Gold Panda - You
Epithelial Tissue
I looked around wildly, the familiar setting of Room 342 coming back to me. Time Keeper stared at me sheepishly, legs crossed and supported by a cloud of silver dust. I floated over to him wordlessly, not wasting a single second.
"I need to go back."
"Thought you'd say that."
"How do I get back, Mr. Time Keeper?"
He laughed emptily, fingertips touching his temple. "It astounds me. It absolutely continues to amaze, how you never ask the right questions the first time. Why are you so preoccupied? Look around."
I looked to my left and saw a single black door. I saw an identical twin door to my right. They both had an incredibly matt finish; they were just the right daunting shade of black. I didn’t want to ask the question, but I also didn’t want to waste anymore time.
"Where do the doors lead?"
"Better." He got up from his sitting position and opened his arms. "One leads back to your old life. One leads to what humans refer to as 'Hell'. Feeling lucky?" he flicked me a card he plucked from mid air. I caught it with my middle finger and thumb. When I thought I had it, and I thought I could look at, it disappeared right before my eyes. He grinned at me mischievously whilst I studied my hands. "Or you can stay here, until it's time."
"Time for what?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Making a decision? Moving on? Decomposing? Being reborn? I don't know... I'm just a lowly Time Keeper. All I know is that everyone leaves this room Junhong... Somehow. And you’re no exception."
"What's the success rate? Of being happy? Of people returning to their... Lives?"
"Irrelevant beyond irrelevant. I can’t send everyone back to their old lives Junhong; the world would be over populated."
"What's hell like?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I've never been."
"You're the worst advisor, ever." I couldn’t help but smile hopelessly while watching him idly floating, whistling a dry tune.
"Want some real advice?" He sighed and his eyes sparkled green. An ochre colour grew from his pupils and engulfed the previous green. His eyes changed colour rapidly, like Time he was ever changing. "Stop thinking. Do."
I walked over to the right door, his eyes following me, my hand reached to push it open. He looked uncomfortable but amused, with a smile of patience lingering in his navy blue eyes. It was then that I realised he didn't know which door led to what either. He didn't know the success rate of people being happy. He didn't know my experiences.
Just the time and my name.
He just turned up, not to help people make a decision, but to make sure they actually made one. He wouldn’t know what happened to me, and I doubt he actually cared. Even though I only felt warmth when looking at the Time Keeper, it was a façade. He was one of the coldest things I’d ever met.
At the last moment, I ran towards the left, shoulder forward and crashed into it. I waited for the impact, but felt nothing but a peaceful slumber taking over my muscles. It felt like I was bouncing gently on a bed of water.
After counting to twenty, I opened my eyes.
Comments