Chase of Time
A bench. I sit down. Around me are crossroads of light. Intercepting one another like shooting stars. Brilliant lights pass by, blending, melding and traversing the great scene before me. And all there is within this great void is a single bench made of maple. This is the 363rd time. For what reason was I sitting here now? I’d forgotten. For what reason does this bench exist? I don’t know. Why did I choose to sit here, on this bench? I can’t remember. For what reason did I simply wait for nothing to come? Wait. Wait? I am…waiting? For what? For whom? …Someone? Am I waiting for someone? Who is it? Who am I waiting for? …I can’t remember. I’d forgotten. Long ago. Way before I started this absurd act. I don’t really get it. I don’t really understand. Why? Why do I wait for someone I don’t even remember? I start to get up. 3 inches. 3 inches off the bench I halt. Why did I stop? For some reason, I feel as though if I left now, I might miss something really important. Hesitantly, I sit back down and wait. 3 seconds. 17 seconds. 49 seconds. 2 minutes, 52 seconds. 18 minutes, 41 seconds. 59 minutes, 30 seconds. 20 more. 10 more seconds. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Zero. 1 hour…5 seconds…14 seconds…58 seconds. 1 hour, 1 minute. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing came. Nothing is coming. Nothing. nothing. The lights around me begin to dim and fade. I sit and wait till the very last lights go out. Slowly. slowly. slowly. Gone. Complete darkness. Total abyss. A com is overheard stating hours are closed. I sit there, within the oblivion, thinking of nothing. Dreaming of nothing. Seeing nothing. Just being…nothingness.
CRASH.
Light breaks through a wall which should not exist. My…right? Shattered remains of space. Gleaming through it is a long figure. I cannot see…face…a man? Of moderate stature. Decent height. He looks…somehow familiar. Who? The figure comes towards me and grabs me by the collar, shouting something. What? I can’t…hear. What was it…?
“-SAID GET YOUR ASS UP AND START RUNNING. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE? GET UP. START RUNNING! GO! SHE’S NOT GOING TO JUST WAIT FOR YOU. NOW GO! YOU CAN STILL CATCH UP IF YOU LEAVE NOW. GO!”
I get up. I turn. A door. Opening slowly to my left. Light shines through. Should I? I look at the figure shrouded in the shadow of the light. He nods. I realize what I must do. I nod in return, and I pivot toward the door. My knees, shaking. My heart, racing. My body trembling. My soul, alive. I grin.
“Just one more thing…who are you?”
“…I’m-”
I didn’t hear the rest. I kick off, demolishing the chair. Running without care of what I leave behind. It doesn’t matter now. None of it does. All I need to do is get there. Across that doorway lies the path I seek. Now. I have to go. Faster. Faster. FASTER!
HERE I COME.
The door shuts behind me.
The lone figure remains there, in the shattered oblivion. The cracks of the wall he broke through begins to spread and enclose the entire world. Everything shatters revealing a world of complete light. He smiles. And in the midst of the destruction and chaos. Within the world of shattering lights, glistening in the advent of truth, he says, “I’m…you, you dumbass.”
