nothing 13

There are layers of steel between me and the cold. A wall of metal. Placing my hand onto its surface, I feel the initial sting of frozen defiantly solid silver. The sting fades as numbness overcomes my fingers, if I hold it much longer I risk frostbite, the cold steel will not accept the heat from my body.

Removing my hand and closing it into a fist, I finally feel the warmth come back. Every wall is the same while the floor is a grey cement. One single door lays flush with no handle. A freezing cage. Recessed lights within the ceiling allow me to see my breath as it plumes from my mouth in clouds. How long have I been here?

The cold air fails to cool me as I stand alone now back to the closest wall facing the door across. I've been here long enough to have forgotten who comes from the door, or if anyone will. I walk to the door and push, to my surprise it opens easily. Walking out the door into darkness the door closes behind me and the room I've walked into illuminates in a warmer glow from one single lamp in the middle of the room. The room appears the same as the last, one door behind, metal walls and cement floor.

One door? How can there be one door? Am I dreaming?

"You aren't dreaming," a voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Oh I'm asleep. But I feel everything. Everything I see is vivid. That said, this is a dream. Turning around I push the door open again and I get sucked through as if a rope around my waist yanked me. In a flash I am falling through clouds towards the ground, the roar of wind at my ears. I feel wetness all over. Cold. The ground below approaches slowly, green forest and fields with small ponds here and there reflecting the grey sky. I'm headed right for one.

The fall becomes normal, this must be what achieving terminal velocity feels like. I begin to feel something new.

Fear.

"Don't be afraid," the voice booms, throwing me spinning.

Yeah I'm scared now. No parachute and the voice was lying to me. Remaining conscious starts to become problematic. The cold. The sound. The impending threat of the ground. Suddenly I notice the ground getting closer and as I can start to see the bottom of the shallow clear pond I crash through its surface.

Time was no longer real. Floating, eyes closed holding my breath. Is this death?

"You are dead," the voice booms.

I'm, dead? No. I'm not. I'm alive. The voice lies. But this could be death.

"Yessssssssss yesssssss, this is how it is here," a new voice hisses in my right ear. In my left, "down down down you went and now, well, now you are with ussssass."

The hiss silenced. I open my eyes to a sight I never expected to see. I am floating in space, stars and galaxies, nebulas, the entire universe stretched before me. Calm fell over my body and mind.

I am dead. Interesting. How I got here is a complete unknown. The rooms and the fall? Why?

Slowly two distant stars combined into one. Then two more. Over the course of a few minutes this continued until all points of light started to merge. Then lights started to fly past from behind me soaring towards one focal point. The ball of light green and grew as distant stars flew past into the giant ball of red orange blue white light. After what seemed like an hour, all were one giant globe of brightness. The globe started to smooth into a low orange glow and soared towards me. It was the size of a lemon and I reached out to grab it.

Before I could grab it a voice echoed accross space.

"If you take this, you go back. If you leave this, it all fades away. Choose."

I go back? To what? Who am I? But I leave it and it fades away? The universe? Or is this my soul?

"CHOOSE."

The voice boomed loudly in my ears. I acted upon instinct. I grabbed the light.