All in One - Milady

Ch.12: I saw something...

When he was 10, he died.

Javi sat in an orange floaty, floating in the hotel pool surrounded by giant plants. His father who was supposed to teach him how to swim, was in the corner taking what he claimed was an important business call.

Javi didn't even want to learn. He wanted to be outside, playing at the playground down the block, that the hotel owned.

The playground for obvious reasons, was plastered with hotel staff, and made it easier for parents who honestly didn't want their kids around.

And as much as Javi's father wanted to spend more time with him, it looked like he was closer to the playground.

His father stayed on the phone, and he was getting bored.

Javi began splashing water around, trying to make the most out of a boring existence.

And then it happened.

As he tried to kick around in his floaty, he noticed something slowly sinking to the ground.

Something red and black.

His bracelet.

It broke.

Javi panicked. He looked at his father who hadn't turned once to check if he was still alive. But this was important to him. So Javi stopped and pulled himself down through the floaty.

The bracelet was something special, something he absolutely could not part with. In fact, it was his late mother's.

When he was born, that bracelet became attached to her. His father had got it during their trip to Peru, and when he was born, the bracelet suddenly appeared.

So it was inexpensive, but ever since that day, she wore it symbolizing her love for him.

And when she was about to die, she took it off. Handed it to him, and smiled.

That was the last memory he had.

So he would be damned to lose something that important.

He wiggled through, pulling himself down. And once he was free, he let himself fall. He let the water pull him down till the bracelet was inches away.

He crawled to it, grabbed it and then tried to pull himself back up.

With his basic swimming skills, he flapped his arms around, kicking his feet, both in a circular motion. He grabbed at the water that easily slipped, even through his fingernails.

And that's when he registered it, he remembered one simple fact. The reason he was there in the very first place.

He couldn't swim.

Javi took what he thought was his final breath.

He closed his eyes slowly and allowed himself to fall.

His father turned around.

At first, he didn't catch it, then he panicked.

"I'll have to call you back." He slammed the flip phone shut, threw it on top of the towels and dived in.

Javi laid on his back, arms and legs laid out like a snow angel.

His father grabbed him, holding him tightly as he kicked his way out.

But for Javi, it seemed too late.

He was already gone.

Everything out there in the physical world seemed to move too slowly as he hovered above.

And for him, things seemed too quick.

Because for a moment he stood there staring at his body. And the next, he was taller, knees bent with a ring in his hand, and a girl in red smiling down at him.

Her skin was like nature, and her smile was playful.

He felt happy, he felt excited. Like all his plans were finally working out.

Surrounding them were surprised, shocked and disgusted faces. He couldn't figure out why, but again all he felt was happy.

And then he shifted once again.

And that same happy feeling became distant.

The girl was there again. But instead of a dark red dress, she had an orange jacket. And then she wore all black, matching him and everyone that sat around them.

He looked at her with pleading eyes, and she smiled not recognizing it.

And then he woke up.

He lay in the hospital bed with an oxygen mask on.

The heart machine struck a cord and he felt his father's hand gripping the bedsheets.

He tried to move. But only his eyes could and his heart.

Javi's heart zoomed as he used his little strength to stand up, and his father followed suit.

He held him tightly. His face strained and his body dirty, but his son was alive.

Imagining losing another person so close to his wife, he might have lost it completely.

Thankfully that wasn't the case.

But for Javi, he did lose something.

He lost his old self.

But he gains something...knowledge.

As silly as it sounds, he learned something that day. That they were infinite worlds and lives he had lived or will live.

And second, every single one of them contained the exact same person.

"Pencil...I need a pencil."

He scattered the place looking and trying to stand up at the same time, but his father pulled him down gently.

"I'll get one, okay? Stay here."

He nodded staying put.

His father came quickly, thankful about it too.

Javi drew the girl's face.

And that was the start. He was about to embark on a journey to figure out whatever that was he saw.

To begin, he had a plan, step one...hypnosis.

____

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