Year 2222

The thing about life is that nothing is guaranteed. One day we’re here and the next, we’re not. Although we know the terms and conditions of life, we still form attachments to people as if they belong to us. We promise each other forevers that never existed in the first place. Attachments are dangerous, mostly because when someone leaves they take a part of you with them. Before you know it, our hearts flutter when we hear their name, our eyes water at the thought of their memory, and our bodies do things that we can’t control at the mere reminder of their existence. We never prepare ourself for the idea that any one can be gone at any moment. So when they leave, our life and our being are never really the same.

My best friend Deaux and I met in the 2nd grade when I was a new student at Pairsdale Elementary School. I was wearing 2 pigtails and a blue dress. My mom and I had just moved after her and my dads divorce. I was lost, scared, and lonely, until I met what would become my best friend. He sat next to me and asked me for a pencil. I gave him 2. “In case one gets lost”, I told him. He smiled and said thank you and we’ve been best friends since.

I believe that people should keep 2 of everything because one is unreliable. For me, 2 had always been the only choice. Could you blame me? I mean look at what happened with my parents. It’s a good thing I had 2. It turns out my dad had kept 2 women, including my mom. When my mom left, he went on to live happily with his number 2. He never looked back, almost as if my mom and I never existed.

My best friend and I spent everyday together. We went to the same middle school and high school and he became one of the only people that I could truly trust. I trusted him so much that I didn’t feel as though I needed 2 of him. He’s the only one that I needed as my best friend and the only one that I needed to trust my heart with. I told him this and he smiled. “I got your heart forever”, he said.

It was the year 2222 when dimensional travel was invented to visit deceased relatives and friends. Of course, with such abilities came rules.

Rule #1 - You could only visit a deceased relative or friend once in your lifetime, beginning at the age of 22.

Rule #2 - You meet in a blank room, with no ability to see any clues of life after death. You’re also only able to spend 22 minutes together.

Rule #3 - Your deceased loved one is not able to speak of their world or disclose anything about life after death.

Rule #4 - You are not able to gift the deceased anything from earth, because it does not hold value in their dimension. However, they are able to give you one gift, as long as it’s not monetary and is symbolic of a token of their love and memory.

You’re only able to partake in this travel if you get 2 chips implanted. They’re implanted one into each eyelid and takes 2 years to activate. Therefore, after being implanted, can not be used until the 2 year activation is complete. Once activated, you’re able to access your settings by closing your eyes and blinking twice. A screen opens and asks for your password and you respond by saying your password twice. Everything takes place in your mind, as if you were just thinking.

The chip had side effects however, which included vivid dreams, deep trances, vivid daydreaming and all the like. Some people even reported an altered sense of reality. “I’m not getting that”, I told my best friend. Besides, as long as I have you I’ll be fine. I was disconnected from my family and Deaux was the only person who truly understood me. He smiled and agreed. “You got my heart forever”, he said.

2 years later, I was awakened by a phone call at 2:22 am. It was a call from Deaux‘s mom. I answered, “Hello”. “He’s... he’s he’s gone”, she cried hysterically. “I walked into his room and he.. he.. he was gone”. Just like that, in a matter of one sentence, my entire life and world came crashing down. My mind knew that nothing in life was guaranteed, but my heart... my heart trusted that our love would last forever. Deaux died of a rare illness, one similar to another that existed years ago. He was diagnosed with COVID-222 and because it was so rare, they didn’t know how to save him. Deaux and his mom thought that he just had the flu.

My heart was broken and suddenly I had wished I had 2. I wished that he had 2 - 2 hearts, 2 lives, 2 chances - because one just wasn’t enough. We’re given 2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 cheeks, 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 hands, 2 feet... We’re given 2 breasts, 2 elbows, 2 knees, 2 sets of teeth, 2 eyebrows, 2 ears, but one life? Somehow, this just didn’t make sense to me. What was I supposed to do now? My Deaux was gone and he took my heart with him. My entire days were planned ahead and they all included him.. they all included us. I had allowed myself to become attached to him and I didn’t even believe in attachments. “I should have just been connected without becoming attached”, I cried. “He didn’t belong to me, how could I have been so selfish to expect him to stay? How could I have trusted him to get through this life with me?”, I cried.

2 days later, I went to get 2 chips - one placed behind each eye lid. I waited 2 years and I closed my eyes and blinked twice. I said my password 2 times.“Activation complete”, a voice responded.

I entered a dream like trance and I called his name. “Deaux!”, I yelled. The room was bright white and there he was. He appeared from what seemed like thin air. I immediately began to cry. “Don’t cry please”, he said as he hugged me. “We only have 22 minutes”, he continued. “I’m sorry that I left. It all happened so fast and I had no choice. I had a false interpretation that I was in charge of my destiny... I was wrong”, he said. “I’m sorry”, he continued.

“It’s okay”, I said as I wiped my tears. “I knew that life wasn’t guaranteed”, I continued. “I shouldn’t have expected you to stay. I shouldn’t have planned out a future that didn’t belong to me”, I said. “I don’t even belong to me”, Deaux cried. “If I did, I would’ve had a choice in my life. I would have chosen to spend it with you. Perhaps life is about enjoying our connections and flowing freely like the wind, accepting what is and the possibilities of what could be”, Deaux said.

“We’re put on one earth to live one life with no chance to start over if something goes wrong”, I cried. “We’re given one heart, one brain, and one set of lungs with no back up in case they stop working”, I continued. “How could I trust a world that doesn’t give 2? 2 hearts, 2 lives, 2 chances to get things right because one just isn’t enough”, I cried... “One just isn’t enough”, I continued. Deaux hugged me and we were silent.. we knew this time that our time together would soon end again.

Deaux reached in his pocket and handed me a heart-shaped locket. “You got my heart forever”, he said. I opened the Lockett and there were 2 sides, because one just wasn’t enough. It was cold and gray just as my own heart had been since Deaux had left me. “Deaux, I don’t know what to do with out you”, I told him. “Live”, he said. “You got your heart forever”, he continued. We had 2 minutes left. “Deaux, I love you”, I said. “I love you too”, he replied.

The bright white room suddenly became dark. I opened my eyes, I felt my heart beat, and suddenly I felt alive.

“Live”, I whispered, clamping my heart shaped Lockett. “Live”.