A Unique Trip--Matthew

“Ah, but how woefully sad ‘tis the day on which it all shall be for naught! All shall be for nothing and nothing shall be all that can be reached in this sad and desolate world!” 

“Hmm, it’s true that nothing can be seen here, but I’m sure there is something here. It’s impossible for ​nothing​ to be here. There ​has​ to be something!” 

As I continued to walk along the shattered, fractured road, that was strangely damaged despite being recently paved a week ago, the echoes of my words plague my mind as they violently consumed the other thoughts that were drifting about at that moment. I couldn’t help but think of how I ended up here. I couldn’t help but think of the moment I came to this monochrome and inverted world. I simply couldn’t help but think... “How did all this happen?” and “Who is this clown?”. 

It was cold, very, very cold as I woke up. Everything was dark, everything was black, everything was shrouded. Nothing could be heard, nothing could be seen, nothing could be felt that would indicate that the vestiges of life were in the room I was in. To my right, something could be felt. To my left, nothing was felt. As I looked up, nothing was seen. As I looked down, the cold surface I was laying on could be seen after straining my eyes. After I finished checking my bearing, I gently pushed myself up, using the support to my side as a brace, to maintain my balance. As I leaned against the presumed wall, my eyes began to calibrate to the extreme lack of light in the room and observe the world I currently knew of. My mind began to process the seemingly empty world around me. My fingers started to feel the gentle breeze that was flowing through. My nose started to experience the faint scent of the humid air that was present. My ears perceived the pitter-patter of something smacking itself against the sides of the shelter that was protecting me. The faint fluorescent glow of the surrounding flora started to permeate the dark abyss. The creeping vines radiated a gentle green which illuminated the dimensions of the room before me. With light akin to the glow of life, the true nature of the room was revealed to me. Inside the room devoid of life, there were indeed signs of those who once lived in it, furniture that lacked the touch of time, toys that were littered about in pristine condition, photo frames that I could not make out the details of, and various other decorations from their journeys in life. As I watched all the fragments of life that were littered around the room, the hidden world behind the darkness told me much about the denizens of the large room, from their age, to their enjoyments in life, and various other little parts of them that made them the residents that they were. This was something that I learned from the nothingness that I originally saw. The claws of fear started to loosen as the unnatural glow of the odd plants embraced me. Everything was okay for now. Everything was clear for now. Nothing would hurt me here. Nothing could reach me here.

As I sat in the vacant seat of the former tenant of the room, in the far end of the room, a shard of light cleaved through the room before an unnatural BANG sounded the room and the remains of the door fell down, dousing the room in an unforgiving light. Along with the baptistism of light, a jolly “​HELLLLOOOOO?​ ”, could be heard as I met him. The source of the cheery and odd voice was a young man who seemed very average in height and young in age. Despite his lackluster physical disposition, the oddball of a creature had a dignified and proud stature, equivalent to that of a gentleman, but the air of a child with a goofy smile that was unfit for his appearance which had an uncanny appearance to that of a Victorian man. Situated on his little head was a top hat which looked quite funny in this day and age. He said that he wasn’t important and that I could call him “R” before he lead me out the room in a merry skip while saying that there was somewhere we had to be with a familiar and nostalgic tone. 

We walked and marched to the sound of his heels tapping on the rarely empty street for what felt like an infinite amount of time, equivalent the preposterousness of the cause of this death march, and then he finally stopped. 

“I was born from your first mistake and watched you after your first lie. Since then I grow as you grow sharing the same thoughts as you.
Changing your action as easy as can be but never changing your personality. I will be with you till death and shall be with you forevermore. What am I?” 

As I was about to speak my answer, the world started to fade away. Everything crumbled and everything turned to light. The world that was dark and dreary originally, started to look like an effervescent paradise that could only be gazed upon. Ethereal flowers along with ethereal creatures started to appear and vanish at the very same moment. Everything turned to white and gentle playful spirits floated around before the sensations of life came back to me. 

When I looked around the unfamiliar room, the word “regret” came to my mind and lingered until a voice called out to me and said, “It’s been some time since you’ve awoken, but welcome back, mister.” The voice told me that I “had been asleep for a long time” after an “unfortunate event” happened. Along with the news brought to me, the only thing I could think of were the words, “Memento mori” and from then on, “Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero”