Do You Wish to Proceed?

Eileen watched the train shoot past her in a blur. Her eyes dilated as she noticed the trails of color curl in waves behind the train and then cringed as the wheels ground against the rails, screeching out the friction to her ears.

"I think I took too much," she said, raking her auburn hair.

"No, you haven't seen it yet," said a lanky man standing beside her, also mesmerized by the trail of color. "You couldn't have taken too much if you still can't see it." He rubbed his eyes.

"Raven, you're insane."

"I'm not. The window should pop up over the tracks." He gestured ahead, then threw his hands in the air. "But we're going to have to wait for another train to pass by. I told you it's okay to cross the five-gram mark." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a little plastic bag, rolled up to accentuate the seaweed-like texture of the green-black plant inside. "Got some more fogweed if you're game." He grinned.

"Hell no," said Eileen. "I'm good."

Raven scoffed. "Okay," he said. "But you're missing out on some pure enlightenment." He pocketed the plastic bag.

"I don't want it."

Raven shook his head. "So no satori, moksha or..." he snapped his fingers rapidly and frowned at the air, "kundalini? Right?"

"You don't know what any of those things are, do you? You're a pretentious little fogfiend."

Raven shrugged. "Fogweed's not the problem. It's just a plant. Your attitude is what's causing the window -- that I've seen, mind you -- to not want to pop up anymore. You're too negative."

"Raven, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep this one out."

"Lame."

"And why are you so obsessed with that window, anyway?" Eileen's eyes followed the erratic flight of a moth nearby, flitting erratically around a shining lightbulb.

"Because, Eileen, there are time-changing powers in that window."

"Really? Time-changing powers?" She spat the words out.

"I felt it when I saw the window the first time," said Raven. "I felt these..." he made a wave-like motion with his hand. "These waves or ripples in time. It's like I could feel them... intimately."

"Raven, I need to record the stuff you say and play it back to you when you're sober. You're like a raving schizophrenic."

"Wouldn't you want to change the past?" said Raven. "Hypothetically, wouldn't you want to change something for, I don't know, the good of mankind?"

"No," said Eileen. "It's more complicated than that. I'm sure you've heard of consequences."

"But we don't know that for sure," said Raven, pointing at her. "We're going by conjectures. Those could be proven wrong."

Eileen threw her hands in the air and walked away. "I'm going home. Goodnight."

"What if timelines split instead?" said Raven, spreading his arms. "What if everything stays the same in one timeline and changes in another? That's also mathematically feasible."

"Goodnight."

The echo of the passing train rang in her ears. She continued to shake her head and blink as her legs tentatively worked themselves away from the train tracks. Throngs of people emerged on either side and she straightened herself up as she shouldered her way past them, not daring to make any eye contact.

Her chest tightened as the pedestrians increased in number, looming over her and vibrating with rippling auras. "God," she whispered. "I hate you, Raven." She rubbed her eyes and sidled onward.