Eventually, she got herself out of bed and walked over towards the window: from the outside it appeared that the whole world was breaking apart, it was all split into fragments, of where, in spite of everything, people were walking around freely, as if nothing were ever happening. They were even passing through seamlessly from fragment to fragment. The whole time she stood looking outside of her window, in absolute silence, the only time she ever walked away was to turn on the heater in her room and and to put on a thick pink dressing-gown.

A while later, her phone started ringing, as soon as she saw the display she refused to pick it up. However the phone rang again, and so she picked it up.

‘Ugh, what do you want?’ she groaned, she didn’t get an answer back for a while

‘Woah! What’s up with you today?!’ yelled a man’s voice

‘Oh, I’m sorry. Ahem….’ she sighed, deeply ‘What would you like from me, Mr Leon O’Connell?’

‘Uhhhh, well… I had find some of your old stuff in your room, would you like me to-’

‘No Leon, I don’t want it’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes Leon’

Oh… OK. I was also hoping to… maybe see you again sometime? It’s been a long time, you know?’ she let out a deep sigh

‘Not it hasn’t, and I don’t want to see you ever again’ she started sobbing ‘Please, just leave me alone, OK?’

‘But Natalie! I keep getting told that you really miss me, and that you-’

‘No Leon, I don’t. And who’s telling you all this?’

‘Uhhhhhh…’ Natalie hung up on the phone and let out another deep sigh. She moved back towards her bed, as if she wanted to just go back to sleep. She later looked back at the time on her phone and said to herself:. 

‘No, bad idea…’ she muttered, to herself. In the same sequence she loomed back outside of the window, seeing the vision of the vortex swallowing the world around it. Natalie got a hold of her phone as fast as she could and began to call someone with it.

‘Hello Natalie?’ said Leon, on the other end of the phone.

‘Hello, I'm sorry, there's something I forgot to tell you’

‘Oh, what's that?’ 

‘OK, this may sound crazy, but outside there's like… a portal… or something, swallowing up the world around it. The earth is all falling apart, too!’  Leon said nothing, this went on for quite a while.

‘Are you out out of your goddamn mind?!’

‘Uhhhh…’

‘Well, as far as I can tell, the world as I see it is absolutely fine! It's probably just your super-crazy imagination! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got better things to be doing than wasting my time with my crazy, cheating ex-girlfriend! Now get lost!’

‘But Leon! I thought you said you wanted to see again!’ she was smiling as she said that.

‘What?! No I didn't. Oh, ahem…’ Leon simply hung up. Natalie sighed, putting her phone back down on her bedside table. She then left her room, walking over to the living room of her house. Her mother was sitting on a sofa, watching the news on a widescreen television, it had a news program saying that the sea level had risen thanks to global warming.

‘Natalie?’ her mother shrieked ‘Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine, Mum’ Natalie sat on a dining table, holding her forehead.

‘You don’t look “fine” to me!’ Natalie looked out of a window, The world was still heavily distorted. She then started crying. Her mother went and sat next to her, rubbing her back. ‘You can tell me, I’m always here for you!’ Natalie kept on looking out of the window.

‘You’re probably not going to believe me, but here goes…’ Natalie then sighed ‘Outside, as far as I can see, anyway, the world looks like it’s falling apart. It looks like it’s dying, it’s splitting up everywhere. I told Leon, but he just mocked me’

‘You should never listen to that awful excuse of a man!’ her mother declared ‘Though, I will say, what you’ve described to me is very strange’ her mother didn’t speak for a moment ‘To be honest with you, that sounds like the world right now!’

‘Yeah, I guess that’s true’

‘Absolutely!’ her mother paused for a while ‘How about going to a doctor?’

‘Uhhhh… why?’

‘Well, clearly you’re seeing things that aren’t really there, don’t you think that’ll be a good idea?’ Natalie just shrugged

‘I guess you’re right’

‘Go on! Do it for me!’

‘OK! I will!’

‘Good! And get yourself some fresh air, it’ll do you a world of good!’

‘Right!’

Natalie went back to her room, putting on a black outfit covered with a pink winter coat. She put on some gloves, too. She took her phone with her, it had a long list of answered texts and missed calls. There were all from someone named Katie, her texts were all asking Natalie if she were all right and that she was sorry to hear that she had broken up with Leon. Natalie rung her back, Katie answered immediately

‘Hello Natalie! Are you OK?’

‘Not really…’

‘Oh, what’s up? Has Leon being bugging you again?’

‘You could say that’

‘Nah, just ignore him. There are far better people out there just waiting for you!’

‘Uhhhh, like who?’ Katie took a while to answer.

‘That other guy you were seeing?’

‘Uhhhh, Katie…’

‘Yes?’

‘He’s already taken’

‘What? Oh no!’

‘I actually asked him out, he only told me when he turned me down. Cheeky bastard’

‘Awwww, that sucks! That’s happened to me before, too!’

‘Yeah, I bet’ the two were silent for a while

‘Have you thought of maybe finding someone else? Someone new, perhaps?’ Natalia just sighed

‘Well, how am I supposed to do that? How do you meet people nowadays? You know, without being awkward and all?’ Katie was silent again

‘You could go to bars!’

‘No, Katie. That’s exactly where I met Leon. I haven’t met anyone there other than morons’

‘Yeah, you’re right. I don’t meet anyone worthwhile there, either’ Katie sighed as well ‘You know, I’ve think you’ve asked one of life’s biggest questions!’

‘Yep, I guess I have’

‘Yeah, I mean, I’m going to have to do my research on that, I hate to say this but I have absolutely no idea!’

‘Neither do I. Especially in this day and age with technology and all’

‘And PC nonsense!’

‘Yeah, that too! Anyway, I must get to the doctors. I’ll talk soon, OK?’

‘OK Natalie! Have a lovely day!’

‘You too’

‘Bye!’ Natalie put her phone away and headed outside of her house. The outside still had the world falling apart in different sections, though cars and people were passing through as if they were not even there

‘This must all just be my crazy imagination’ muttered Natalie, to herself, whilst taking a deep breath. She later walked up to a part of the land of where it was separated by a huge chasm. Natalie simply shrugged and attempted to walk across it. As she did so, she fell into the chasm, screaming.

Natalie woke up in an area of almost total darkness, with only a few torches illuminating the area.

‘Where the hell am I?’ she muttered, to herself, she walked over to where the torch is ‘Is this what Hell’s supposed to look like?’ she walked further around, not finding anyone or anything other than torches. 

‘Natalia’ echoed a deep, male sounding voice. Natalie gasped and looked behind her, there was no one around. She turned back around and walked further along, she looked rather shook up ‘You cheating little swine!’

‘Who are you?!’ she yelled ‘I’m close to pissing myself!’

‘Ha-ha-ha-ha! You are a humorous one’ a mist appeared around her ‘I am your inner subconsciousness’ Natalia just groaned.

‘Bullshit’ she muttered ‘I’m pretty sure I don’t sound like a man’

‘Oh no, Natalia, you don’t understand. I am your very self. I can be whatever I wish to be. You are merely a pawn on a chessboard, a puppet on a string, if you will’ the mist started to flow in front of her. ‘You, as a woman, have a duty to find a mate, and continue the circle of life’ Natalie shook her head.

‘No I don’t. I can be childless if I want to’

‘It’s easy for you to say that now, at your tender age. But as a fossilised old woman, how would you feel?’ Natalia gasped again, she began sweating ‘Exactly’

‘OK, OK!’ Natalie was trying to regain her breath ‘I have a question for you: if you truly are my subconsciousness, why do you keep attracting me to dickheads like Leon?! Can’t you get me with someone nice for once?!’

‘Hmph! You have not been paying attention to me’ Natalie looked confused.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I have been trying to commune with you that fools such as him are not suitable. Yet you keep believing excruciating nonsense both on the internet and from friends. Like you, I loathe Leon, and all similar miscreants, but you did not heed my warnings. You thought your judgement alone was absolute’

‘Well, I guess it’s not’

‘Hmph!’ the mist started circling around her.

‘Come to think of it, I kept on having to convince myself that Leon was the one for me. That his behaviour is normal for most men’

‘Natalia! I want you to realise something!’ the mist was straight up in her face, with eyes glowing red ‘There is a very big difference between “normal” and “acceptable”! You should realise that. You should also realise you should never have to convince yourself to love someone’ Natalie walked away.

‘Like I would ever listen to you for love advice’

‘Fool! Need I remind you who I am?!’ Natalie sighed

‘My subconsciousness, apparently’

‘Yes, indeed. Do not make a fool out of me. When you suffer, I suffer too. More than you realise’ Natalie didn’t say anything ‘To go back to what I was saying earlier, you shouldn’t have to convince yourself that you love someone. Through trust, love will flow easily within you. You just haven’t realised that, yet’ Natalie was walking around, obviously in a state of thought.

‘Now that you mention it, you have a point. And I do feel trust is an important part of love, or any relationship, for that matter’

‘Ah, you are learning. This is good’ the mist went in front of her, gathering as a larger form. ‘Through evolution and through your ancestors, you possess millions of years of survival knowledge through pure intuition. To truly harness this power, you must pay attention to it. Embrace it. Accept yourself as an animal’ 

‘If that involves stripping myself naked and living in the woods, I’ll pass’

‘No! Stop being a miscreant! I mean to say you need embrace who you are, I am aware you live in a modern society, and you need to adapt as such. But never forget who you are, and more importantly, what you are’ the mist flowed over to Natalie's right. ‘I’ll be gone for now, it’s time for you to awaken’

‘What do you mean?!’ the mist vanished, and Natalie fell onto the ground unconscious.