Awake

Part 11: Sense of reality

In the living room, I lounge on the white couch in front of the fake black fireplace that is lit with blue flames. All the lights are off in the living room, but through the large glass doors that lead to the backyard, I can see the moonlight coming through.

A blue blanket over my shoulders, my back against the couch, my legs folded and my head resting on my knees as I look down at my phone. I look up from my phone and scan the room. The floor is light timber, the walls are white, there's a flat screen TV over the fireplace, a glass coffee table in front of the couch and a fluffy white area rug under it.

I feel a strange sensation, as if I was being watched. I get up, wrapping myself more in the blanket, I walk over to the glass doors and stare outside. The moon is bright and there's beetles outside, flying around in front of the window. I smile slightly and watch them for a moment before closing the white sheer curtains. I walk back over to the couch and feel sleepy, so I curl into a ball, my blanket over me as I close my eyes and fall asleep.

Opening my eyes, I'm standing in a dark, empty space. I perceive a figure at a distance. I stand still but somehow without moving, it's like the void moves on its own, getting me closer to the figure. It stands in front of me, its head down, a cloak over its shoulders and a hood over its head. There's a creepy atmosphere. It's the same person that I keep seeing in my dreams. "Who are you?" It doesn't say anything.

Its head slowly moves up, and my head tilts to the side as a stare. I don't see the face well with the hood over their head. Their brown eyes look up at me, their head still a bit tilted down. The person in front of me takes their hood off and looks at me straight in the eyes. I gasp, and my eyes widen as I see the person facing me is none other than... myself?

She opens her mouth. "You don't remember anything, do you?" She says in a serious tone as she looks at me. I look back at her, and it takes me a moment to process what I'm seeing. "I do. My... Our memories are coming back." I reply. She looks at me, her eyebrows raising slightly. "Don't be fooled. You aren't where you're supposed to be."

I feel unsettled by what she said and reply. "W-what do you mean! My memories are returning to me, I'm happy now!" She looks at me without an expression on her face, taking a moment before answering. "Do you even recall your name?" She says in a calm tone. "Of course I do! It's Elizabeth, but who are you?"

She looks at me and tilts her head a bit to the side. "Who I am isn't important right now." I look back at her. "Huh? Yes it is. You literally look just like me." "Okay, fine, I'll tell you. I'm the other you." I laugh a bit, but I'm nervous. "The other me? What do you mean?" She smiles a bit. "You and I. We are one. Just living out different lives, with different experiences and different limitations."

"So you're saying that we're the same person but in different dimensions?" "Exactly" She nods. "So you want me to believe that there's such a thing as the multiverse?" "If that's how you want to see it. Yes." "So, if this is real, why do you keep showing up in my dreams?" I say. "I came to see how you were doing." "That's it?" I reply chuckling. "No, that's not it. There's something I must warn you about."

"Warn me about what?" She turns around, her back now facing me as she starts walking into the empty black space. "Follow me." She says. "Where are you going?" I say as I follow her, close behind. "I'll show you something".

I don't ask any more questions and follow her into the black void. A long corridor extends in front of us. She stops in front of a long mirror. "If you look long enough, you'll start to see something different." She says as she looks at me, gesturing to the mirror. I don't know what she means, but as I stand in front of the mirror, I look into it. "All I see is my reflection." I tell her. "Shhh! Focus."

"Focus on what?" I reply as I keep staring at my reflection. She doesn't respond. After a while, I start to see images floating in the mirror. "What is this? It looks familiar" I say as I keep looking at the images that appear on the glass. "Memories." She answers as she looks into the mirror.

I see images of places, skyscrapers, boats on the ocean, palm trees, a house, people, an old woman, happy, sad, and then a star. Bright and blue. The images start to face, and I look over at her. "Whose memories are these?"

She looks back at me and in a serious tone she says; "Yours." "What? But... that doesn't look like Sincalista." "Because it's not. Like I said, you're not where you belong." she says. "That's impossible, I'm just having another wild dream." "Then, how do you explain losing your memories?" "Well, how do you explain that I'm regaining my memories?" I reply.

"Those aren't yours." She says. "Then whose are they?" "Mine." She looks at me a bit sad and I feel sad myself as I see her expression. "How does that make sense?" "You've made a wish, and it led you here. It erased all your memories, but the longer you stayed, you became the only thing that could hold the Elizabeth's memories. But only one version can live in the same place. So I was brought back to yours. I found a way to communicate with you through your dreams."

Wait, if she's telling the truth? That would explain why I felt like an imposter living someone else's life. "You understand now?" She asks, as she looks at me. I nod my head yes while tears fall out of my eyes, but I can't explain why. She hands me a white handkerchief, embroidered across a big letter in cursive, a "B". I wipe my tears off my face with it as I see the images fade from the mirror.

She places her hand over the mirror. It doesn't look like glass anymore, but like water as her hand goes through it. "Take my hand." She says in a calm tone while her hand is still halfway through the glass. I take her hand and we step into the mirror fully until we reach the other side. Once fully out of the mirror, I see a purple portal in front of us. She looks at me and back at the portal. "This portal is the one that led me to you. To your dreams. It's also the one that will take you back home."

"Got it." I rush towards the portal and put my hand in front of it. I touch it, but I can't go through it. She looks at me, her arms crossed. "Why can't I go through?!" I say desperately. "It's locked." She says calmly. "Why?" I reply in almost a scream. "I'm not sure, but on the bright side it's locked from this side. Which means we can still unlock it." "How? Is there a key?"

"No, you cannot open a portal with a key." "Then how?" "I don't entirely know how. That's why I brought you here." "Wait, so does that mean you're stuck here?" I say. "I suppose. For now." "I don't get it. Are you hoping for me to have a solution?" I respond. "Hmm, well, I thought so at first, but now that you're here I don't think so anymore. But I do think that you'll find whatever can unlock this portal in the world you are in."

"So I have to figure it out by myself?" "Well, I mean, we always have. Haven't we? But no, it's not entirely all on you. I'll guide you." "How?" I asked again. "Just trust me. Right now, just find what connects you to my memories. It's not a coincidence that life chose to switch us." "But I don't know if I'll be able to."

She says something, but I can't hear it, my vision is blurring. She grabs my shoulders, I can barely see her, but I hear her say; "Just trust." I can feel myself waking up. -Noo! I still have questions I need to ask her.

I wake up on the white couch, drenched in sweat. In my hand is the handkerchief that she gave me in my dream. -So it was real. I take the duvet off me and sit up in bed. It makes me feel uneasy to know that I may just be in a parallel universe, but I want to trust that whoever is writing my story will somehow give me a happy ending.