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Michael Billek
Jonathan Post
Project Renaissance, 10th Floor
Fiction Writing
Jeff lazily blinks rays of sun out of his eyes as he shifts his position on the couch. As he moves, he is reminded of the fact that he is on leather by the sound his skin makes as it loses its grip. The air conditioning is doing the best it can to battle the heat from outside, and its hum can be heard throughout the room.
Everything is very quiet and regular in the Katz home. The flicker of the Mets away game starting and the drops of condensation that run down his cold glass of coke are the only things that remind Jeff that time is still moving. It is at this reminder; Jeff realizes that he hasn’t breathed in awhile, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. With nothing better to do, Jeff decides to see how long he can hold his breath. A tick here, and a tock there, the Mets are playing strong, and the drops of condensation run down to the coffee table. A minute goes by, followed by another, and another.
Something is not right. Jeff exhales, but it is not pushed out like he is starved of air, it is slow and normal. Jeff’s heart skips a beat as he realizes that even with empty lungs; his need for air is still non-existent. Thirsting for a slice of reality, Jeff throws a hand out to grab his coke and take a drink. The ice cold relief he expects is met with the strange feeling…of no feeling. Soda is leaving the glass, but Jeff feels like he hasn’t taken any. Fighting for normalcy, Jeff chugs the rest of his Coke, and he still feels nothing.
“Why don’t I need to breathe, and why can’t I drink right?” as the thought shoots through his mind, Jeff pinches himself…but no feeling. With the cliché method of awakening one’s self from a dream a failure, Jeff decides to find the only other person in the house: his brother Paul.
The sun offers no help in the upstairs hallway leading to Jeff’s brother’s room. Jeff might not be able to feel anything, but he does not have night vision. He grabs the switch for the hall light, but realizes that it is already on. Flipping the switch up and down proves fruitless so Jeff relies on his solid memory of the hall to guide him to his brother’s room.
Upon entering the unlit room, Jeff makes note of the full moon peeking over the roof of the house across the street. He also makes note of the empty room itself, the only thing worth a glance is the digital clock, which proudly displays the time; 28:01AM. This concerns Jeff, and the logical thing to do at a moment like this is scream, which Jeff does without a second guess. The exertion of screaming helped a little bit, Jeff began to feel more level headed, and a bit hot, but it was gone within seconds.
After realizing that reality was no longer as real as it should be, Jeff floated back down the stairs. The patterns that the setting sun made on the wall opposite of a large window were something to marvel. After taking in the sight, Jeff turned his attention to the Mets home game, which was playing just outside of the sunny window. Seizing the moment, Jeff floated right to the game, and found an empty seat on the first base line. “This beats watching it on the television”, thought Jeff, and he sat back and enjoyed himself.
After the 20th inning ended, Jeff decided to stretch his legs, not questioning the fact that it was the 20th inning at all. He decided to take advantage and float up to the top of the stadium, to get an aerial view of the game below. This was a good idea, not only because the well-played game was tied, but because of the view that came with being so high.
Things happened and winning the game came down to one pitch for the Mets to win. The ball soon left the pitcher’s hand and went on its merry way to home plate. The batter swung, and just like the movies, he had a spectacular hit. The stadium erupted as the ball flew out of the park, and Jeff cheered loudly as he tracked the ball’s progress. Up and up, the ball flew, making a b-line for Jeff.
The sound the ball made when it hit Jeff’s face was louder than when it came off the bat. The next thing Jeff realized was the wind rushing past his ears as he fell from his perch. He saw the ground quickly approaching, but he wasn’t concerned because he hadn’t been able to feel things. The fall was just long enough for Jeff to feel the searing pain of where the ball hit…PAIN! This startled Jeff because this all could be happening for real now! He never hit the ground.
The sound of the away game on the television brought Jeff back into reality. The score was 5-3 Mets at the top of the 9th. All of the ice had melted within his full glass of coke, and it was about room temperature now; no more drops on the outside. After being distracted by the game for a little bit, Jeff fully arrived on planet earth when his brother called from upstairs “Jeff can you come up here and help me fix the hallway light?”
