I run as fast as I can, ignoring all my body's signals.
My body is screaming and my heart is racing, but my mind knows that if I fail this, I am as good as dead.
As I run, I notice a shadow falling from a building.
No—it's too far. I couldn't make it.
Please. Someone. Please do something.
As I watch him fall, time seems to stop for me. Seconds become minutes. I can feel my heart falling with every second, like the one falling isn't him alone, but myself as well.
The second he hits the ground, my heart breaks too.
The world stops existing for me.
I feel the hopelessness of the weak and how merciless fate is.
I feel the tightness in my chest, my heart wanting to jump out.
In an attempt to distract me, a memory emerges.
It was when you were sitting on the roof, gazing into nothing. At that time, I felt like you were not really there.
"Hey, Lance, what are you thinking about?"
Like my words brought him back, his eyes began to regain some color as he responded.
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking that clouds seem so peaceful."
"Are you trying to be philosophical or something?"
"How dare you insult me. Come here, you, Geo."
As if nothing had happened, we began arguing and laughing.
But I could notice that the emptiness in your eyes never faded.
If I had just known… if I had just reached my hand out to you, maybe we wouldn't have had to separate now.
As I begin thinking that, I slowly start rejecting reality. My strong connection to that version of the world—where you are still there—is so strong that it begins to affect reality itself.
As I cling to that thought, holding onto that reality, the air around me begins to stop. Time itself refuses to move forward, and space begins to shatter.