Change of the Tides

The lights of the city became a whirlwind as he soared through the air. He must have hit the ground at some point because there he was, lying on the still warm asphalt beneath the night sky. A sickening crack emanated from his spine, and he was certain he was not going to be walking anytime soon. His vision began to swirl as he struggled to remain conscious. He heard sirens that seemed to be so very far away. His eyelids fought against him before darkness finally encompassed him.

He stretched out, feeling silky sheets encompassing him. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing the sunlight filtering into his apartment. Had the horrific accident last night just been the most lucid nightmare one could ever experience? He sat up caustically still clearly remembering the shattering of his bones and the radiating pain that had felt more real than anything he’d ever experienced. Yet he arose without a trouble. He shook his head, feeling uneasy and out of place. Strolling to the restroom he realized something was indeed wrong. Many things were out of place, some things he had no recollection of ever seeing before, light switches were in slightly different places. Had he hit his head? Or was he perhaps still dreaming.

He shook off the strange feeling, grabbing a shirt that seemed slightly familiar off the rack hanging from the back of the door. He caught a glimpse of something on his back in the mirror. He did a double take, his mouth slightly aghast. There was a colossal tattoo of a majestic phoenix covering his backside. He had to still be dreaming, he reasoned. He willed himself to wake up, slapping his face and pinching himself, but the current reality failed to collapse. He heard noises coming from the kitchen causing him to be on alert. He tiptoed towards the front of his bed, reaching behind the headrest hopefully. His hand emerged holding a sturdy crowbar. He let out a breath, relieved that at least this familiar object was still in its place.

As he snuck into the kitchen, he saw a blonde man in a robe eating a bowl of cereal.

“Who the hell are you?” He roared. The blonde laughed before looking up and seeing the crowbar in his hands, his expression turning to worry.

“Woah calm down Hendrick. It’s just me.”

Hendrick? He thought to himself. Who the hell was that? “Who? Who the hell are you?”

“Jack? Your roommate?” He narrowed his eyes at him. “Are you okay? You look a little off.”

“I…”

Jack frowned at the still raised crowbar. “Can you put that down now man?”

“Who’s Hendrick?” He replied, slowly lowering the weapon yet keeping a strong grip on it.

“Wow.” Jack chuckled. “Good one.”

“Tell me who the hell Hendrick is.” He said angrily.

“Woah dude seriously? How wasted did you get last night? You’re starting to freak me out.” When he got no response, he continued. “You are Hendrick… did you hit your head or something?”

“I am not Hendrick. I’m Jonah. And I don’t have a roommate.”

“Umm… maybe I should call Emilique.”

“Emilique?”

He began to reach towards the counter. “I’m just getting my phone Hen… Jonah. We’ll give her a call.” He pointed towards a framed picture that was placed on a coffee table.

As soon as his eyes gravitated towards the picture, he dropped the crowbar. He rushed over and picked it up. “Laura,” he whispered.

“Laura?” Jack raised an eyebrow.

“She… she… I don’t understand. She was the love of my life. She died when we were teenagers. But in this picture, she is older.”

“Look. I don’t know who Laura is. Maybe they look similar. But that’s Emilique. You’ve been dating two years.”

“No! No! None of this makes sense.” He slammed his hand on the counter.

“Just calm down.” Jack reasoned.

“Am I dead?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s a no. You’re right here talking to me.”

“Last night I got hit by some car out of nowhere when I was riding my motorcycle. I remember flying through the air, my spine breaking. I have no idea how I could have made it back here.”

“Could it have been a nightmare?”

He shook his head. “No. It just was too real. And look.” He peeled off his shirt revealing the enormous tattoo.

Jack shrugged. “I don’t see anything.”

“You don’t see anything? You don’t see this huge phoenix on my back?”

Jack laughed. “Well yeah. I see that but you’ve had that for years man. What are you getting at?”

He collapsed onto the couch, bewildered and anxious as Jack dialed Emilique.

“Hey it’s Jack. Do you think you could come over?” He lowered his voice to a mere whisper. “Hendrick’s going through something. I don’t know if he hit his head, if I should take him to the doctor or what. But I think seeing you would do him some good.”

He put away his phone. “She’s on her way. Do you want me to make some nova or something?”

“Nova? Is that some fancy brand. I’ll just take coffee, any coffee.”

“Coffee?” Jack looked at him puzzled.

“Are you trying to mess with me?”

“No.” Jack said seriously.

He ran his hand through his hair. “I really must be dead, and this is hell.” He peered at Jack curiously for a moment.

“What? What is it?” Jack inquired.

“I just had a like a flash of a memory or something, but it seemed more like a dream I had a long time ago. We were camping and one of the tents caught fire.”

Jack laughed. “That was no dream buddy. Summer of 21. I’ll never forget it.”

“I-” A short rapt at the door interrupted him. He sat erect, his nerves on edge as Jack went to open the door. He felt his breathe leave him as the woman walked inside. He stood slowly afraid that she may disappear with any sudden movement.

“Hendrick, what’s going on?” She placed her hands on the sides of his arms.”

“Laura…” He cusped her face. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

She cocked her head. “What exactly happened?”

After he retold the events of the previous night and what he’d experienced that morning she smiled.

“What?” He urged her.

“It happened.” She bit her lip. “You probably don’t remember, or at least not yet. But last week when I read your fortune, I saw something strange. I think you died in another reality and quantum jumped to the next most similar parallel universe.”

He squinted his eyes. Jack replicating the expression. “So, I am dead?”

“No.” Emilique said enthusiastically. “Humans can't die. We are literally pure energy. Our consciousness just transfers to another reality. So, your consciousness from that previous reality just merged with yours of this one.” She kissed him excitedly.

He couldn’t help but grin seeing the twinkling in her eyes, the gorgeous smile that now had frown lines around it; something that’d she’d never lived to experience in that other reality. That other reality that now seemed so far away... As if a distant dream. But it didn’t matter now. He was exactly where he was supposed to be.