The Other Side

I stood by the window watching the woman walking past the windows of stores as the wind blew along her long red dress like a sail. Unlike the others on the street, she did not stop to admire the array of fashions, jewellery, house wares, and other assorted goods that lay behind the row of glass. Rather, she almost blended in with the crowd as she made minute, graceful steps with her black sandals. I didn’t know who she is, nor have I seen her before. Perhaps that explains my curiosity towards her? Or was it something about that dress she wore that intrigued me?

My interests are extremely variable and always changing. Yet there is one that has always stood around, the interest of people. There is something about people that never fails to fascinate me. Whether it’d be the way they act, the differences among them, or even just the diversity of people in general. That very day, however, things will never be the same again. Her rose-red dress crumbled to strips as her human form began to morph in front of my very view. Her fair skin suddenly became dark and muddy as her body shrunk in size and shape shifted. A hard shell finally encased her body to complete the transformation. A gigantic clam now occupied the spot where she once stood. Bystanders did not seem to pay attention for reasons I do not know. It was as if nothing had happened. How could that possibly be? One second ago I saw her walking along just minding herself and then she changes into a clam? She did not look anything like a clam in her human form, that’s for sure. But what really puzzles me is why out of all the possible creatures out there, does she have to become a clam? I do not see anything special about clams, as they cannot move fast, talk, or hunt like some other animals out there. One thing was for sure, it definitely gave me the creeps. I absolutely hate clams; they are slimy, dirty, and disgusting. The last thing I’d want to see is an oversized one sitting in the middle of the streets across from my house.

Soon after the phenomenon occurred and my shivers had stopped, I reached for my notebook and made a few quick points on what I just saw. If I could draw worth anything, I would have created a work of art on the page. I can imagine how great a depiction I could create. I have never been able to draw well all my life and still draw stick men and disproportionate people at this age. So there’s this shape shifting woman that just transformed and nobody acts as though anything unusual happened, so end of story? Not at all! There was much more that came after that.

I see many people walking their dog everyday in the morning outside my window. In such a diverse city you can expect to see all kinds of them. Large dogs, toy dogs, medium dogs, long haired dogs, you name it. I could never name all the different types I saw, because there were just too many. Normally I never pay much attention to them either, as they were just another common sight around here. That one I saw that day was a far cry from all the others I have ever seen. Dogs’ bodies usually are these long straight objects which their heads, legs, and tails stick out of. It was a brownish-grey colour and its body was twisted into a knot. Think of it this way, take a straight piece of rope and tie a knot in the middle of it. That’s basically what that dog’s body looked like. I might as well refer to it as the “pretzel dog” even though it didn’t look much like a pretzel. One may wonder how a dog with its body twisted into a knot can function properly, but this one seemed just fine.

With my notebook in my hand, I took down some quick points on “pretzel dog” not unlike what I did with the “clam woman”. “Pretzel dog” didn’t seem to blow my mind that much actually. It had four legs, a head, and a tail just like any other dog I have seen. There was nothing unusual about its owner either. Others that walked past “pretzel dog” as well as those sitting at tables on restaurant patios didn’t seem to take notice of it. I would actually want to go outside and take a closer look at or even see if I can pet “pretzel dog”. As much as I would like to, I was feeling much too lazy to leave the house. The next thing I could only imagine is how it would look like if that dog’s body became untwisted. Its body would have to be pretty long just to be able to twist into a knot like that.

After my encounter with “clam woman” and “pretzel dog” that day, I soon found myself sitting in a dimly lit room across from a man. He did not look familiar, but he seemed like an artist to me, at least from the way he dressed. Perhaps he is a musician, painter, or actor? He did not speak to me at first, but he felt my presence in the room. He put down his clipboard that he was writing on and turned towards me. I wanted to say hi, but there was some paranormal force that prevented me from speaking. I heard the man’s voice, but he was not speaking. Then, I realized that this could be some sort of telepathic communication going on. I have heard a lot about the phenomenon of telepathy in books and television shows, didn’t really believe in it either. This was my first experience of it, and perhaps my thoughts have changed. I could not understand a word he said though, either because he did not speak clearly or he did not speak English. I tried to ignore most of the telepathic speaking as I could not make out any of it.

The next thing that caught my eye was the door behind where the man was sitting. The man moved aside as I walked up towards the door. He gestured for me to open it. I carefully opened the door, causing it to make a loud creaking noise. Behind the door there was nothing but pitch darkness. I did not know what sort of creatures laid in there or even whether I should even take my chances and enter. As I stepped into the obscure darkness, the door behind me appeared to slowly close by itself. The bright light began to shrink until it was nothing more than a thin white strip before completely melting away into the darkness. It was so dark that I could not even see my own hands. I wanted to scream, but I just couldn’t. I wanted to run, but I don’t know where to run to.

There were no walls, just open space around. I could not even feel the wall or the door that I came from behind me. I tried to run anyways and it seemed like I could run forever. Eventually, I just got tired and decided to sit down for a bit. It was then that I felt the floor become nonexistent. I could feel myself lifting off the ground as if I was flying. That very moment I realized that I was actually floating. In the air just drifting away as time passed. It was not frightening but actually quite interesting. Just like many others, I have always dreamed of being able to fly free like a bird in the sky. The only difference is that I could not see what was around me. There was just no sign of light anywhere to be seen. There was no sign of anyone else around either as it was dead silent.

I continued to hover above the ground not knowing what else to do. Instead, I just decided to take in this incredible yet mysterious feeling. Eventually I lost track of time but it didn’t matter to me anymore. I don’t know how long I had been in there as it could have been hours or even days. My thoughts of “clam woman”, “pretzel dog” and everything else that came with them quickly dissipated. For a moment, I thought I was dying, but at the same time I knew I was still alive. I am indeed alive, but with no idea where I am, or how all these strange occurrences came about. It was like one of those nightmares that seem so real but still go away after waking up, except I didn’t even know if I was dreaming or not.

A sudden feeling of relief came to me as I saw bright white light above. I slowly drifted towards the light as I continued rising higher off the ground. They always say that the light at the end of the tunnel is usually a good sign, but how do I know that will hold to be true this time? Maybe I am about to be teleported into another dimension? I guess I would have to wait and find out. As I drifted closer and closer to the light above, I could not see as the brightness was absolutely blinding. It did however feel very warm, not too hot but like sitting next to the window as the morning sun glimmered through. It’s basically like turning on the bedroom light in the middle of the night after being in the dark for so long. I was completely surrounded by the brightness and warmth like an energy field. The sensation of flight stopped as I felt solid ground below me again while the bright light that surrounded me remained.