Dimensia

by Steven Thornton, Jr

  Chapter: Fourteen.

  "Fisher, everything will be fine, you're safe," I heard as I slowly came to and scanned the room. I saw Truth sitting in a chair across the room and Order standing above me.

  "What are we doing? Where are we?" I asked, observing the tree of life positioned in the center of the room.

  "What happened to me?"

  "Fisher, it's your journey. We can't force you to do anything you don't want, we can only show you and explain the reasoning behind it. The decision is ultimately up to you," Order said, wrapped in a smile.

  "Where did the other Light Workers go? How did this happen? I thought the Dark Siders couldn't hurt me?" As I struggled to sit up, but felt pain shoot though my entire body and knew that my wounds were still fresh,

  "You are correct, what the Dark Siders did was wrong and will not be tolerated. They are resisting more than ever. I'm sorry; I should have been there. I have been needed in the Other World. I understand that what you have sought is more than you have bargained for," Order said in a sympathetic tone.

  "Well, what exactly is it that you're going to be showing me?" I asked, feeling hurt and upset. As she smiled with compassion, she replied,

  "Not to worry, you will see soon enough," in a soft tone while walking toward the tree of life. Seconds later, she plucked a leaf from it and continued toward the sink, placing the leaf in a mug. She then filled the mug with water. Seconds later, offered the extended mug, and I accepted. I looked at Order who was smiling as Truth approached with the familiar gold necklace in hand, dangling from her fingers. As she approached she extended her arm and placed her other hand on my forehead. She began to speak in the Other World tongue. I remember my eyes feeling so heavy I could not keep them open. I became light-headed and blacked out.

  The next thing I recall is waking up again in the unknown room. As I scanned the room, I saw no one present. I scanned the perimeter and visualized a sphere similar to the one that I had seen with Order at the park. Feeling rested, curious and pain free, I got out of bed and approached the sphere. Standing in front of it I gazed in, and what I saw was truly amazing. The sphere had what appeared to be lightening within it. As I looked more closely, I saw what looked like ectoplasm moving in a circular motion inside the sphere shining brightly. There was also a tunnel that went as far back as I could see. In my current reality, I realized the clocks of neighboring houses had stopped, and a person walking in my peripheral was as stiff as a board. Peculiar, it was if everything was frozen in time. Of the surrounding houses I saw people but frozen in mid-movement. Enthralled, I took a deep breath and decided to step in. Placing my right foot first, followed by my leg, and then the rest of my body, I entered. Inside the sphere, I felt like an astronaut in space, weightless. I quickly realized that I wasn't breathing but somehow was still able to move about freely, free of gravity or oxygen. Around me spirits spun in the endless tunnel. I felt extremely foreign. When I tried to walk I couldn't. I waved my arms through the air in front of me and started to glide to where I believed the end would be, looking to my right and left. Seeing places and people, some familiar, most not. In scrutiny, scenes that appeared to be medieval and others that seemed futuristic. The tunnel was quiet, and as I focused on a time or place, I could see the scene play out before my eyes. One particular scene showed a family sitting around a table in an old farmhouse. With a fire burning in the background, it reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie. I saw them blowing out candles and getting ready for bed. I watched, as they seemed happy. In another scene I saw cars with people in them. I assumed it was the future because I saw cars resembling the Jetson-mobiles. They didn't drive on land but hovered above it (Japan: 2020). They were truly unbelievable as they jetted about, darting through the sky with great speed. After staring for what felt like minutes, I pushed forward when another scene caught my eye. By letting down my legs, I stopped and looked in, amazed. I decided to jump out of the tunnel and into the scene, but didn't know exactly how or what to do when I did, so naturally I felt hesitant. However, I decided to just go for it. 'No sweat, no glory.' As I jumped out of the tunnel and into the scene before me, I felt a shocking surge through my body. My body stiffened and I gulped for a breath of air. I fell onto a concrete ground, landing as hard as if I had fallen from a ten-story building. I brushed myself off and stood to see a familiar sight. I was looking at what I assumed to be my old high school, recognizing the familiar setting and surroundings. I observed the flagpole positioned in front, our school mascot the yellow jacket, painted on the front entrance of the three-story brick building. Also, the school's gymnasium, which was separated from the school, positioned across from the main entrance. A feeling of nostalgia swept over me. I realized that it was a time in my life that wasn't as bad as I had made it out be. As I recognized an old friend walking away I proceeded to follow him.

  "Brian," I yelled. Witnessing him turn around as if he had heard me, but then turned back around.

  "Yo Brian, dude!" I yelled. Surprisingly, he turned around again as if he heard me, but then turned back again. I stood and watched him walk away as people passed right through me as if I was a ghost or a spirit. Realizing that no one could see me. Having never really been a ghost, but from what I have seen in countless movies, not-to-mention those I had encountered, I was acting very ghostly. As I continued to walk, entered the school, and started to run toward my class. Arriving at my classroom, I entered the room and walked to the back where I recognized my old history classroom, Mr. Swingers' class. Scanning the classroom, I looked at each of the students and found myself in the mix, still appearing to look the same, age appropriate. Observing my old classmates, I felt a rush of excitement as waves of contentment swept over me. As a CNN clip played on the television screen I watched it until it came to an end. I then saw myself ripping out a piece of notebook paper, writing the information down. Rushing to the adjacent desk, I was sitting as the clip ended and the lights came on. I waved my arms in the air above my head.

  "Fisher no," I yelled aloud. I hoped that I could hear myself. I then had a moment of achievement when I saw myself, the younger version that is, look toward where I was standing. I tried approaching myself but felt a pulling sensation as I tried. It took everything I had to stand up until I was flying through the air as if an elastic band had been tied to my waist, retracting me. I felt as though I was being yanked and its force was so intense that I was helpless. Flying backwards through the air, I turned to look and saw that one of the spirits had a hold of me. Gliding through the air, the sphere appeared to be getting smaller. It was shrinking dramatically until it was the size of a small car, and getting smaller by the second. In a diving motion, I turned my body toward it. I flew head first for the tunnel and once inside the tunnel had sped up considerably. The spirits seemed to be moving faster and faster by the second, much faster than I could focus, and the scenes of places or times flew by faster as well. I looked toward the end and saw myself lying in a bed with my mother bedside, grasping my hand. Upon closer examination, I saw machines next to what I presumed to be my bed; my end, my beginning, continued to shrink. It was shrinking faster than I anticipated. I weightlessly dove, flying and gaining speed. I turned my head to look back and saw the tunnel, once endless before, now chasing me. I closed my eyes as I approached the opening while I prayed that I would make it out. Moments later, after inhaling a deep breath of air, I fell into my body: hard and swift. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room. As I sat up in bed, my Mother next to me become aware of the fact that I was awake. As she broke out into tears, I leaned over to give her a hug,

  "How long have I been gone, Ma?" I asked. She smiled and with tears racing down her face said,

  "Ten years . . . ten years." I too began to break down, sobbing hysterically. I looked around the house and realized things were much different.

  "Where's Dallas, where's Amand
a?" I asked, as she released her hug and absorbed the chair next to the bed.

  "They are grown up now, and have lives of their own," she said as she wiped away her tears,

  "I'm sorry Mom. I didn't want or plan to put you through this. I tried to stop it, but couldn't. I don't know."

  "It's fine son. I'm glad you're back," she said as she began to dab her face with a cloth at the mascara smeared from her tears.

  "What did I do?" I asked in ignorance.

  "You have been in a coma and on life support," she replied as she bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back more tears. I struggled to pull out the IVs.

  "No son, you must not do that until they run some tests. I have to make some phone calls." She stood up and exited the room.

  Sitting in bed moments later, I could hear my Mom speak in the next room when my Step-Dad entered smiling. I smiled as well and raised my arms behind me, propping my head up.

  "Long time no see Gobble-da-bull," he said.

  "Sorry to put you through this, with Mom and all, Wild Man," I said, as he grinned and sat in the chair next to the bed.

  "No biggie, what was it like where you were?" I smiled, caught off guard.

  "What?" I asked suspiciously.

  "Sorry, I was just curious if you could hear us and wondered if you had an out-of-body experience or something. You see, I have been reading these books on coma patients," he said as he leaned forward.

  "The book shares their experiences and that's what some of them say they encountered."

  "Yeah, it was cool." I said uncomfortably.

  "I saw places and times that were different than where we are right now." As I smiled My Step-Dad was almost glowing, grinning from ear to ear while listening intently. Then I heard tires squealing on the pavement outside, as I turned to look out of the room with my talent, I saw a black Chevy truck with tinted windows. As the driver's door opened, Dallas exited. He starting to run towards the house, seconds later entered the room. He had changed the most out of anyone I had seen thus far. He now had facial hair and was much taller with broad shoulders. As he entered the room, he stood quietly staring as his eyes filled with tears.

  "What's up little man," I said as I smiled through my own tears.

  "I'm not little anymore, bro." As he lifted his shirtsleeve, he flexed his bicep and smiled. I watched his tears fall and hit the floor, making it hard for me to breathe as he approached the bed. He leaned over to give me a hug.

  "Bro, I'm tired of seeing you in these beds, hooked up to machines all the time, it's not a good look for you," he said as I laughed,

  "Well, I'm tired of seeing you period, exclamation point, that's why I leave," I replied with a grin, wiping away my tears. At about that time, Mom entered the room and stood at the doorway. I saw a sparkle in her eye. No one spoke. We shared this silence, and reflected on the time that had passed. Moments later I saw headlights through the blinds, as I turned to look, I saw Amanda park and exit her car while clutching a child in her arms.

  "Mom, Amanda's here," I said. Mom looked surprised.

  "How did you know that?" she asked, showing a confused expression.

  "Lucky guess."

  Mom turned to exit the room and greet her. Dallas and my Step-Dad, standing next to the bed, carried on a conversation amongst themselves. Moments later, Amanda entered the room wearing a blank expression on her face. The look she gave can only be described, as one would have when seeing someone back from the dead.

  "Sis, what happened to you?" I asked, sitting up in bed. She now had the figure of a woman instead of a young girl. She smiled as her eyes swelled with tears.

  "What happened to you?" she asked as she leaned over, gently sitting her kid down on the floor.

  "Billy, this is your uncle Fisher." As she pointed towards me he immediately bolted towards the bed, stopping just shy of the bed and raising his arms, apparent wanting up. I bent over and began to lift him but felt pain shoot through my body.

  "Ouch," I yelled as everyone rushed over.

  "Are you okay?" they asked in unison.

  "Yeah, just a little rusty I guess," as I smiled through the pain.

  "Well yeah, you haven't moved anything other than your fingers in ten years. I'd say rusty's a good word for it," Mom said as everyone laughed. I looked down at Billy, my nephew, who was now sitting in my lap. He touched my face with his little man hand.

  "Fisher," he said in a pure voice as I smiled with emotions running wild. It was sad seeing my nephew for the first time already speaking. It had been so long and I felt happy to be back, but also sad for what I had put them through.

  Exchanging dialog, they brought me up to speed with all that had happened in the past ten years. They later explained how expensive it was to keep me on life support and how they couldn't have done it without the help of Dr. Scott.

  "Dr. Scott, how the devil is he?" I asked as they smiled.

  "Well, he called everyday when you first went under, but as the years passed it became less regular. He covered your medical expenses. He must be a good friend." I couldn't help but grin in appreciation.

  "How did you know him anyway?" Mom asked inquisitively, revealing a look of puzzlement.

  "Oh, I guess you could say we share mutual aspirations."

  She knew I was withholding information. She knew I was not telling her everything, judging by her inconspicuous eyes. She knew, but she didn't care. The rest of the night I enjoyed the company of my family. I hated that I had missed out on ten years, but felt glad I was able to appreciate the time we had left.

  The following day the Doctor came to run tests and to check to make sure everything was normal, for lack of use of a better word.

  "Fisher, you are a medical breakthrough," the Doctor voiced as he smiled.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "You are one in a handful that has ever been in a coma for this long, and what's even more baffling is that your body appears to have stopped aging in that time frame, truly remarkable." He jotted down something he read from the machine overhead onto his clipboard,

  "It was like you were frozen in ice that melted, leaving you in perfect condition as you were before. We have seen something similar with fish, although, the fish literally had been frozen for a length of time. X amount of time later, when pulled from a freezer, as the ice meted, or the fish thawed I guess," as he smiled.

  "They slowly came back to life. But you, a human who never was frozen, are a breakthrough."

  "That's cool huh?" I was happy to hear the news and smiled,

  "Cool isn't the word for it. I would have a hard time believing it had I not seen it with my own eyes. Your body shut down, but your mind was intact, as if you had simply fallen asleep?"

  "Well Doc, thank-you, I feel great."

  "Well don't be wondering off, I think your family missed you." he said, with a caring smile.

  "No problem, thanks again," the doctor exited the room and I was finally free to move about, machineless. I stood up but felt dizzy doing so. My Mom and Dallas held my arms to help brace me as I tried to walk. I heard and felt my bones pop from stress as my knees wobbled and felt like at any moment they would buckle under my weight. But with time I was able to eventually stand by myself.

  At first, I started walking with assistance of crutches until I could stand enough pressure on my aching bones. Days passed and people came and went. I spoke to reporters, family members, and old friends. I also spoke with Doctors, strangers, even a guy that wanted to write a book about my life. I smiled, knowing it was already in progress, but felt complimented.

  Dr. Scott came to visit as well. He was as happy as I had seen anyone, and for the first time, I was able to speak openly about my experience. I told him about the different scenes, the times and places. I then described how it was similar to a television, and each channel being a different time or place, and how hypothetically,
you could just flip around until you saw something you liked. I asked about his research and if he had made any progress, but there was none to speak of. The dream had died but was now reborn through me. Therefore, I tried to describe everything I had seen in perfect detail. After all, I was grateful and appreciative that he had kept me alive. Dr. Scott explained his theories about time being non linear, and the reality of a co-existing universe, or multi-verse, that he believed coincided with ours. He said that it was something about the same time, but different, allowing travel through wormholes. His theories helped in explaining why ten years had passed in relative time, but only minutes had passed for me. We sat for hours speaking about what if, how, and why. Both of us were open minded to other's perspective and theories, and enjoyed the company.