A Split Second Of Reality

 

As cities grow and technology takes over the world, belief and imagination fade away and so do we.
― Julie Kagawa, The Iron King

In his hands, a luminous orb. Glowing with flashes of warm pink and cool blue. A fascination in his eyes as the light hypnotized him.

In his hands, he could feel the warmth. A feeling that he held the world in his arms. A connection that felt foreign yet so familiar. When he was with it, he felt nothing but the comfort of the heat.

In his hands, he held the orb that held him transfixed. Streaks of color appearing as a calm sunset. Around him, he could hear faint noises; screams, laughs, and footsteps, but he couldn’t take his eyes off it.

In his hands, the light from the orb began to flicker. Yet he sat in silence and continued to admire the strange object he held. Not even the swaying of the towering trees around him to the wind, not even the violent waters of the rushing river could get his eyes off the light.

In his hands, he watched as the light grew fainter. A shake, a turn, a rub, nothing seemed to help. The bright light soon died down to an inadequate glow and finally, in his hands, he could feel nothing but the cold remains. His eyes were no longer trapped. He looked around to find a blinding darkness that slowly engulfed his vision.

In his hands, the once radiant orb was now nothing more than a stone. The trees around him stopped moving. The river was quiet, and the water stopped flowing. A buzzing noise descended.

His hands, they were sore from holding the orb for innumerable hours. The longer he looked, the more he doubted his perception. The trees turned grey with ornate designs carved on them. The river had what looked like iron rods on either side, guarding it.

In his hands, no longer was there a dead orb. Perplexed by what was happening, he accidentally dropped it. As he picked it up, the ground echoed with a static roar. He watched as the world around him slowly deconstructed. A sharp electric wave hit his head and everything went blank.

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*

*

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He awoke to the sound of a female voice, an announcement. “Train to Brooklyn, Platform 9, arrives in 5 minutes”.

He held a phone drained of battery. No pink Instagram filters, no blue Facebook notifications, nothing. He felt deprived of his senses, everything around him was dull.

“Train to Brooklyn, Platform 9, arrives in 2 minutes”.

Surrounding him were tall marble pillars with intricate designs etched on them. The shouts and footsteps of people around him moving across the platform were louder than ever. In front of him, a stream of iron railings began shaking.

“Train to Brooklyn, Platform 9, has arrived”.

From afar, a train had slowly come to a halt on the platform. As passengers flooded the space around him, he put his pack of cigarettes and newspaper inside his pocket and boarded the train. He found himself a cozy seat next to the window.

“Train to Brooklyn, platform 9, now departing”.

The train slowly began to leave the platform. A platform full of people holding a light in their hands, heads bent down. A closer look at the passengers and he realized, they too held bright lights in their hands, heads bent down. For a second, memories recollected in his mind. He understood what was happening.

Then, he felt a sudden vibration.

In his hands, the phone switched back on. Pink, blue, heat, happiness, it all came back.

The world around him slowly lost focus as he got sucked in by the light. The buzz of colors and warmth of the light put him in a trance. All of a sudden, he felt as though time had no end. Darkness slowly crept around him and the orb began to flicker back to life. “Welcome back, Adam”, said a gentle voice from the light as he went back into his universe of distorted existence.

He would not leave the light in his hand until the light in his eyes decided to leave him.