Mind Or Matter

Chapter Thirty Nine

William

The book was on the floor. I stood on the hill outside the mental hospital in Miami. I recognized it because of the tree... the tree on the hill I stood on... with burning leaves...

The first page of the book takes place on the day after Halloween, every page describing things I had seen – the Miami Charity Ball, Candi and I being chased through Central Park, even the events prior to this dream...

At the end of the book, there was six worlds written in red: THE END IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Candi shook me awake. "Will, we're here!"

Opening my groggy eyes, I winced at the pain in my neck, sore from sleeping on the plane. I looked into her grey eyes and smiled. "Morning."

Candi smirked a little. "With that expression, it almost feels like you wanna say that to me more often."

She giggled and left me with a shocked expression, unbuckling her seatbelt and standing. I sat up, undoing my own seatbelt as Candi took out suitcases down. Checking my watch, I was shocked that it was only 10:23 pm. For a second there, I really thought that I had slept through the entire night.

Before I could turn to ask Candi why she had said "morning" to me, Candi was already coming down the aisle with both of our suitcases.

Outside of the airport, I stood next to Candi as we both admired Miami, our home.

But it felt weird, like I was traveling to a random country full of strangers. New York was my home, and I knew Candi felt the same way.

Our world had collapsed in front of us.

And no one else seemed to notice.

The streets were nearly empty, which was strange for a major city like Miami. Normally, there would be hundreds of people by the beach, and thousands in the sand, even though it was mid-November.

At least half the population was gone.

And no one else knew...

Time passed. It was impossible to tell how much, but it felt like forever, Candi and I just standing at the corner of the street outside the airport, staring at what Miami had become.

What the world had become.

Finally, we both seemed to snap out of our trance. "Come on, we'll walk back to the apartment."

Candi took one last look at the empty streets, then took my hand. "I'm scared, Will..."

Standing to face each other, I watched the breeze blow back Candi's pink hair, revealing her pale face.

And her beautiful grey eyes.

Standing on the edge of her toes, Candi leaned into me. But, instead of trying to kiss me like I thought she would, Candi wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight. Her face buried below my right shoulder, crying silently. I held her, supporting her weak, limp body.

Another gust of wind blew, and time seemed to freeze. No, it simply didn't exist anymore.

When Candi was away, when she wasn't there, my world was grey and I felt isolated, like no one else existed but me.

But, now I knew – her touch told me.

Candi brought color into my life – she made it so it didn't matter if we existed or not.

What mattered was this moment, when time stopped, when all that we had was each other.

The color warmed me, and I knew that I was wrong.

I'm not the one who matters, I'm not the one the Devil wants.

It's Candi.

Everything's always been about Candi.

Candi matters, not me.

But I didn't even mind.

Because this one moment, which couldn't have lasted more than a minute, was worth more than all of the stars in the sky.

This moment was for her, for Candi.

Candi was the one.

Candi...