Story-A-Day #2: The Other Side

THE OTHER SIDE

I can see you over there. Or is it out there? Either way, I know you’re there. All of you. I used to be right there next to you, a part of your world. Now I’m over here though, and I still can’t quite figure out how I got here.

I was fighting with my girlfriend. It wasn’t a big fight, or a serious one even, but she got upset and ran out of the house. I chased her, out into the driving rain. I called out to her as I chased her through the darkened streets, my feet pounding along the street, splashing water all the way up my legs from the puddles below.

I was slowly gaining on her, but she had a head start. She dashed around a corner onto the street that bisects ours, and as I rounded after her, I lost my footing. It was just a slip, a little whoops of the feet. It felt, for a second, like I was floating.

I braced myself for the impact, clenched my teeth against the inevitable collision, but it never came. Instead, everything blinked out to black and I guess I kind of drifted off to sleep.

Now here I am, just beneath the surface. I thought at first that I might have died, banged my head and drifted off into oblivion. Except I know I am not dead. I am not in oblivion. I am right here and I can see you out there looking in. I can see you gazing down into the glassy reflection but all you can see is the world above you, reflected back in the shimmering surface of my world.