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"There"
By Jared Head
Prologue
Star, planets, comets, meteors leaving their burning streaks of light as they died, a ring system towering overhead, galaxies zipping by. He looked around and surveyed his surroundings before going back to looking. He was standing in a plateau; it could have easily been an expansive salt flat, but it was too dark for him to tell.
He looked back up at the gleaming sky. He felt a small pain in his shoulder and shuddered. Instinctively, he swung his arm around. When his hand went above the horizon, a soothing tone came to his ears. Everything his hand swept past seemed to react. Stars flew in swirls. Galaxies blew apart. Comet’s tails.
“I am dead,” he smirked. Turning around didn’t change the perspective. The flat plane continued, with hills hinting in the distance. At least, he thought they were hills. It was just dark enough to prevent him from having the visual evidence he needed to convict the masses on the horizon as hills. The need to go beyond them burned in him.
His focus shifted to a white rectangle hanging in the air. He couldn’t gauge its distance but decided to set off anyhow to see if it could be the Rosetta Stone. As he moved in closer, there was a pattern on it, but he was still too far away from it to conclude what it was. He picked up his pace to a jog. The rectangle was moving away. He had to catch up. He picked up his pace and the rectangle moved faster. He stopped. So did the rectangle.
“What the…” He stopped himself from going any further, courtesy of the wheels in his head beginning to turn with a thought. Now it wasn’t a thought anymore; he had an idea. Figuring that every time he moved forward this rectangle moved farther away from him. Maybe, just maybe, if he moved backwards it would have a reverse effect.
He took a deep breath, released it and began his backwards journey.
Sure enough, the rectangle began to move towards him. He did his best jog backwards and the reverse effect continued as the rectangle accelerated. He began to thank himself for coming up with such a brilliant idea, but his rejoicing soon ended. His left foot came back hitting his right shin, breaking the rhythm he had created. With nothing to stop him, gravity brought him and his ego down with his back taking the fall.
He slid on the ground slightly. His upper-body stopped and his legs continued, making him somersault.
He sprawled out on the ground and didn’t move for a few seconds. Slowly, he got to his feet. He dusted himself off, knocking the white ground off of his jeans. It was just like the ground at a salt flat, but he wasn’t eager to do the taste test to confirm it. Who knew what might happen then.
He turned to resume his backwards jog and met face to face with the rectangle. It was floating a few feet off the ground. Looking up, there was a photo on the rectangle. It was a photo of himself on a white background. There was a phrase inside of an arrow pointing to him:
“You are There”
“Shouldn’t it be ‘here?’” he asked. Without warning his head quickly turned to the left.
“No, just There,” he replied to himself.
“What?” he asked, looking to his right. His eyebrows rose with confusion, as he was astonished he had just answered himself. He knew he was losing it, but this early on in life? He again looked to his left.
“You’re not losing it. This is how things work in There,” he answered sternly.
He turned to his right. “There?”
Back to the left. “Yes, There. You are, quite literally, There.”
“What’s There?” he asked to his left side.
“I don’t even know,” he answered to his right side.
“Who are you?”
“Call me…” he paused for a second, glancing to the right with a smirk. Then, turning back to the left, he said, “Ego.”
“Ego?” he asked while looking to the right.
“I’m here to make sure your primitive desires, your modern measures and the sheer complexity that is described in a word I consider to be weak – reality – don’t all go beyond what they should go. I’m a balancer of many things, and you are the scale. All these things I mentioned are the weights. I make sure none of the weights make the scale favor one side.”
“Sounds complicated,” he smartly replied.
“You wouldn’t even have a clue,” Ego shot off while looking to the left. “I can tell you like this place.”
“It’s better than where I am now,” he said to his right.
“Trust me, I know,” Ego finished with a smile. Ego was slowly feeding the information back to those who wanted to know, and they were liking what they saw. Without hesitation they decided to go all out.
He slowly looked back up to the sky. That lightshow was back to normal, but he could see the hints of a mass moving across the sky. It was obviously black, and it wasn’t one object. It was like a swarm. All he could make out was the movements. Some moved in a straight line, others seemed to wiggle across the sky. He couldn’t comprehend what he was looking at, but it didn’t matter. Whatever it was made this place he had learned was called “There” that much more desirable.
“Listen for the answer,” Ego said quietly to him. He waited for Ego to continue.
Ego took his order and slowly shut the mind down. He could feel himself fading away. His last glimpse was a panorama of the horizon. Beautiful is too weak a word.
His right arm jutted out and the first annoying scream shattered through the air. He hit snooze, and the alarm clock was quickly silenced. He brought both his arms behind his head, relaxing.
“I’m getting good.”
He relaxed only for a second. He unwrapped himself from the sheets and sat up in the bed.
“Hi, my name is Alem.” He stood, walking to the bathroom. “Now, before I get on with this, I need to do something real quick,” he smirked, shutting the bathroom door after him. He lifted the lid on the toilet and began.
“It’ll just be a second!” he called out. It took him a minute, and he came out of the bathroom when he was finished. “As you can tell, my room is messy and that should give off a few hints about me.”
He walked around and picked a few things up, smiling slightly. “College is a real swift kick to the face for me. It’s hard, but I work at it, you know?” He walked back to the bathroom. “I’m studying to be… well, something. I’m not sure what yet, but I’ll find out.”
He turned the shower on and began to undress. “I’m not exactly from here. Same state, just a different part of it,” he explained as he stepped into the shower and turned it on. Steam began to fill the room.
“I do enjoy college though. It’s building my future, whatever that may be,” he said, peeking over the frosted glass of the shower. “Plus, these dorms are pretty damn nice, eh?”
When he finished up in the shower he quickly dried off and began to dress. “I’m very outgoing, and sometimes girls can confuse simple conversation from me for entry-level flirting. I’m very well-liked and have a plethora of friends all over this little sleepy college town. But then again, you’re getting this straight from me, and I’m a fairly biased source about myself.”
He slipped a jacket and backpack on. Alem slowly walked out the door, putting the finishing touches on his hair as he looked in a mirror. “I have to go to class right now, and I do enjoy it quite a bit. It’s a philosophy class, and yes, a few of you are rolling your eyes. I understand.”
Walking down the hall, he caught the elevator just in time. “Ground please,” he said to the woman standing next to him. “I’m actually just starting this second semester, so it’s the first day of a new beginning. Or the first day of a new ending for some.”
“Who are you talking to?” the woman standing next to him asked.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Right,” she said slowly, taking a few steps away from Alem. “And stop flirting with me.”
Alem had his infamous look on his face. “See?”
Ding!!! went the elevator, and out went Alem. He turned slowly back to the elevator’s closing doors. “Call me!” he teased smartly, making a phone with his hand. He turned around, an accomplished smile on his face turning to a blank expression.
The clouds outside were unloading a deluge onto the sleepy college-town. Alem would now have to go all the way back. He felt like he should have seen the rain coming.
“Figures I’d forget to check the weather. No, not online or by TV. Just by opening a window. How much of a genius am I?”
The elevator’s doors opened once again and the same woman was in it. Alem casually stepped in whistling. “I think I’ll go ahead and push my own button thank you very much,” he said, leaning over to push the button. “Wouldn’t want you learning what floor I’m on. I’m not in the mood for a mistress.”
He stepped back and began to whistle again. The woman didn’t make eye contact. The doors began to close and he broke the silence. “Awkward maybe, but it’s how I have my fun in this sleepy little town.”
The doors closed with a clink.
