"But maybe we should keep it that way", the strange man said to me, "Knowing my character won't bring any more meaning to me, for I am nothing more than a lapse of reason. Someone who lives solely in the ladder."
The words that this man was telling me made no sense at all, it felt more like the random mumblings of a shell-shocked character in one of the dramas I watch. However, the word, "Ladder", slipped out of my mouth. That is where he said he lived but what in the world did that mean, what is the Ladder?
"Yes, the Ladder", the man said while moving his stare back at the elevator door, "The place betwixt."
I stayed quiet, "The place betwixt", what could that mean? The place between where and where? As I was stuck pondering this, I noticed the elevator had changed course and began to go up instead of down, but I was too scared to approach the buttons. So, I just waited for the elevator to stop so that this freak can get off.
The elevator violently stops, and the door swings open in a manner I've never seen before. The man tips his hat and says, "Well this is my exit. Before I go, do not try to exacerbate your illness. I'll see you, when our paths inevitably cross again."
As I watch the strange man leave the elevator, I suddenly feel this rush of breath leave my body. I guess the anxiety of encountering this strange man has gotten to me and when he was finally gone, it all had to come out. Now that I was all alone in the quiet elevator, I reached for the buttons and press the ground button. But as I touch the button, an immediate sharp pain rushes the back of my head. Like if someone had hit me with a broomstick.
Falling down to my knees, the pain was too much for me to bare. I think to myself, "Fuck! This must be all a hallucination, the man, the pain, they all have to be from the fucking water!" Regardless, I will not get caught here, not now, so I use all the strength I have left and stand up.
"I need to find Daniel", I thought to myself.
When the elevator finally gets down to the main floor, I just take off. I don't even have the grip to grab our bags, I just know that I have to get out of there. But while in a full sprint, I bump into someone. It's Daniel... He was at the front door of the complex, shaking the rain off of him.
"Daniel!", I screamed without thinking. As fast I could, I opened up my arms and grabbed him for a hug. Smelling his nasty and wet work clothes have never brought me so much joy. I really thought for a second they got him.
"What are you doing down here? It's cold", he says to me warmly.
"I thought I was never going to see you again!", I cried into his chest. I look at up at him and gave him a kiss on the lips and told him, "I was so scared Daniel, I really thought something happened to you. I thought something was going to happen to me."
"It's ok, nothing happened sweetheart. I'm here", he said to me.
With tears starting to roll down my face, I beg him, "Please Daniel, don't scare me like that ever again." He lets out a small chuckle and reassures me, "Scare you? I was just stuck in traffic... Have you eaten?"
I squeeze him tighter and yell with tears in my eyes, "No you dumb ass! I was scared. I couldn't eat without you. I couldn't stop thinking about you! I really thought something bad had happened to you."
Daniel just gives me his usual warm smile.
He helped me return to our apartment. On the way there he was telling me that I was probably feeling bad because of my pregnancy and who knows, maybe he is right. I sit down and he pours me a bowl of meatball soup and we enjoy it together.
"I'm telling you Daniel; I was really scared", I tell him while helping myself with a spoonful of spicy soup then a full cup of water. The taste of metal was also gone from the water. "All this scary stuff was happening to me", I tell Daniel.
"Like what?", he asks.
I honestly didn't know what was going on with me, but I tell him anyways, "Well… I swear to you… I thought that time, was jumping. There was also this weird guy that was telling me these creepy things."
"Wait… was it something bad?", he asks while taking a spoonful of soup.
"I think so… he was saying something along the lines that my closure was coming. I thought he was talking about me dying but, that can't be, I'm still here. He also mentions something called the Ladder. He said he was from there."
Joking, Daniel asks me, "Are you sure it wasn't some old senile grandpa?"
"Maybe", I replied, "But I don't know how to explain it to you, he was a weird looking person. He just gave me the creeps."
"Maybe he was trying to flirt with you", he jokes.
I chuckle and tell him, "I don't know. He really just freaked me out."
"I don't understand", he questions.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, why would something like that happen?"
"Your guess is as good as mine", I tell him.
"I guess there's no point in getting upset by it now. I mean you're with me and you're safe", he says with his warm smile.
But my mind is still fixed on the identity of that old man, and honestly all of this still seems strange to me. There is no explaining the time change and that awful feeling in the back of my head. "Hmm, I wonder who he was?", I say to myself.
"Don't think about it too much Selma. It doesn't matter who it was, that's the past", Daniel tells me.
Knowing that in some way it is kind of pointless, I agree with him, "Yeah… Yeah, you're right. I'm just glad I'm here eating with you."
"Yeah?", he asks in a flirtatious manner.
"Yeah. Hey Daniel…", I say feeling my face glow red, "I love you."
He looks at me and I look him dead in the eyes, "Being with you is like a dream that I never want to wake up from. I want time to move slowly so forever feels like forever." I watch in glee as I see his freckled cheeks begin to glow just as bright as mine.
"I don't want to forget this moment", I think to myself, "This is maybe the second time I told him that." His usual bright smile shined even brighter.
I can't tell if it is because of the spiciness of the soup but I feel like my mouth is going dry and the suddenly, a bright flash. I was blinded by pure white.
In the distance I can hear two voices having a conversation.
"Look, it looks like she's smiling. Even with foam coming out her mouth. I wonder what she is thinking about?"
"It doesn't matter. Bag her up, I want to be done for today. I want to go see my kids."
"Alright."
END OF FIRST VOLUME. FLY ME TO THE MOON