Adrian (The Write Awards 2013)

01: Adrian

Every step was necessary to our survival. One false move, and we would plummet into the abyss, which held wonders that could blind even our imaginative eyes. I watched him move one foot in front of the other, effortlessly. His arms were extended outwards like an airplane's to keep balance, although he probably didn't think he needed to. I couldn't help but smile at his huge ego.

Was I the only one that smiled in the face of imminent fictitious danger that would surely mean our death? We were standing on the stone wall that surrounded our neighborhood playground. It was only raised a few feet high, but that didn't stop us from pretending.

We were approaching the break in the wall where the entrance gate was located. Its thin iron bars would not be suitable for us to walk across. We would either have to jump or fall. We could've just stayed put, but inaction was never something he would think of doing. He was constantly succumbing to the pull of adventure.

"Are you gonna jump?" He turned to look at me with a gleam of excitement in his dark blue eyes.

"Only if you jump first, Adrian." I'll admit, I was a big wimp, but soon, Adrian would show me more of his outgoing ways and I would follow his lead.

He tried to roll his eyes, but he wasn't sure how to just yet. "Okay!"

"Be careful!" I shouted, but my words seemed to fly right over his head.

He shrugged. "Cleo, I won't fall."

He moved a little closer to the edge and bent his knees. He looked like he was about to jump, like he was really going to make it.

"One," he muttered, "two, three." Then he did something so crazy, so insane. He jumped into the abyss, purposely, without a second thought. The scumbag.

"Adrian!" I looked down, careful not to fall. He didn't look hurt or scared. He looked amazed.

"Cleo! You've got to check this out!"

"Why?"

"This is what the universe is supposed to be like!"

Hearing that statement convinced me to jump. My black hair whooshed behind me and my feet hit the ground with a hard thud! I tried to see what Adrian was talking about, but my mind went blank. I pestered him with a thousand questions, but he just kept saying that if I couldn't see it, I couldn't know.

Now I'm sitting next to Adrian on the park bench, only remembering that moment years ago. We were about five then. He never did tell me what was there, but that's not what I'm thinking about right now. I don't know why, but Adrian hasn't said a word to me since we sat down. He's usually the one to initiate conversation, but now he won't respond to anything I say. He just has this blank stare on his face that I've never seen before, and I can't seem to identify it. Is he thinking? Is he sleeping with his eyes open? It could be anything.

"Adrian?" I ask again. I'm tempted to poke him, but I know he loathes it when I do.

No response from Adrian. Worry is starting to fill inside me, but I manage to contain it; a lesson I learned from Adrian himself. I can't help it. My finger is almost twitching. Maybe if I touch him, he'll be so angered that he'll scream at me! That's better than nothing, right?

In one swift motion, I extend my finger and brush it against Adrian's shoulder. But his shoulder isn't there. All I feel is a ghostly air that chills me to the bone. I can see his shoulder. It's as solid as anything. I touch him again, and I'm granted with the same effect.

Now, I begin to panic. I have no idea what's going on. Am I dreaming? Am I going insane? I don't know. I can't stand not knowing.

Suddenly, everything starts to fade away. The wall is the first to go, disappearing in a shower of pixels. Next the swingset, the grass, everything. The sky begins to turn whiter than the clouds, and the grass fades into oblivion as well. The last to go is Adrian, and I'm left alone on a park bench surrounded by whiteness, as well as confusion.

It's nothing. Nothing is here. Everything is nothing now. Can there be harm in nothing? It's just the absence of something. There can't be any harm in that. I can't seem to console myself. Is my mind slipping away from me?

"Hello, Cleo." A man approaches me, and his voice echoes through the nothingness. He begins randomly touching the air, and holographic screens pop up around them. He presses random controls, and I crawl into the corner of the bench for safety.

"Would you like to learn how to do this, Cleo?" His voice is intended to be soothing, but it only scares me further.

"I want to go home. I don't want to learn that." I say shakily.

He sighs, "Well, you can learn anything you want. This is your home now."

"Can I learn about what's going on? Can I learn where Adrian is?"

"Adrian and everything else is stored in your imagination. You will use him and all of your other experiences when you recreate the universe."

The blue-ish screens flicker for a moment and then vanish along with the man. I stay in my own space, wrapped in my cloak of disbelief that will protect me from the blinding whiteness of what is now my new world.