five
Something blinks across the horizon. Time stands still for a moment until you realize it might have just been something in your eye. You turn towards the person standing next to you but can’t find the words to explain what had happened.
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Your friend was looking somewhere behind you in the distance, kind of where the land blurs into sky in greyish green. For some reason the instant seems to last forever, until you make eye contact and no words are spoken. Somehow, you feel a mutual understanding of what has happened.
There are two people standing on the cold, wet Earth. You can feel them, the solidity in their stances. The way their weight shifts as they speak. One of them freezes and the other melts. The change seeps deep underground and digs further. And further. Then they spring into action and you can feel them sway to the same beat.
You’re running so fast you might just start to fly, your feet lift off the dirt-grey crater and you’re lifted into space by your own acceleration. It’s your first time so you go fast. You can see ocean and forest, desert and mountain, and lovely gazing eyes. It’s over in a moment and you land with a quiet crunch.
You hold the balance, keep the stream of life flowing and the standstill of death constant. But something catches your attention, flitting across a lonely planet in an underfilled system. The figure catches your awe in its tiny fist and you let chaos envelop the universe, just for a moment.
