Chapter 4
“Let’s get in a car and go.” The sense of urgency covered the fear in Daniel’s voice.
“Go where? There’s nothing we can do.” I just noticed since Pablo got here he hasn’t said anything yet. His body still seemed to be reacting to what was going on. He grabbed the keys that moments ago he just put in his pocket and then we all headed to his car.
“We have to go somewhere where there aren’t any clouds. I don’t want to believe this is happening until I see the whole sky.”
“Pablo, I’ll drive, you two should be better at searching around if anyone has said anything.”
The initial shock of seeing that sight seemingly faded, but Daniel was right. We could all be hallucinating right now together.
“Across the bridge there’s this lookout point I used to go to when I was younger.”
“I don’t want to waste your gas, but we can head that direction and hopefully stop sooner.”
We only drove for about 5 minutes before that awful feeling started again. My hands started trembling and I could feel every individual drop of sweat either gather and help loosen this destructively tight grip I had on Pablo’s steering wheel. It could be a normal night for those that don’t know. I don’t understand the standing of the world, there’s still light, there’s still gravity, but I feel like I’m watching my own life in third person. I feel like I’m standing behind myself only feeling the heat burning my ears and feeling my heart that could strike well over 200 beats per minute. Pablo’s car was a two door so he had to make sure Daniel could get out before closing the door. It felt like we didn’t move at all because all three of us were in the same position looking up. Daniel was the first one to fully look around. There were no stars left in the sky, it wasn’t a problem with a stronger light radiating closer. The point we stopped at was this residential area on a hill, there was a patch of dirt for cars with flat tires to pull over in but it was 9P.M., nobody else would be coming. I wonder if we looked across the whole town would we find anyone else walking the same path as us. I couldn’t tell what Pablo was doing on his phone on the drive over but he kept turning the screen off and looking out the window. I didn’t want to ask if he heard anything from anyone else because I thought if he had it in him to say it, he would just say it.
This time Pablo drove us back to Daniel’s house, he barely said anything, we didn’t talk about anything else. I don’t know why I sat back down, I should have let Daniel be on his own, he knows what he saw was validated by the two of us.
He started to speak with a crackle in his voice; “What if we were the only 3 to see it?”
“I doubt it, there has to be a kid or someone else looking up at the sky.”
“Why wouldn’t the space station or nasa report it by now?”
“I don’t think they want to invoke fear in everyone.”
“And leave the people who saw it in nothing but pure fear. Pablo had to have been thinking the same thing, there were no reports on it by anyone. I wanted to post something about it but who would even believe me?”
“The moon still has light, that means the sun is still shining on the other side of the world right now.”
“What do you think happened on the other side of the world? It rolled straight up in the position we were in. Do you think it rolled up like 2 domes around the world, then that means the other half of the world didn’t see it.”
“I’m glad we’re at a point where we can talk again. I think the sky was peeled like a banana.”
“Are you seriously joking about this all, we might not wake up to a world tomorrow. I don’t think I can sleep and combined with the fact I know nobody will believe me if I say what happened, this is going to end up bad.”
“I don’t think there is anything we can do to change something like this. Take care of yourself. I’m going to go home now.”
I don’t know which of the two seemed to be handling it the worst. Honestly maybe it might be me, I’ve gotten good at ignoring what’s going on but every single time I think about my situation it’s the same feeling. It’s the feeling beyond embarrassment even though that’s not in the same category. I feel the heat in my face sometimes seemingly at random, I don’t even want to think what shade of red I’ll turn. I never felt any signs of blushing and I barely drink but even if I had more experience being red the burning feeling in my ears will never feel relatively okay.
I don’t know what got in me but it’s been so long since I spoke with John. I stray away too easily…Ring ring…
“John? What are you doing picking up the phone at this hour?”
“I just finished a stream actually, I try to answer the phone if I can. What are you calling about?”
“I was just thinking there’s a world where you didn’t move away. I think about rewriting the world sometimes, just a story following events if one thing happened and another didn’t. I think the only way to make it interesting is going further back. Since this is a hobby of mine I go through a lot of things, this current rewrite starts with you sticking around.”
“What? I don’t get it. Is it supposed to be a joke?”
“Did you get any part of it?”
“No.”
“You think if you stayed in town we would’ve had a television show by now?”
“Well I don’t really want that now. I don’t remember if I wanted that back then, but I mean if we got the chance then I would’ve done it.”
I’m starting to wonder if this is the point where I ask him what he’s up to. It’s been 6 years since I last spoke with him. Such a waste of time to do that at the start, I think it’s better to just jump right back into things and then on the downtime when there’s actually nothing to talk about then that’s the time to play catch up.
“Okay Eric, nice talking to you, I gotta go. I’ll be the one to call next time, see ya.”
“Okay, yeah, see you.”
I mean my life could be good and I just don’t know it. Yeah, maybe it is a good life.
You know, I should call Lorenze… Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring……. Yeah okay he’s not picking up. I think David will pick up, or will he? Maybe I shouldn’t call him because I know he will probably pick up and I don’t want to distract him just at this moment. Sal’s next… Ring Ring Ring Ring… that seemed like a 50-50. It’s out of nowhere but I guess now it’s time for David.
“I don’t know if you remember John but I just got off the phone with him. I tried calling Lorenze and Sal but they didn’t want to answer.”
“I think Sal is in Japan, I don’t think Lorenze will pick up if you call him.”
“If I’m the last person that can save him from danger I don’t think he would pick up my call.”
“...And Sal?”
“He’s in Japan, no way, he’s stealing my ideas.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing actually. I was just thinking I never make any efforts to talk to any of you guys, it’s so pitiful to think about. I waste my time and my life and because I don’t want to bring you guys down so I just stick to myself. You can say I’m wrong but maybe we all need more adventures together.”
“You are wrong.”
“Okay, thank you… So pizza Friday?”
“Sure.”
I don’t even remember the last time I tried to call someone. I barely speak with these guys, especially John, but I can’t even remember if I called recently to order a pizza. I bet Daniel has no words that could even leave his mouth, Pablo might be alright. I don’t want to assume I’m doing better than them but I feel if I could give advice to Daniel, maybe I would tell him about how I got fixated on the moon also and that’s something else to run around in my head. I mean, like I was talking with them about, the moon is still shining so the sun is still on the other side of the world. I know if I go to sleep the sun will shine tomorrow. I guess I got myself into a place where I can sleep.
Chapter 5
I learnt late in life that the stars don't disappear in the daytime, they’re just out shined by a closer one. Sounds childish and primitive to most, but to some it might as well be witchcraft. I don't know what to think, maybe there's no problems because I can't see them. Surely, by the end of the day there has to be this big stir up in the world.
I haven’t checked my phone yet, I wonder if Daniel or if anyone said anything. Given the situation maybe I shouldn’t be excited for someone to call me but it’s nice to know something unexpected might come.
Alright, nobody texted me, nobody called me, I don’t know if they know something bad might happen but at least 2 crypto scammers on whatsap messaged me. I guess even if something like the third impact is about to happen they would want to go out to what they lived their life by, negative dignity and stolen money.
I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation where I can show up unannounced, on my own, randomly, but maybe Daniel will accept me this time. Without any hesitation he was the one to start up the conversation.
“How have you been?”
“Just waiting for something interesting to happen. The sun is up, clouds are forming, I spoke with a few people yesterday, no mention of anything other than idle chat. Did you get some sleep?”
“I slept when the sun came up. My biggest worry was if we were ever going to get to see daylight again.”
Now isn’t the time to try and tell him that I’m right, I told him if the moon is still shining it’s reflecting something. It’s tense, he hasn’t made eye contact with me yet but I know when he finally does it’s going to be an unbroken, uninterrupted stare down. It’s sad to think about but I have no idea what Daniel likes, I’m pretty sure he’s not against shopping. Is he a hiker or a nature person? If he likes the city then I don’t know what to do about that because I can’t stand the city right now, there’s loads of feces painting the ground in an everlasting sludge. Something has to break his mind away from this…
“Let’s go get some ice cream. A really good one. Let’s get the 12 dollar pint from the fancy artisan grocery store and some waffle cones.”
“Why are you obsessed with ice cream and sweets?”
“I don’t like the way sweet things leave my mouth actually. Do you get what I was going for, we can at least try to be positive. Nothing that affects us has happened yet.”
In the distance I heard the most random noise I could imagine. If I didn’t turn to look I don’t think I would’ve ever figured out what it was, Daniel was equally as shocked. I turned and to the right of me there was this man in regular clothes riding a horse on a residential street going God knows where. The horse was a really pale shade of brown, in this sunlight it was basically white. I know that guy saw us both stare him down but he just kept his eyes on the road, maybe he was too used to people looking. I was expecting a howdy from him because I don’t think anything will be able to leave my mouth. I think this is a bigger shock to me than what happened yesterday, without the bone chilling shock and heart rate coming through my tongue.
“I swear that horse looked at me and said ‘come, join me.’”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Daniel put on a different face but I guess that got a laugh out of him. It doesn’t seem like Daniel wants to go anywhere.
“I think I’ll go to work today maybe.”
“Really? You’re going to work, what if…”
“If ‘what if’ happens then I’ll deal with it then.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“How do you stay positive after something like yesterday?”
“I think this is the best I’ve been in a while. I told you I spoke with others yesterday, David told me Sal is in Japan right now.”
The look Daniel gave me was like he was trying to piece something together. To be honest, I don’t know how well Sal knows Daniel, I keep thinking that surely they’ve spoken with each other. For some reason I don’t remember ever seeing them talk. I left Daniel’s house at about 11:20, there’s no difference between an hour late to work or 5 hours late. It’s almost as if I was asking for a perfectly timed distraction to pop up, grabbing me by the hand and taking me on an adventure. Instead I found Lorenze on a walk, close enough.
“Lorenze! LORENZE. It’s me, Eric, what are you doing, just kidding. I know you’re on a walk, I don’t know if it’s getting harder for you to avoid me but today I am inescapable.”
This time I didn’t make him stray too much from the path he already had set. I don’t know where he starts but I memorized what he does after the point I catch him at. I’m starting to think Lorenze is the only person that can sit in a room with me in pure silence and not once will he start a conversation. It used to be different, in the good old times when Daniel was still around. Not a single word from him to start any conversation. Even after asking anything to him he either gives the shortest response possible or if my question was too deep, which it never actually is, he just carries on, not saying a thing. Still I treasure this time, not only because I hate working, but because it’s nice to have an unsuspected surprise. I complained if things like this would ever really happen and I guess Lorenze smashed that complaint. Maybe I will tell him this, wait why is he turning my way.
“I saw it.”
“Can you still paint a picture of the stars in your head?” Usually I would act clueless just to make sure that we are in fact talking about the same thing but for some reason after him saying that I picked it up.
“It’s okay, David is the only star on this planet we need.”
“I’ve always had this feeling that David was destined to be an actor, or even singer maybe, star for sure. For now I guess he only shines bright to us.” After a brief pause and total subversion of eye contact I continued; “David told me yesterday Sal is in Japan.”
“David saw it too.”
“Were you two together?”
“No, he called me after you tried to call me.”
“Did he say anything about Sal?”
I’m not sure if I was expecting Lorenze to respond to that, not because it was a difficult question but because I think he reached the maximum amount that he’s allowed to respond to me. Even if I ask him if he’s still there, as he’s right next to me he might not respond.
“If the whole world shines brighter than any star could’ve, do you think a mirror on the other side of the universe will make us shine brightly on what’s left of the world millions of years later?”
I had a feeling Lorenze wasn't going to respond to that. But damn I can feel his glare even through his blue sunglasses. It's piercing through the part of my temple in front of my ear. I don't really have good peripheral vision but with the knowledge I have on Lorenze I know exactly the look he’s giving me right now. Not a single thing to break it either, he ate a bag of cool ranch Doritos once and gave David this same look after David criticized cool ranch Doritos.
Welp, Lorenze doesn't ever say bye really but I have to do the obligatory farewell so he can be relieved I’m out of his life for the rest of the day, possibly the hour. I wonder if Lorenze is anticipating what’s going to happen tonight, if anything. First day the stars in the night sky roll away, maybe the second they will be rolled back down. Then life will continue as normal, no one spoke about it, but apparently 5 people have seen it. Walking to work now just feels so empty, Lorenze could be walking into a mystical adventure and here I am going to work. At the beginning I said I’ll just put my head down and make money so one day I can reap the rewards. I think today a feeling came over me.
“Wait Lorenze! I kinda knew your path so I was able to catch up. Let’s join Sal in Japan. Daniel, Daniel wants to come I think. The whole group, let’s all go.”
I don’t know if I missed something or what but he did not flinch a single bit and still he’s just continuing to walk. He might be able to completely move his eye to the corner to see me while I’m at a 90 degree angle of the direction he’s facing. To me it looks like he’s just continuing on, looking straight, without a single bit of hesitation.
“Even in the darkness of this bitter world, surely you’ll shine.”
I think I saw a reaction out of him, he knew what song I was referencing. It's supposed to be in Japanese but in his heart I’m sure Lorenze gets what I'm trying to say.
“I'm going to keep on walking.”
I guess that's as good of a goodbye I'll get from Lorenze. What a feeling, I recognize that at some point I might have made their life worse but I’m always sad when I offer them the opportunities I've been waiting for someone to offer me.
The biggest thing I still can't believe is the fact that Sal basically did steal my idea. I want to go to Japan, right now actually. I'm not quite sure what Daniel will say actually, but I bet if Daniel and David agree, Sal having already agreed by the fact he’s there already, Lorenze might change his mind. Nothing feels better than blowing off obligations and just running away, especially into the land of the sun.
Chapter 6
The next action of the day was already set in stone for me from the time I decided to rally everyone up to go to Japan. There probably was a more sensical way to do this but for some reason I thought coming straight back to Daniel’s house was the best option. Work is hard on me, it’s hard on everyone there actually, and due to the lackluster amount of workers it’s just this hellzone especially if one out of the 5 in my section don’t show up. I think someone already claimed this term but I’ve been thinking about this whole “situational friend” and how hellscapes can bring people together. In the end it’s a temporary manner because it’s almost like the whole world knows if one person quits that’s the last you ever see of them. I don’t even think that’s the strangest thing about American work culture is, some of my senior coworkers, who have been married for decades are hitting on each other, it’s gross.
How am I going to show back up into Daniel’s life after leaving him basically 15 minutes prior. My whole thing with Lorenze was just like some sort of cutscene but I said bye to Daniel so I’m not quite sure of this dynamic. If he lived just a bit closer I wouldn’t have to put this much thought into this. I'd just get in the car and be there, no time to overthink anything.
“I saw Lorenze, we spoke for a little… I guess, and now I have returned.” I think the biggest thing was that I didn’t want to just drop how we’re going to Japan first. Since I first saw fear in Daniel’s eyes my idea to help him was to subvert his thought process and turn it all around and finally end up doing something. If he doesn’t want to accept the adventure, what am I supposed to do? Stick around waiting for another astrological event.
“Let’s go to Japan.” I didn’t want to mention how Sal is already there because he had some sort of reaction to it and I don’t want that getting in the way.
“Why do we want to follow Sal?”
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, I already brought it up and I doubt he would just forget for no reason. “We’re not following him there, he just got a head start to the journey.”
“Sal didn’t see it, he couldn’t have seen it. It must have been the middle of the day in Japan. I called Varun, he saw it. It’s like the whole entire world didn’t see it except for the people that you and I both know.”
“I don’t know if I should be telling you this but Lorenze and David saw it also. I mean, I’m not sure, is it more comforting knowing people saw what we saw or is it more concerning that everyone is continuing their lives. I think I told you this before but my favorite place to be is blocked off from me because of transportation and something inside me holding me back. A place where everyone is simply, not here, or not there. I had dreams about all these places I couldn’t come close to finding in the real world. I wanted to step into a y2k doomsday bunker, untouched since the second day of the new millennium after the owner realized he was scammed. You get my point right? Why live in fear, especially when you have enough money to build and stock a bunker?”
“If your plan was to throw me off by saying a bunch of random things, it worked. Every single time you’ve opened your mouth my mind has been off of what I saw and what I heard.”
“I’m not usually the one to suggest drinking, but if you want to as we watch this whole mess unfold, I will entertain it.”
“I don’t drink often. Even if I were to, the sun is still up.”
“For now.”
That felt like some cold air hit the inside of my ear and my body went straight into trying to cover myself in goosebumps without anything actually happening. Part of me was only able to tell Daniel I thought I heard the horse speak because I knew it would be dismissed as a joke. I heard that same distant echo, I thought nothing would be able to really mess with me but maybe I never really changed and I was always made to be this way.
“I used to think about how if I leave my house there’s a higher chance of me feeling regret and pain then there is me enjoying the day. It made me feel locked in my house. I think it paired perfectly with the fact that I started to get paranoid of everything that I heard. I thought I’d take some time to remember that time when I end up on the polar opposite side.”
“I want to say we’re all going to be okay. But do you think a war will break out? We lost basically all our foreign support.”
“I don't like it when you say ‘we’ like that. You mean the country? That's not my decision and it's not yours. Honestly that will be the day, a war breaks out at night with the stars stripped from the sky. What can the two of us do on a local scale? Pressure people into supporting us selling Costco muffins? I doubt anything we can do anything on a national level, on a cosmic level I guess we can try and turn our sun into a supernova. For the two of us, why don't we just try and shine as bright as possible and maybe we’ll see our reflections in others.”
“What is that from? One of your cartoons?”
“No, no, no. I'm not going to correct what you said just in case all my inner rage blows up, but I think Lorenze said that to me once. Or you know he spoke about the idea.”
“I never really got to talk much with Lorenze, what’s he like now? You just saw him today right?”
“I don't know what happened to him.”
“Is he okay?”
“I guess. I think everyone grew away from me. I think in the last 5 years sadly I’ve spoken more with my current coworkers than I have with Lorenze. We all just have the same complaints, but I don’t even think we get along. It’s this whole thing I think about how they’re just ‘situational friends’.”
“Oh, like us?”
“Middle and High School wasn’t this true hell…”
“For me it was, I always remember you screaming whenever we had to go back to class. It wasn’t even just class, it seemed like everyone hated you and you only complained about it to me.”
“Before I get defensive, I’m just going to say ‘fair enough’ and then move on.”
“But I’m right?”
“Well now there’s bigger things to worry about.” Daniel has always let out a slight smile everytime he best me.