"What is this sensation?"
. . .
"It feels familiar... Have I done this before?"
. . .
"Yes, I have. But what am I doing?"
Juric opens his eyes slowly, revealing two metallic grey orbs reddened by his daze. Déjà vu envelops Juric as that familiar scene stretches out before him, a busy suburban street drenched in shades of white, black and grey. Everything is still and motionless, everything except Juric, who drags his bare feet against the cold pavement beneath him. Slowly he shifts his 6'1" frame past the frozen people on the sides of the street, their frozen forms implying their future actions like silhouettes conveying a message. One women leant over a pram comforting her child, another pushed an envelope into a post box, left of Juric a guy stands frozen with his gaze locked on his watch as he waits for the pedestrian lights to grant him safe passage. Each one of them, a different human being with a different life, they live in different homes and have different friends. Reflecting on his sonder thoughts Juric continues to shift his form through the motionless, black, white and grey scenery, unsure of where he is going or even where he came from.
"This is it, isn't it?"
. . .
"My existence."
Suddenly as if to protest his assertion a sudden force pushed Juric off balance, reaching for a nearby wall Juric hit the ground with a jolting shock when his hand phased through the wall effortlessly as if it weren't even there. On his back Juric watched as the black, white and grey scene of the street disappeared into the distance, leaving nothing but empty blackness around him. He looked left, he looked right but either way there was nothing but that deep piercing darkness. Juric shifted and hugged his knees to his chest, this abyss left a peaceful feeling within him, a longing feeling.
"This too, is my existence."
. . .
"Not yet, no. But it will be, I wonder when?"
. . .
"I guess that is up to me... Soon maybe."
Juric took a deep breath, closed his eyes and hugged his knees close. He felt peaceful here, but part of him hated it, this black abyss, this nothingness. Part of him kicked and screamed and swore and fought, part of his feared this place more than anything. As Juric lay there, he knew he'd no longer be able to see the scene of the black, white and grey street drifting further away, but he could feel it drifting further and as it drifted, that part of him that hated this place grew stronger. It grew so strong he wanted to thrash and swim his way through the abyss to get back to the street, to get closer to that place to cease his silent protests.
"There is no going back, this existence is all encompassing. I know that, I know that very well."
. . .
"But is it really okay for me to not try? Am I content with this abyss?"
Suddenly, as if the answer had dawned on him Juric shifted his figure in the abyss, now he was thrashing his arms, he was kicking his legs, he was swimming back to his old existence. He swam and swam, pushing himself like he had never done so before, and as he did the black around him slowly brightened, it's tones shifting slowly until finally it was crimson. Suddenly Juric felt an urge to breath, but there was no air, he was only surrounded by crimson. Thrashing harder now, he swam until finally he penetrated the surface of the crimson sea, covered in the crimson liquid he breathed deep of the humid air around him.
Jolting awake Juric was hyperventilating, he felt the warm quilt of his mattress enveloping him with a layer of sweat. Juric's eyes darted frantically between his eye lids as they drank in the scene before him. It was his bedroom, he started to calm down as he gathered himself. "A dream," Juric said as he let out a sigh of relief. "Just a dream again..." Juric reached at his bed side table grabbing his black rimmed glasses and sliding them onto his face. The room was dark, but his eyes had already adjusted enough for him to reach for the lamp next to him.
Flicking the light on revealed Juric's somewhat bare room, old clothes patches the floor here and there while a brown wardrobe sat in a corner to the right of the room, it's drawers pulled out mostly and empty. Juric pushed his thick red blanket off of his sweaty body as he picked himself up. "I'm parched." Juric thought to himself. Shifting his frame to his bedroom door Juric left his room into the small living room of his apartment, in the far right corner an old T.V. blurted and flashed various colours as the late night news program played. "Left it on again I guess." Juric's inner monologue echoed. Dragging his feet over to his old, marsh green couch he sifted his hands over the cushions until he found the remote. Bringing his arm up her aimed the remote at the T.V. before pausing to listen to the broadcast.
"... startling reports all over the world this evening as another wave of creature attacks decimate small towns across Europe, Asia on the other hand have had some success in suppressing the attacks while reports from the Americas are slightly more fickle with the US and Mexico reporting low numbers of causalities while South America and Canada suffer much larger casualties." The announcer says sternly. Interested Juric shifts his body, leaning on the couch with his arms crossed. "I take you now to a statement reordered earlier today of US military representatives speaking to the UN."
The image on the screen fades to a stern looking scarred man dressed in military colours, his uniform is filled to the brim with various medals despite his young age. "Many meetings and conversations have been held between the US government, US military and foreign powers. We have come to the conclusion that leaving any one nation to fend for itself during these harrowing events is absolutely not an option. For this reason the US military will be opening it's bases all over the world to a very limited protocol that would allow local governments to request US military aid at key locations the government deems important." The young man pauses for a moment shifting his stern gaze over the officials seated before him in the UN. "Furthermore, with help from our allies in Europe and South America, the US military is developing a specialised force tasked with offensive goals in regards to these creatures. As an incentive to further promote this task force, the US military will be offering more support to countries who contribute to this new task force. That is all."
The television fades to black as Juric hits the power button, "Is it really that big of an issue? The media has been exaggerating a lot lately." Juric thinks to himself before chucking the remote back onto the couch. Getting himself a cup of water he moves back into his bed room, removing his glasses and lying down. Letting out a long sigh he whispers to himself. "School tomorrow..."
. . .
"It feels familiar... Have I done this before?"
. . .
"Yes, I have. But what am I doing?"
Juric opens his eyes slowly, revealing two metallic grey orbs reddened by his daze. Déjà vu envelops Juric as that familiar scene stretches out before him, a busy suburban street drenched in shades of white, black and grey. Everything is still and motionless, everything except Juric, who drags his bare feet against the cold pavement beneath him. Slowly he shifts his 6'1" frame past the frozen people on the sides of the street, their frozen forms implying their future actions like silhouettes conveying a message. One women leant over a pram comforting her child, another pushed an envelope into a post box, left of Juric a guy stands frozen with his gaze locked on his watch as he waits for the pedestrian lights to grant him safe passage. Each one of them, a different human being with a different life, they live in different homes and have different friends. Reflecting on his sonder thoughts Juric continues to shift his form through the motionless, black, white and grey scenery, unsure of where he is going or even where he came from.
"This is it, isn't it?"
. . .
"My existence."
Suddenly as if to protest his assertion a sudden force pushed Juric off balance, reaching for a nearby wall Juric hit the ground with a jolting shock when his hand phased through the wall effortlessly as if it weren't even there. On his back Juric watched as the black, white and grey scene of the street disappeared into the distance, leaving nothing but empty blackness around him. He looked left, he looked right but either way there was nothing but that deep piercing darkness. Juric shifted and hugged his knees to his chest, this abyss left a peaceful feeling within him, a longing feeling.
"This too, is my existence."
. . .
"Not yet, no. But it will be, I wonder when?"
. . .
"I guess that is up to me... Soon maybe."
Juric took a deep breath, closed his eyes and hugged his knees close. He felt peaceful here, but part of him hated it, this black abyss, this nothingness. Part of him kicked and screamed and swore and fought, part of his feared this place more than anything. As Juric lay there, he knew he'd no longer be able to see the scene of the black, white and grey street drifting further away, but he could feel it drifting further and as it drifted, that part of him that hated this place grew stronger. It grew so strong he wanted to thrash and swim his way through the abyss to get back to the street, to get closer to that place to cease his silent protests.
"There is no going back, this existence is all encompassing. I know that, I know that very well."
. . .
"But is it really okay for me to not try? Am I content with this abyss?"
Suddenly, as if the answer had dawned on him Juric shifted his figure in the abyss, now he was thrashing his arms, he was kicking his legs, he was swimming back to his old existence. He swam and swam, pushing himself like he had never done so before, and as he did the black around him slowly brightened, it's tones shifting slowly until finally it was crimson. Suddenly Juric felt an urge to breath, but there was no air, he was only surrounded by crimson. Thrashing harder now, he swam until finally he penetrated the surface of the crimson sea, covered in the crimson liquid he breathed deep of the humid air around him.
Jolting awake Juric was hyperventilating, he felt the warm quilt of his mattress enveloping him with a layer of sweat. Juric's eyes darted frantically between his eye lids as they drank in the scene before him. It was his bedroom, he started to calm down as he gathered himself. "A dream," Juric said as he let out a sigh of relief. "Just a dream again..." Juric reached at his bed side table grabbing his black rimmed glasses and sliding them onto his face. The room was dark, but his eyes had already adjusted enough for him to reach for the lamp next to him.
Flicking the light on revealed Juric's somewhat bare room, old clothes patches the floor here and there while a brown wardrobe sat in a corner to the right of the room, it's drawers pulled out mostly and empty. Juric pushed his thick red blanket off of his sweaty body as he picked himself up. "I'm parched." Juric thought to himself. Shifting his frame to his bedroom door Juric left his room into the small living room of his apartment, in the far right corner an old T.V. blurted and flashed various colours as the late night news program played. "Left it on again I guess." Juric's inner monologue echoed. Dragging his feet over to his old, marsh green couch he sifted his hands over the cushions until he found the remote. Bringing his arm up her aimed the remote at the T.V. before pausing to listen to the broadcast.
"... startling reports all over the world this evening as another wave of creature attacks decimate small towns across Europe, Asia on the other hand have had some success in suppressing the attacks while reports from the Americas are slightly more fickle with the US and Mexico reporting low numbers of causalities while South America and Canada suffer much larger casualties." The announcer says sternly. Interested Juric shifts his body, leaning on the couch with his arms crossed. "I take you now to a statement reordered earlier today of US military representatives speaking to the UN."
The image on the screen fades to a stern looking scarred man dressed in military colours, his uniform is filled to the brim with various medals despite his young age. "Many meetings and conversations have been held between the US government, US military and foreign powers. We have come to the conclusion that leaving any one nation to fend for itself during these harrowing events is absolutely not an option. For this reason the US military will be opening it's bases all over the world to a very limited protocol that would allow local governments to request US military aid at key locations the government deems important." The young man pauses for a moment shifting his stern gaze over the officials seated before him in the UN. "Furthermore, with help from our allies in Europe and South America, the US military is developing a specialised force tasked with offensive goals in regards to these creatures. As an incentive to further promote this task force, the US military will be offering more support to countries who contribute to this new task force. That is all."
The television fades to black as Juric hits the power button, "Is it really that big of an issue? The media has been exaggerating a lot lately." Juric thinks to himself before chucking the remote back onto the couch. Getting himself a cup of water he moves back into his bed room, removing his glasses and lying down. Letting out a long sigh he whispers to himself. "School tomorrow..."
