Time Over and Again, Chapter 1

Spiraling into the infinite wasn’t as bad as Len expected.

“Why are the trees gone?”

“Hm?”

“They are gone. Why?”

“It’s not important.”

“No?”

“Not anymore.”

Len wandered a while, but it wasn’t making enough of a difference. The hills rolled by, but always came back. Endless bumps, highs and lows consistent across the way on either side of the path he was on. Their greenery was fading, a strange teal color remaining, the orange-dream sky fading in and out every once in a while, orange and purple.

It wasn’t solving anything, and the longer he walked the harder it was to remember why he was even there. A distant object never seemed to grow much closer, but every time its unmoving status was called into question, it seemed to grow just a bit closer. Just enough to make it worth marching onward.

And onward Len went.

It may have been seconds, it may have been years later but he did arrive. A small, brown, wooden outhouse-like shack. On its door was a silver emblem of a snake eating its own tail. The handleless door was covered in scratches and indents, with a small door knocker attached, seemingly starting to fall off.

Len tried knocking, but the weak thing pulled straight off of the door.

“Oh no.”

He tried slipping his fingers into the crack in the door, but they would never fit. He tried pushing, pulling, sliding, and kicking. The door simply would not move. Whatever its purpose, being opened surely seemed not to be it.

A loud car horn echoed from inside the door. A scream.

“Is anybody in there?” Len asked.

A shooting pain reverberated throughout his entire body. The shack vibrated, and a loud crashing noise permeated his mind. He could feel all of his insides shaking, splitting, and cramping at once.

The door bust open, sucking Len inside of a strange wormhole, spitting him out into a drably yellow waiting room. There was a much too small chair and an even much-too-smaller table next to it, with an unmanned reception desk. A carpet decorated with train tracks and cartoon characters lay on the ground, with building blocks strewn about, and a broken car toy sitting next to a LEGO building that had been torn apart.

Len took a seat in the miniachair, stretched his legs and accidentally kicked the small car across the room, sending a burning sensation through him.

“Are you lost?” A woman’s voice emanated from behind the counter. Len turned, but there was nobody there.

“Are you real?” He asked.

“Oh, god. Am I real?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m right here, dummy.”

Len stood up and looked around. “I cannot see you.”

“Well, that makes two of us.”

“You cannot see me?”

“No, I can’t see myself.”

Len stepped cautiously toward the desk and checked behind it. A small white terrier was sitting, staring at the underside of the desk.

“Well, hey there. Do you know who is talking?” Len asked.

“Me, you dunce.” The dog said as it looked up.

He was rolling over in bed, trying to shut off the alarm, but it was too far away. He groaned and finally sat up to shut it off. After he did, he saw a number of missed texts and calls, and his heart sank.

Len jumped back from the counter a bit. “You can talk?”

“I think so,” the dog replied.

Len stared at the dog for a few seconds before shrugging and walking around to the other side of the counter. He crouched down to be closer to eye level with the small pooch. “Why are you here?”

“Why are you here?”

Len thought for a second. “I have no idea. Where is… here?”

“It could be anywhere.”

“Oh.”

“I know, I should have called back sooner. I was asleep, I didn’t hear my phone go off at all! I’m sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?”

“C’mon. What do you want me to say?”

“Please, just tell me.”

“Do you know how to get out of here?” Len asked.

“Not even slightly.”

“I need to be somewhere.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. I just need… somewhere to be.” He looked around frantically for a moment. “Not here.”

The dog trotted around to the waiting area. “How did you get here?” She asked.

“The shack.”

“The shack?”

“A small brown shack.”

The pup trotted around the room. “None of these doors work right. I tried opening them but the handles won’t turn.”

“Aren’t you a dog?”

“I can open doors!”

“You just said you cannot.”

Len walked over to the door nearest the reception counter, and when he tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge.

“None of these doors work right.”

The dog barked. “I told you! Why didn’t you listen?”

“I thought I could fix it.”

He slumped down in front of the door and buried his head into his knees. The dog walked over to him and lay at his feet. He petted the dog for a couple of minutes.

“What is your name?” Len asked.

Rolling onto her belly, she replied “I’m Sasha.”

“Nice to meet you, Sasha. I’m Len.”

“That’s a dorky name.”

Len chuckled and lightly pushed Sasha. “Yeah.”

He looked around the room, disheartened. He let out a sigh and leaned back against the door, eyes to the ceiling. Only now did he finally see a small cord, barely hanging from the ceiling tile just above him. He stood, trying to reach it, but he wasn’t tall enough, so he climbed on the desk. On his toes, he still wasn’t able to reach it.

“Has the ceiling been this high this whole time!?” He yelled, frustrated.

(It hadn’t.)

Sasha barked and said “I have an idea!”

She ran over to the miniachair and jumped on it, barking at Len.

“Yes! Great idea, Sasha!”

Her tail wagged.

Len ran over to the miniachair and picked it up, setting it on the desk to climb on once more.

“I better not break my neck,” he said as he pulled himself onto the chair. He stretched upward, reaching as far as he could. “C’mon!” He kept reaching, and finally, just barely, he managed to get a light grip on the cord.

A massive pole came shooting down from the ceiling and through the floor. The walls around them shattered and scattered outward and the entire room was reduced to nothing but small shards of wood, with Len and Sasha remaining completely untouched.

They both looked around, scanning their new surroundings. They now found themselves in a small suburban neighborhood, seemingly deserted and dilapidated. The sun was just beginning to rise in the distance.

“What is this place?” Sasha asked.

Len was shocked; the closer he looked, the clearer the picture became.

“This is where I grew up.”

Click here to read Time Over and Again, Chapter 2: dust