phoe•nix
a person or thing regarded as uniquely remarkable in some respect
or
symbolizing immortality, resurrection, and life after death
[ mini series - novella to THE MANDELA EFFECT & DEJA VU ]
au
lower case intended
ft. the corey's, river phoe...
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MONDAY, JUNE 5th 2023
kennedy white's point of view
"this is depressing."
river sighs next to me, our backs flat on his living room floor as we stare up at the ceiling fan, watching the blades spin around slowly.
we watched my team, the founders, test each potential portal a few hours ago and each one was a fail. river and i sat in the comfort of my personal office, waiting for the results of any electromagnetic energy in any of the places i spent weeks coming up with—there was none, not even at the viper room.
the portal on santa monica boulevard is closed, has been for years, and this test just proved that.
no other portal has opened either, there is just nothing.
"i've noticed if you aren't on a mission to figure out some crazy, life-threatening, mental health-damaging mystery, you're bored." river props himself up on his elbows to look at me. "why is that?"
"mental health wasn't spoken about very much in the 80s and 90s, how'd you learn about it?" i ignore his actual question.
"i do a lot of reading." he says, inches from my face.
i roll my eyes, "because, what else am i supposed to do? pick up a 9-5 job? go back into acting? get my nails done, go grocery shopping, adopt a dog?" i laugh. "hell no, not when things aren't finished."
river returns back to his position of lying on his back, and resumes watching his ceiling fan as if it's the starry night sky and we can't pry our eyes from it.
"the plan was to save you." i say, my voice coming out quieter than before. "and we did, but how unfair is it to fall in love with the person who helps you save another, and then you lose them?"
"pretty damn unfair." river agrees.
"ugh!" i groan, sitting up and throwing my back against his green couch, all the while remaining on the floor. "and everyone says, things happen for a reason, well what's the fucking reason and why's it taking so long for me to learn it?"
i grab my bowl of rainbow sherbet off of his coffee table and take a spoonful into my mouth. it's barely melted since river's apartment is kept so cold, he says he likes it this way, but i honestly think his heating and air conditioning is broken and the landlord just won't fix it.
"maybe there isn't a reason!" i exclaim. "maybe some of us are just meant to suffer and, oh! big surprise there, i'm one of them."
river laughs, tightening his torso to pull himself up into a sitting position. he grabs his bowl of dessert as well, "you're not meant to suffer, ken."
i turn my head towards his wall at the muffled sounds of his neighbors next door clearly enjoying each other's company.
i furrow my eyebrows as i look back at river, "how do you not suffer here?"
