Day 355 - Six Story

Six Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

And so it occurred that the universe, infinite, vast and expansive, existed and evolved long enough to reach one moment of perfect alignment across all the various planes of existence. The odds against it were incalculably high, but with an infinite amount of chances, most anything became possible at least once. The moment lasted for a full six seconds. During these six seconds there were six locations on the Earth where there were six infinitesimally small rips in the adjoining space-time. As fate would have it, six people inadvertently happened to be walking contiguously with the spots in question and were unexpectedly pulled through the rifts.

In real time, if there really was such a thing, the six seconds came and went as they were wont to do, and the universe went about its business and continued on its merry way. In rift time, infinity occurred. Trapped in the rifts, on the fringes of space-time, the six hostages received a very different and difficult experience.

Miguel blinked and he was out of step with time. Then he blinked again and existence was over and entropy was everywhere. Time had ceased to exist and the universe had already collapsed. Miguel didn’t live long enough to register any of that. In the length of one blink, he was no more.

Lana suffered from déjà vu. She could swear she had experienced the events of her day already. She met with people she had already met with, went to places she had already been, had experiences she had already had. Lana realized she was living backwards. Her arrow of time had been reversed and her upcoming/previous death/birth was the only thing that would stop it.

Winston was a skipping record. He lived six seconds at a time, traveling from one location to another. It was never enough time to do anything. He had trouble eating and sleeping. He was always on the move. It was exciting and thrilling for the first minute or so and then extremely frightening and finally it was just irritating. Winston had no control. He had no ability to begin anything or do anything or have any sort of a life. He just got to see the entire world, six seconds at a time. Eventually he began to pray for death. Maybe he would leap into something and it could just be over. If not, he would eventually starve or die from dehydration. It wasn’t much of a life and he was just waiting for it to be over, six seconds at a time.

Maggie lived an entire lifetime in her six seconds. She was either moving incredibly fast or everyone was moving incredibly slowly. She didn’t know which, but it didn’t really matter. She was all alone in the world. She couldn’t talk to anyone or interact with anyone, but at least she was alive. She loosened screws, stole wallets, moved chairs, and other small things. Eventually out of boredom she began setting up elaborate pranks that would only play out once time began moving for everyone else. She found ways to pass the time and amuse herself. She was disappointed however that she would never get to see anything she had set up play out in real time.

Oscar got to teleport. He was linked to the locations of the various ruptures in space-time. In the blink of an eye he could fold the universe over and connect any of the six spots to any of the other locations. He used his power for fun and adventure. He had never been able to afford to travel before and now he had a shortcut across the globe. Oscar traveled frequently to the point that he took his power for granted. He never stopped to consider why he could do what he did or what other possible implications might be. He never wondered what would happen if the universe unfolded mid-jump or if he could lose the power while only half gone and end up split into two. He never wondered if it would eventually run out or if there was something more. Oscar’s final jump came when he mindlessly connected an incorrect fold and ended up halfway across the galaxy, stepping out at a different rift in space-time and dying instantly.

Jeremy sat in a pocket universe bubble. Time moved extremely slowly, but his pocket universe kept pace with the journey of the Earth as it rotated and revolved. Jeremy was aging, but at a much slower rate that any of the people that remained on Earth. To make matters worse, he could see through the fabric of his pocket universe and watch the Earth’s quick transition. Seconds for him were years on Earth. Ages came and went. The city rose to the sky and was destroyed in war and was rebuilt again. Jeremy saw lifetimes pass by, countries pass by, and eons pass by. One day, thousands of years later, Jeremy’s skeleton appeared back in real time when his pocket universe finally collapsed. Its appearance was quite shocking for the people who happened to be in the general vicinity.

Indifferent, for its part, the universe kept expanding, never once concerned with the implications of its actions.