Death To Reality

The End Day

James awoke suddenly, so sudden that it looked as if he had sneezed himself awake. He lay back in his bed and turned over to look at his alarm clock. 7:37 it read. 

"Crap," shouted James, "I'm going to be late, late for work again!" 

James sat up in his bed as fast as he could, he turned and placed his feet on the carpet. He sighed deeply looking at the picture of Megan next to him, on his bedside cabinet.

"Why did you have to leave me? Why you? Why not me?", James exclaimed mournfully, "If only you could see me now? The mess I have become since your passing.". James just sat there, on the side of his bed, just staring down, down at his feet.

He took another deep sigh and he arose. He walked slowly out of his bedroom and into his bathroom, just across the hallway. His feet slowly dragged along the carpet as he walked. For somebody who knew that they were late for work, he didn't walk very fast.

He turned the chrome handle, on the door, leading into the bathroom. He turned it and opened the door. As he opened the door, the door squeaked loudly, suddenly waking James back up. When he finally opened the door he saw a dense fog in his bathroom, with a human-like figure standing in the middle of it. 

"Wh-who are you?", James groaned, "And what are you doing in the middle of my bathroom?"

"Shhh.", whispered the figure in a female's voice as it slowly moved towards James, "it will all be okay, just do me a favour and just wake up. Can you do that for me?"

"Wh-what do you mean?", James asked, "I am awake, I am speaking to you. I couldn't do that if I was asleep. You didn't answer my prior question, who are you?"

The figure just repeated itself, "Shhh, it will be okay, just do me a favour and wake up. Can you do this for me?"

"What are you, who are you and why are you here?", shouted James. He started to move closer to the figure, one footstep at a time. As he walked towards the figure, the figure walked away from James. 

"Just wait,", shouted James, "I just want to know who you are?"

"I need you to just wake up", replied the voice.

James walked further into the fog and towards the mystery figure. As he moved further into the fog, it started to clear. He could see more of what was around him, but this time it wasn't his bathroom. Wherever he was it was cold, dark and loud. He could hear crying, screaming and shouting. Wherever he was it wasn't somewhere pleasant. As he walked further into this nightmare he could see clearer, he could start to make out shapes, then people, then his surroundings. He started to piece together where he was. It was familiar then he realised where he was, it was somewhere where he always was, every day he was here. He was on the train to city centre.

This wasn't normal for the train he went on. This was a scene of carnage. A scene of horror and destruction. The deafening screams came from all around him, he didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want to see the nightmare around him.

He walked further in, walking blind, not wanting to see what horrors lay before him. As he walked further and further, it was apparent of where he actually was. He was on a train, he knew that, but one thing he had discovered by carrying on walking is that he was in a crash, a devastating crash. He wanted to turn around, he was about to turn back from the fog until he heard a voice shout,

"James, James, don't move James, help is on its way. You will be okay. We will get you out of this, don't you worry."

As he heard the voice, he felt faint and dizzy. He felt a warm liquid all over his shirt. He didn't know what was going on, that was until he looked down at his chest to see why he felt that way. That was when he realised, he realised that what he was witnessing wasn't just an illusion set before his eyes, it realised that this was his own reality. He had finally realised that he wasn't a bystander in all of this destruction, but he was a victim.

When he looked down, he saw a large chunk of shrapnel protruding from the left side of his chest. It seemed as if it once was a frame for a chair, but not anymore. He realised that he was lying at a forty-five-degree angle to the floor with a large rod of metal, over a metre long, sticking out of him. He tried to stay calm, but how could he? He couldn't believe his eyes. The more he looked at his fatal injury, the more his head span. The more he wanted to throw up. The more every second felt like a month. The more he wanted to die.

He wanted to try and stay awake, just in case help finally reached him. But what was the use? He knew that there wasn't much chance for his survival after this and he knew that even if he did survive that his life would be limited to a machine or something.

Then, suddenly, the figure in the fog returned right before his eyes. The whole wreckage seemed to fill with the dense fog. It filled until all he could see was him and the figure. 

"What do you want? Come to tell me to wake up or something?", James asked sarcastically.

"No Jamie, I am not. It is me, don't you recognise me? It is me.", replied the figure in a soft tone.

"Wh-who are you? Please tell me! I am losing consciousness, my whole body is going numb. Please, either help me or tell me who you are.", James spoke in a weak tone.

"James it is me, don't you know who I am. Jamie please, just recognise me. Once you recognise me, you can let go.", told the figure.

But it was too late. James' eyes shut for the last time. His body slumped at ease. James was dead.

"Goodbye Jamie. It won't be long until you can escape this god-forsaken dream and finally see the truth that is reality."