Ethereal I
Sam’s arms floated at his sides as he levitated within the center of the all-encompassing void. Looking around, he saw various sparkling lights of various colors, yet one in the center caught his attention the most. It was a vibrant golden light, twinkling and shining sporadically. It flared outwards, occasionally gracing Sam with its warm touch as it landed upon him. Slowly, however, a dark green aura began to fill his vision, creeping from behind him and slowly wrapping its way around, restricting his movement. Sam struggled but could only watch in dismay as the deep green clouded his vision, obscuring his view of the golden ray of light and turning into a dark, blood-red. As it fully overtook his sight, the scene changed. This time, Sam found himself in the middle of a pure white room surrounded by the sculptures from his time with Foster. Rather than being unmoving creations, they now took on a lively quality as their forms shifted both outward and inward—almost as though they were collectively breathing. Before he could fully comprehend this, he noticed the bright light he had seen before—this time coming from the old, green shed the statues stood before. Sam briskly began to walk towards the building, yet as he took each step, he felt as the scene faded away. As he came within feet of the shed door, he heard an alarm and instinctively swung his hand out to stop the noise. Sam sighed, opening his eyes slightly and finding himself in his bed, as usual. Worse still, his mind finally caught up to him. He had work today.
* * *
Sam stepped through his apartment door, turning to lock it behind him. He stood on the second-floor balcony of his apartment complex looking down upon the street. It wasn’t the best neighborhood in the world—what with the streets filled with potholes, the sidewalks lined with litter, and the people who were often generally unpleasant. Though, Sam had admittedly gotten lucky with his particular apartment complex. The landlord was an older woman who lived in one of the rooms. She was pleasant if you paid rent on time, and even at her worst she would merely badger any late-payers. Sam had met her from some idle chat they had had in some mundane place. She’d heard about Sam’s need of an apartment during the small talk and told him that she had one room left in a complex she owned. After hearing her price and the apartment location, Sam took her up on her deal. At that time, Sam had been desperate. He was in the midst of separating himself from his estranged family and took the first opportunity that came across his path. Luckily, this one had come with a decent quality one-bedroom, one-bath apartment.
He took a deep breath in, the city air stinging at his lungs slightly. As he turned to walk down the balcony stairs, he nearly walked into the landlord herself.
“You’re around later than normal,” she said, her thick grey eyebrows scrunched accusingly at Sam. She wore a pink running jacket with khaki shorts and brown sandals and had curlers in her hair. In her hand was a lit cigarette which she periodically took a drag from, “And your tie’s crooked,” Sam looked down and, upon finding that she was right, hastily corrected it. She chuckled, “You’d think you’d committed a crime with the way you’re acting. What’d you do, have a fun night last night?”
“What? No, no,” Sam said, blushing somewhat, “Just… out of it today, I guess.”
“Damn,” she said, putting out her cigarette on the railing as she dryly laughed to herself, “I almost thought the goody two-shoes accountant of the block had finally shown his true colors. About thought I was gonna have something to talk about latter. Anyway, I better not keep you. If I’m not wrong, your train’s probably about to leave.”
Sam patted his pockets, looking for his phone. He pulled it out and, upon looking at the time, cursed under his breath. Again, she had been correct. Sam quickly told her goodbye—which only gained a dispassionate response in kind—and half-ran to the train station.
Sam made his way down the road slower than he had hoped. He passed by the various apartment complexes, storage units, graffitied buildings, bar-windowed gas stations, and small, struggling businesses that lined his neighborhood’s streets. It was an uncomfortable dwelling for some, yet Sam found it as survivable as all the others who lived and worked here. For the larger part of the populace, it was almost a forced circumstance. Whether it be due to the price of other neighborhoods, the closeness to the main city compared to the nicer parts of the older one, or the general self-perpetuating financial pit that made living there the only viable option, the population had a commonality between them: None of them wanted to be there. Still, they made it livable enough to bare. Among the people who found themselves in this district, however, Sam stood out. He—at the current point in his career—had the means to escape it all. He could easily have bought an apartment in the new city and have left the old one behind. It wouldn’t exactly be a penthouse, but it certainly could have been a better dwelling than the neighborhood he was in. Even his landlord had noticed this and had many times tried to convince Sam to go out and leave this place.
“I’ll still take your money so long as you’re here,” she had said, “But you’ve got to know that you’ve got much better options than this. I like to think that I’ve got a fine enough establishment here as it is, but I can’t exactly compete against what the real city has got to offer. You’ve got what it takes to get out of here, so do it. Leave!”
Sam had at the time avoided her advice, simply nodding and passively thanking her for the advice, but told her that her apartments was where he was going to stay for the time, at least. She wasn’t entirely satisfied by the response, but had let the matter rest regardless.
* * *
Sam tripped on the first step up towards the train station’s entrance, barely catching himself from falling. He dusted himself off and shook his head. He hadn’t realized he was already at his destination. Quickly, he ascended the steps, swiped his rail pass through the scanner, and stumbled slightly while trying to get through the turnstile. As he finally made his way to the station platform, he sighed with relief upon seeing that the train was still taking passengers. The platform was filled with more people than Sam was used to, as he normally tried to be early so as to avoid the crowded boarding as well as to find his usual seat. Accepting his circumstance, Sam slowly made his way to the train and, upon boarding, searched for a seat. He started to search for a window seat on the left side of the train—the side which he normally sat on to see the golden speck—but became distraught as the realization that no such seat was available crept upon him. He was half tempted to go further into the train and search for such a seat, but he knew it would only cause an unnecessary scene. Reluctantly, he found an aisle seat on the right side and sat down. He looked up and between the people sitting across from him, gazing out their window. This was the first time in a long time that he had not sat in his usual seat. This would be a long train ride.
* * *
Sam stood at the edge of a long steel beam high above the decaying scrapyard. His feet were precariously near the end as he peered down from his position.
“You could jump,” called a voice from behind him. Sam didn’t look up to see who it was—he already knew the voice well.
“What would be the point in that? I’d die.”
“You might,” the voice said, coming closer. Sam turned slightly, looking down at the feet of the figure as it neared him. Then, it stopped just behind Sam and sat down, dangling its legs from the beam, “But who knows, maybe you’ll fly.”
Sam chuckled, yet it was without any feeling. A smile crept onto his face—from where, he wasn’t certain.
“You could be free of it all—that’s what you want, right? You’re sick of being controlled. So, look at it this way. This could be your chance to have complete control. You, instead of the world, could hold your fate in your hand. No longer the puppet, you gain the controls and can tell your own story. The world though,” the voice laughed, “They’re the type of crowd that jeers and throws tomatoes. This way,” he patted the beam lightly, almost sensually, “You can escape them and tell your own story, no strings attached and certainly no self-identified critics. Just you—”
“And my puppet,” Sam pipped up, turning to the figure. He looked down at the man dressed in a fine, pin-stripped suit. Where his face would be was a black void, much like how the area where the gold speck was before Sam discovered it. This man was Sam’s personal villain. He’d had many faces before—school bullies, cruel teachers, annoying relatives—yet there wasn’t anyone Sam could apply to him anymore. So, without a face to prescribe, Sam always imagined him as a man with no face instead, “I’ve had this conversation many times. I think I’m sick of it.”
“That’s a rarity,” the enemy said, standing and dusting himself off.
“I know, right? I’m not really sure where it came from.”
“That—now that’s a lie and you know it,” the enemy said disbelievingly, walking away from the edge. Eventually, Sam turned from the edge, joining him. As the two stood, staring out onto the scrapyard at a safer distance, there was a pause. Sam hid a knowing smile, looking down and readjusting his feet.
“You’re right.”
The enemy scoffed, turning to Sam, “You know we’re just gonna be here again soon.”
“Perhaps,” Sam turned to look the enemy in the eyes. As he stared into the deep void where they would be, he gradually saw his own eyes begin to stare back at him. Gradually, he watched as the man’s features shaped into that of his own. Sam now stared into the face of his mirror image, not shocked by the sight, “I think that suits you well.”
The enemy hummed agreeingly, “I guess so. Well,” he clapped Sam on the shoulder, “You better stop daydreaming. Otherwise, we’ll be late.”
With that, Sam blinked a few times, finding himself back on the train. He heard the sound of the announcement system notify the passengers of their arrival to the city. As he looked drowsily at his surroundings, he turned and noticed the other passengers to his right. Sam quickly stood, trying to get out of their way while exiting with the rest of the crowd. Once he reached the platform, he walked straight to the station exit, hoping to get ahead of the leaving crowd. Sam dodged and weaved through the crowd, eventually finding himself out on the sidewalk outside the station. He sighed with relief as he paused, looking back towards the entrance which was already slowing to a crawl with the foot traffic. His luck, to his surprise, appeared to be turning in his favor. With a slightly perked-up mood, Sam began walking towards his office building.
Comments (0)
See all