Instinct sucks. That is the pertinent realization I am now coming to grips with as pain courses through my body. I don't dare try to move even a centimeter since doing so would undoubtedly amplify the slowly growing wave of pain wracking every nanometer of my body.
I hear the sounds of the truck that hit me coming to a stop as I gaze, helplessly, at the blue sky above me. Under other circumstances, I think I'd love this clear, unobstructed view of the cloudless sky but right now the view feels… It feels like a wall in a prison cell with the way it evokes helplessness. I can't move and all I can see is a featureless sky.
I can faintly hear confused voices wondering what to do as a distant figure shouts that he is calling for an ambulance. The figure falls silent for a second before he begins to shout that someone saved his daughter from a speeding truck and in doing so got hit by the truck himself and is now motionless on the ground. As the pain grows in intensity, which it does with the passage of even faint milliseconds, it becomes harder for me to focus and remain present.
After what feels like a short eternity a stranger enters my limited field of view with an impish grin on his face. As I study him I wonder if he is the driver of the truck, but I have no way of confirming whether or not that suspicion is true.
"Hi. You look like you're in a rough spot." He says, smugly. If I could I think I'd flip him off. He laughs and unless he's just an asshole I can't fathom why he's laughing. The sound is hoarse and a bit frightening.
"You've got funny thoughts, kid. And an attitude. I like that." The man says, continuing to look at me, his grin beginning to turn predatory. I hear his words and consider them before dismissing the idea that this man is supernatural. I must be making a face or something that lets him know what I'm thinking. Still… it's weird how no one is commenting on the man or telling him to get away from me.
"Normally I like to play around more, but I think you've been through a lot. So I'm about to level with you." He says as his expression changes and he suddenly turns serious.
"You're going to die here. It's only because of my intervention that you're still alive right now. I liked your instincts so I've decided to offer you a way out." He remarks, and for reasons I can't intelligently articulate, I think he believes he's telling the truth. I don't believe he is correct, at least about the parts other than my impending death, but I can see conviction in his eyes and a strange certainty about him. I can't bring myself to speak, as I know if I do I'll only amplify the pain I feel.
"Not talking is smart. You don't need to speak to accept my deal. Do you want to live? If you do, I'll fix your body and toss you out of here. No guarantees your body will be exactly the same as it was before, but I promise I won't make you worse." He tells me, and this time I manage to faintly roll my eyes in disbelief. This makes the man guffaw in delight.
"Even at death's door, you manage to snark at the one person offering you a non-lethal way out. Incredible stuff, kid," He quips. "Still… I need an answer. Just think your answer, little man. Don't try to speak it. Do. You. Want. To. Live?" He asks, and I see a strange seriousness fill his eyes as he waits for me to respond.
For a moment the strange, alien confidence the man has in his abilities makes me wonder if he's able to do what he says. Pain is still filling me up, still eating away at my consciousness. If the man can do what he says he can… Yeah, I want to live. I don't want my instinct to have led me to my death, even though I can't bring myself to regret doing what I did. I want to live.
"Excellent. And good luck." The man says as he begins to faintly glow.
I feel my eyes begin to shut and I try to keep them open but it doesn't work. For a split second, all I can see is darkness brought on by my eyelids shutting. Before I can process this I feel the ground give way beneath me and I am suddenly keenly aware that I am falling through the air. I forcefully wrench my eyes open and what I see confirms what I was feeling: I am flying, falling, and I can see a distant ocean below me.
"Shit!" I roar as I approach the ocean. I am still hundreds, maybe even a few thousand, feet above the ocean but that doesn't help. I feel wickedly cold wind whipping past me as I move closer and closer to the water with every passing millisecond. If I hit the water at this speed it'll be… it'll be bad.
I don't have time to appreciate the fact that I'm not in pain anymore as I'm about to be in a lot of pain if I don't do… something to slow my descent. I gaze at the water before deciding that I need to concentrate and so I shut my eyes to allow myself to not see what is rushing towards me.
I attempt to think of a way out of this as I continue to feel the frigid air hit me and I suddenly feel something strange occur. The sensation of falling suddenly… stops. Everything stops. For a brief moment, I wonder if I've died and this dark oblivion is what comes next before I realize that I'm still thinking. I cautiously open my eyes and I still only see water below me. What I don't see is the water getting closer.
I blink in confusion before I realize that I must be floating. Somehow I have stopped falling.
"How?" I ask, as I mentally replay everything that has transpired since I was hit by the truck. I freeze when I recall what the weird guy told me… He said he'd fix my body but didn't guarantee it'd be the same as before. All he said was that it wouldn't be worse. Is this what he meant? I allow myself to hover for a moment longer, grateful for the first reprieve I've had since I was hit by that damn truck.
After hovering motionlessly for a few moments I attempt to orient myself. I am currently horizontal, and I was falling through the air flatly rather than vertically. I move and twist through the air, seemingly unbound by gravity as I move until I am positioned so that I am floating like a superhero would be if they were hovering in the air instead of actively flinging themselves through the skies. I then attempt to experiment with true movement.
I take a beat to move myself directly upward, willing my body in the direction I want to go, and then try to gently descend. I am delighted to find that I can do both of these things easily, and without any sort of mental or physical strain.
"I'm not just capable of hovering… I can fly." I exclaim, breathlessly. I smile as I relax and I finally take in the full scope of my surroundings. Ahead of me, all I can see is water and the sky. A seemingly endless ocean, at least as far as it stretches directly in front of me. I mutter that that's not great before I turn around and pause as I take in the vastly different sight I can now see.
In this new direction, the ocean extends for a long while before giving way to a beach. Behind that beach is a city that looks remarkably like the backdrop someone would use for one of those "90s Vaporwave" videos from YouTube. I sigh in relief as I begin to move towards the city.
I float through the air at about the same speed that I can walk, not bothering to try and move fast, for perhaps forty minutes before I find myself only hundreds of feet above the sandy beach. As I move closer to it I realize that it is late afternoon here and the sun is rapidly descending. There is also no one on the beach, so when I land I am all alone. The distant sounds of city life fill the air and as I look out at the city I can see distant cars obeying the whims of traffic as well as pedestrians on a large boardwalk between the beach and the city.
I begin to march towards the boardwalk, curious as to how I was able to avoid notice but also not unhappy about that. I don't know how people would react if they saw someone who could fly, and I'd rather not find out. At the same time, faint concerns begin to become louder and more prominent in my mind as I get closer and closer to civilization.
As I draw nearer and nearer to the boardwalk I quietly realize that I should thank the stranger who somehow saved my life. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to do so, though…
I manage to reach the boardwalk and smile as the words of faint voices become clearer and clearer, and as I manage to hear the conversations other people are having. I'm grateful when I realize that I can fully understand what the people are saying, which was a concern I had in the back of my mind when I realized that I actually was shunted to some new place. The stranger did everything he said he would.
When I set foot on the boardwalk I realize that while my life is not in any immediate danger anymore, I am still a stranger in a new city with truly nothing to my name. I need to do something so I begin to study the environment I'm in, looking for someone who might be able to help. This allows me time to take stock of my current situation and realize just how out of my depth I am.
I'm going to need as much help as I can get, since I see food stands on the boardwalk and pat my pockets only to realize that I have nothing in them. I have no I.D., wallet, apartment keys, or anything. I'm going to have to fake amnesia or something to explain why I'm even walking around like this…
On the one hand, I'm alive and not in pain. On the other hand, I am completely unequipped and the only real advantage I have other than being alive is my ability to fly. I may even have other abilities but if I do they have not made themselves known to me. Great…