Status: This is a work in progress that'll start taking a very fantastical turn soon. Updates will be slow because I'm very careful with this story. Just bare with me. :)
All of the Embers Fell
All of the Embers Fell
There is a theory regarding the nature of time that states that we all exist across multiple realities and times. That the “you” and “me” of this reality, let’s call it Reality X, are extremely different from the “you” and “me” of another reality; let’s call it Reality Y. It has some big complicated name, this theory of time, but I think the way I've summarized it is much easier to understand.
I'll just call it "The X-Y Theory."
Sometimes, I think there are moments where Reality X and Reality Y intersect, and everything stands still for just a second. Moments like this, when all of the lights go out. When the monsters that lurk in the dark can be heard but not seen. The calm before the storm, so to speak.
As I stand on the street, frozen in place like everyone around me, it feels like the seconds stretch out for an eternity.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Somewhere, a clock ticks loudly, marking the moments that seem so irrelevant amidst the fear and uncertainty so thick in the air. It’s oppressive, like humidity on one of those horrible, muggy days. There's no breathing; I wonder if our inability to move is prompted by the tension-weighted air. We all stand in perfect silence, me and all of the other people frozen in our spots when we should be running for cover.
I can’t help but wonder if, years later, we will all think back and remember these moments with more clarity than we are seeing them now. Everything seems to be moving slowly and quickly, far, far too quickly, all at once.
When I look around myself, I can see the others that stare at the sky, eyes wide in horror and disbelief. A part of me chimes that we should all run. The noises get closer.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
I had only gone out to get milk. I hadn’t thought that all of the lights would die, one after another, flickering like falling stars. It had rained just hours before; what light there was to be given by the moon gathered in puddles. Artificial pools of silver, glowing slightly in the velvet black against the cement backdrop of the road. They were as imperfect and cracked and fissured as the moon that they reflected.
Somebody has started praying where they stand. Funny that anyone would just stand there and pray when they could run, but running is probably futile anyway. Outside or in, won’t you die the same when the monsters arrive?
The heart of this moment, I decide, is fear. Fear of what is to come. Fear of what will come after. I wonder if the “me” in Reality Y or some other reality is safe in their bed right now. Or maybe that other “me” isn’t even in this country, in which case the other “me” is much smarter than I am. I should have left years ago; anywhere else would be better than here, listening to the boogeymen creeping towards me and my home and my family.
My family...my daughter, waiting for me at home. I silently pray that I’ll come home tonight.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name....
I don’t know that I ever finish the prayer. Everything gets foggy as time unfreezes. The monsters drop their cargo, and firey flowers bloom against the night sky. The city lets out a collective scream as glass breaks and the embers fall.
Let there be light.
I'll just call it "The X-Y Theory."
Sometimes, I think there are moments where Reality X and Reality Y intersect, and everything stands still for just a second. Moments like this, when all of the lights go out. When the monsters that lurk in the dark can be heard but not seen. The calm before the storm, so to speak.
As I stand on the street, frozen in place like everyone around me, it feels like the seconds stretch out for an eternity.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Somewhere, a clock ticks loudly, marking the moments that seem so irrelevant amidst the fear and uncertainty so thick in the air. It’s oppressive, like humidity on one of those horrible, muggy days. There's no breathing; I wonder if our inability to move is prompted by the tension-weighted air. We all stand in perfect silence, me and all of the other people frozen in our spots when we should be running for cover.
I can’t help but wonder if, years later, we will all think back and remember these moments with more clarity than we are seeing them now. Everything seems to be moving slowly and quickly, far, far too quickly, all at once.
When I look around myself, I can see the others that stare at the sky, eyes wide in horror and disbelief. A part of me chimes that we should all run. The noises get closer.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
I had only gone out to get milk. I hadn’t thought that all of the lights would die, one after another, flickering like falling stars. It had rained just hours before; what light there was to be given by the moon gathered in puddles. Artificial pools of silver, glowing slightly in the velvet black against the cement backdrop of the road. They were as imperfect and cracked and fissured as the moon that they reflected.
Somebody has started praying where they stand. Funny that anyone would just stand there and pray when they could run, but running is probably futile anyway. Outside or in, won’t you die the same when the monsters arrive?
The heart of this moment, I decide, is fear. Fear of what is to come. Fear of what will come after. I wonder if the “me” in Reality Y or some other reality is safe in their bed right now. Or maybe that other “me” isn’t even in this country, in which case the other “me” is much smarter than I am. I should have left years ago; anywhere else would be better than here, listening to the boogeymen creeping towards me and my home and my family.
My family...my daughter, waiting for me at home. I silently pray that I’ll come home tonight.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name....
I don’t know that I ever finish the prayer. Everything gets foggy as time unfreezes. The monsters drop their cargo, and firey flowers bloom against the night sky. The city lets out a collective scream as glass breaks and the embers fall.
Let there be light.