Everything was red. Actually, I suppose
that nothing was red, but that was all I could see. The color of the
sun through closed eyelids. One of my favorite colors, not because I
like red in and of itself but rather because it is always accompanied
by the pleasant sensation of sunwarmed skin. That perfect enveloping
embrace that shows that the universe can love you.
The fools I call friends were doing
their usual stupidities. This time it was jumping from the second
floor balcony of Chris' house into the pool below. The water sounded
nice, but i was perfectly content to be warm and dry. It was a very
zen place, there on the concrete. nothing to disturb me, only warmth
and calm and the grit beneath my back.
At least until my reverie was broken by
a deluge of ice.
"Agh! Faggots!"
"Haha calm yourself, zen master.
Its time you bent the forces of nature to your will and beat us in
the dive contest as usual." I could hear Tyson smiling .That
lopsided half grin that only his face could make. I made no move to
get up and so, taking matters into his own hands, Tyson began to prod
me with his big toe. I don't like feet much. I gave in.
"Alright, alright, I'll go. What
shall it be then? My trademark Jack-Knife?"
"I think that would be in order,"
piped in Chris from the other side of the pool. "It is the only
thing you are good at!"
I gave him a mildly bemused look as I
made my way toward the makeshift stairs we had fashioned out of
chairs and tables and a math textbook. No one likes math. I had to
make a bit of a leap to get up to the balcony, but I had been doing
some free running and made easy work of it. Suddenly, I didn't want
to go in. Overcome with one of those gut feelings that cant be
explained. Not that I could say anything about it, saying that my gut
felt funny would only lend itself to PMS jokes. That's about the
maturity level of the people I hang out with.
I inhaled deeply, bracing myself, and
lept off the balcony. Relishing the half second of free-fall.
Agonizing over the freezing water. My body hit the water, cleared a
crater, bending the water around me to allow one last microsecond of
sun through my closed eyelids before water cascaded back, launching
itself up in a pillar of magnificent crystalline glory. I sunk to the
bottom of the pool, looked up at the rays of light dancing upon the
surface of the water, flickering and wavering as they made a
leisurely descent, finally creating an ever-changing, undulating
light show on the floor of the pool; I stayed there for an eternity,
unmoving, pensive, feeling the gradual ache build up in my chest as
my body began to want for air.
When I finally surfaced, everybody was
yelling.
"Holy son of a motherless goat!
Did you see that!?!"
"Dude I know right! That was
sick!"
"Wait, what the hell did you just
say? Hahaha"
And on and on... I suppose they liked
the show, but in all honest I felt like my form had been a bit off.
Plus I had a headache now, probably from getting a rush of water up
my nose or something. Still, it was hard to concentrate on anything.
Everything suddenly seemed very surreal, almost fake.
"Oh damn, we gotta go man, its
past 6..."
That was Matt, needing a ride home. I
lingered a second, wondering how it could be Six o'clock already. Got
to the pool at 12:30, spent an hour and a half tops, that would only
make it 2...
I dismissed it and walked to the car.
Walking felt strange, more like i was gliding than anything. An I was
moving FAST. Much faster than I should have been. Put the keys into
the ignition and the diesel engine came to life with a roar. My head
still hurts. The rumble of the car beneath me did not help. I put the
car in gear and started down the street.
A few minutes later I realized that I
wasn't the one driving. Perhaps I was the one getting the ride. I
couldn't focus long enough to figure it out. Maybe it was good that I
wasn't driving, I would be dangerous. 45 minutes later we completed
the 10 minute drive to my house. There were a lot of people, all
rushing around, talking very excitedly. My parents and siblings
always had people over, i guess they threw a party and i just forgot
about it. Yeah that must have been it. Matt wasnt around anymore. The
throbbing was getting worse.
The sun room was quiet. I shut the door
behind me and sat. I tried to meditate to calm myself, but something
kept interrupting me.
"Om tare tuttare --" I
couldn't focus on it.
I sat for a moment, trying to pinpoint
what it was. A slight beeping. I couldn't place it. Almost as it were
coming from inside my head, slow and constant, a heart beat in my
consciousness.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
I attempted to draw it out, but the
more i listened to it the more severe my headache got. Another sound
began to drown it out. An agonized scream that grew until it
enveloped every aspect of my being. I opened my eyes and took in the
room around me. It wasn't my sun room. White washed walls, a small
bed, fluorescent lights, hyper-clean sterilized air. My throat hurt.
I needed to stop screaming. This was all too much, and I was on the
brink of passing out from exhaustion. So I did.
Days went by normally. No more of the
rooms transporting me, people didn't disappear and I was driving when
I thought I was. Only the beeping persisted throughout. And a
blessing, the headaches had gone.
That beautiful warm red of sun through
closed eyelids. The universes embrace. And of course, they can't just
let me enjoy it for a few more minutes.
They want me to do another dive for
them. A shadow passed over my face, drops of ice rained down on me.
"Yeah, alright, I'll go."
Back up that tower of chairs and
tables. Once again that leap to get up the balcony. The beeps were
getting more frequent.
Deep breath and all seems still. The
calm before the plunge.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Bend my knees and leap. The feeling of
wind on my body.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Warmth as the sun caresses my face.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Ice as the water envelopes me.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...
Darkness as the world collapses around
me.
Silence.
Oblivion.
Tyson couldn't take his eyes off of the
monitor. The flat green line that was his friend's heart beat.
Silent tears glistened on Chris's Face.
Matt Sat rigidly by the side of his
friend's body.
The head trauma from the dive had been
great, but if he had been brought in just a bit sooner, he might have
lived. Those four hours had been vital.
Instead, he had slipped into a coma.
Two weeks later, it ended.
Oblivion.
-L
-L
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