and how it could ever happen. I stood up and looked around to see what the place was like. What I saw impressed me more than anything in the world, it at all didn’t look like reality.
In the blue dimmed light in front of me lay an enormous fantasy world, striking by its beauty and diversity; On the sides, as if propping up the sky, giants-trees soared into the above, reaching the clouds. From there, reaching the ground, descended thick vines, intertwining and twisting into thick braids with beautiful flowers. On its huge branches hanged different kinds of fruit and juicy berries, sat and sang wondrous colorful birds. Below, among their protruding roots, on the damp moss-covered ground grew unseen mushrooms of different size, shape and shade, some were blue and transparent, like a crystal, and were relatively small, and some grew even bigger than a half of me. Nearby shone and sounded a fast brook with numerous kinds of fish; All the landscape gave a sense of calmness and security.
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«Not bad to imagine that for the first time» - I heard the common voice from behind. «Magnificent… unbelievable! » - I gasped. And then, as if being woken up, I remembered all that brought me there, all the fear and that condition close to death I experienced. With an angry voice, I started the interrogation: «where am I, how did I get here, what was that shaking and trembling and why do I see all this, at last?!» «You are in a parallel universe, the world of relativity and fantasy, and looks like you teleported here with me from physical contact» - was an answer to me. The confidence and calmness of this voice drove me completely mad. «Decided to fool me, play a trick on the poor girl?!» - I yelled.