2022-10-21 22:21:18“Michael,” a voice said softly breathing heavy breath with a delicate whisper into my ear. “Michael, don’t you have a meeting?”
My eyelids tried to unglue themselves and pop open. Where is here? What was that fluttering sound? Whose voice was that whispering in my ear?
Turning my head to see the pale off white skin and pinkish cheeks of a blonde woman I couldn’t remember the name of. My mind was racing to come up with a name. “Sharon? No. Sara? No.” It was too early to try and remember names.
“What, baby?” slyly. Of course it was smooth enough not to be noticed and went over fine.
She looked at me with soft eyes telling me she had just woke up. “Don’t you have a meeting?”
“Yeah,” looking at the window of blinds behind her. The sun was a bit of a pinkish orange with a hint of yellow reflecting onto the ceiling. At that moment I knew what time it was. “Let’s see. It’s 7:13, right?”
She rolled over, hunched up on one elbow and looked over my shoulder. A puzzled look washed over her face as she spun and looked at the window behind her. “How did you know that? Is the clock reflecting over here?”
It was a valid question. I couldn’t answer it, though. I saw the sun shining through and the glowing clock numbers were just in my head. Answers always seemed to come to me that way. “Sydney,” case in point names often came this way, “I hope you don’t mind me taking off so early. This meeting is really important for my company.”
“Oh, no problem. I understand.” She had the most sincere smile. Her crystal blue eyes, which felt oddly familiar like a distant dream, were lit up by her soft pouty lips and white teeth. She was a vision of beauty and gracefulness.
Twisting myself up to sitting with my legs over the edge of the bed, the green LED alarm clock numbers read 7:14 AM now. Laughing to myself as I stood up in my boxer briefs, I made my way to the window, flexing my hand as it shook spastically. Pinching the plastic blinds open, I peered out.
Sydney’s voice rang out, “You should get in the shower if you want to make it by 8:30.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” my voice said it, but it came from the bed and I wasn’t playing ventriloquist. My heart raced as I turned around and saw myself sitting on the other side of the room. How could this be?
Staring directly at myself, the room became fuzzy and blurred. Reaching out desperately to get a feel of the space I was in as the light brightened. Blinking over and over, the haze wasn’t clearing. Just like that the door to the bathroom, across from the bed, came into focus. I was sitting on the edge of the bed again.
Panic and fear splashed over me. Jumping to my feet, I spun around looking at the window my body stood at just a split second before.
Concern leapt from Sydney’s face, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
My right hand was trembling and my fingers were clenched in a strange position as if it was some kind of arthritis. My mind was pouring over standing at the window and sitting at the bed, my voice coming from someone else. My heart was beating two separate heartbeats at once in different rhythms.
“What the hell?!” Reaching up to my forehead and could feel the cold sweat beading off my brow.
“Jesus! You’re pale white, Michael!” It was almost like she could feel my fear and panic and it was pouring out of her.
Stumbling forward towards the bathroom door just in front of me and reaching for the handle, I fell to the ground shoving the door open. My eyes twitched sporadically back and forth as the room went hazy again. Just like that I was on the other side of the room looking at myself, again.
Sydney was moving toward me or at least it seemed to be that way. She wasn’t moving as much as she was just leaning off the bed reaching out to the me on the floor. Standing there for what seemed like an eternity watching her move ever so slightly to my side, she checked on me. Walking over to the phone on the nightstand next to the clock and picking up the receiver, I pushed the button for a tone but only heard a very slow clicking every few seconds.
At least five terrifying minutes had passed as I looked down at the clock, but it read 7:15 AM. The world had just become a very strange place for me. I seemed to be on the outside of time or caught up in the middle of it. But was I really? Lying on the floor staring up at myself, I could see the me walking around the room from the me on the floor and vice versa. It was hard to keep track of where I was as the images overlapped inside my confused mind.
Then, as fast as it had happened before, the room went blurry with a haze and a bright light. I was on the floor as Sydney knelt over me with tears coming down her face.
She jumped up and went to the phone. The receiver wasn’t in the cradle. It was on the floor by the entrance to the room. A beeping was coming from the handset. She shook off the unknown for the urgent need at hand and hit the button to clear it. The dial tone rang through.
“Beep, beep, beep.” She dialed 911 as my eyes closed and the world faded away into newly strange blackness.
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