My head is shattering into a million pieces. I can almost feel every last brain cell flow out of the skull. It’s painful but I don’t scream. As I try to regain consciousness, more questions arise out of thin air. Where am I? What happened? How did it happen?
I opened my eyes. It was just me in my room.
I got up and opened the window. There was a weird lack of regular noise, cars weren’t passing by, the house across the street was incredibly quiet. It seemed as though nothing was happening. It was exactly midday.
My flat was also unusually quiet. No little sister running around, no computer typing, no sizzling in the pan - nothing. I decided to not think too much about it - I had work to do and later, places to be. I sat down for a long study session.
Six hours blew by, but it seemed to me as though an eternity had passed - just me in my chair, no space for mistakes, no time to think, but all the possibilities in the world to prepare for the upcoming exam. I stood up. Still no sounds, no noises, no signs of any life other than my slowly beating heart. I just shrank my shoulders at it, and quickly changed into my bikini. Five minutes just looking at the mirror. I needed the coveted romantic imperfection of being absolutely perfect tonight.
Strangely, there was nobody in the spa, not even a soul in or by the pool. I put down my towel, and stepped into the blue. I didn’t get a cool wave around my legs - the water wasn’t cold, but somehow it also wasn’t warm. I took the biggest breath ever, but it seemed as though there was no air in my lungs. I dove in and swam as fast as I could.
Opened my eyes my eyes again. Took a big airless breath. Swam back.
I put my head above the water, and felt like I was in a vacuum. My eyes came back to life and I saw her as she also dropped her robe and towel on the ground and came down to the pool. She was as beautiful as always and as intimidating as never.
Our eyes met. Her eyes became the only visually distinguishable thing in the world, as she was getting closer and closer, and I couldn’t move. Her blonde hair trailed her like a light cushion, and my dark hair was soaking wet with water. She was a tall bright silhouette, and I was a small dark shadow, growing one colour with the walls around the pool. I couldn’t escape her, couldn’t get away even when I thought I had the solution, I really couldn’t.
Her two fingertips landed gently on my head. It was like two swords cut my head open, but somehow didn’t hurt. I wanted to scream and laugh at the same time, but instead I could do neither. All her extravagant, metaphysical power was going through the wiring in my head, with impulses of pain and immense joy tearing through the depths of my soul. My soul was burning, crashing, breaking into dust - just like Pompei. Trapped and frozen in time.
She was screaming something into my emotionless face, and yet I could not hear a single sound. Her face was growing distorted, with slow changes of expression and shape causing a headache. I knew what she was saying, but the only thing my brain could distinguish as any type of sound was just a high hertz beep zipping through my head. This beep was like a thread going from her hands into my mind, peaking expectedly when she finally grabbed me by the head.
There was no time to react, as there was no time at all. The visual change of objects made my brain finally realise what’s going on. My head crashed into the wall, half underwater. Water became red and the walls became soft. Pain was coming from the inside out, with noises, laughs and screams I missed today so dearly suffocating me more than the walls themselves. Suffocation as a whole helped me breathe, with no air getting through to my lungs, but rather the air cutting through my opening skull. I was just about to break down when it all stopped.
My head is shattering into a million pieces.And even though it’s painful I don’t scream.
I opened my eyes. Everything came back to normal for a moment before my legs finally gave out, my body helpless flying through the air.