In-between. (1433 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.97 on 38 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Bigmike (View user info) at 2005-08-23 15:03:02 EDT
I lay there silently on my back. The surface beneath me is spongy, like one of those space age mattresses you see advertised on late night TV. The surface is round and it form fits to my back like a hammock on a quiet, hot Saturday afternoon. All I need to hear is the chirp of a bird or two and I will be right at home.
It is not to be.
"What are you doing?" The voice asks. I open my eyes, startled at the intrusion. I see that the spongy surface that I am laying on continues up and around me. I look down at my feet and see that it is a tunnel that I am laying in. I lean my head back and look over and above me. The tunnel continues both ways. I cannot see an end. The tunnel is softly lit by what I presume to be a light source on the outside of it. I cannot discern what the source is because the tunnel is not transparent but opaque. Still the light is enough for me to see my immediate surroundings.
"What are you doing?" The voice asks again. The voice has no urgency; no haste. It is more a query than some kind of important, life altering dilemma. I look up to where I think the voice is coming from and see two very distinct indentations in the material of the tunnel above me and about five yards past where my feet are. I get up on my hands and knees and move down to where the indentations become more than that. More than what I thought.
They are feet. More like shoes to be precise. Indentations of shoes. I am confused at first until I see another set of imprints appear just a little closer to me. I watch as the first two imprints slowly fade away, absorbed by the action of the spongy material taking its original form. Now there are two fresh imprints a little closer to me.
It takes me a minute to realize that there is somebody standing on the other side of this tunnel, the outside. The weight of the body that belongs to this voice is pressing the indentations of his shoes into the material. I sit there and wonder who he is and why I am in here. He doesn't ask again.
"I don't know," I reply and hear no echo from inside the tunnel. I think that the acoustics are very soft in here as I look in either direction, hoping to see some exit or change in the expanse of the tunnel. There is none.
"Typical," is his reply as he takes another step towards me. He is almost directly above me now. I watch the imprints of his shoes for quite awhile before I speak again.
"Where am I?" I ask. With that question he starts walking slowly. I follow his footprints as they make their way above my head and away from me. I wait to be sure he isn't going to stop before I start to follow, crawling along on my hands and knees, head upturned to follow his lead.
He walks for awhile and I follow. Finally, he stops.
"You are in-between," is his reply.
With that, he starts to walk again. As I follow, I can see that he is not walking in a straight line, rather he is sort of all over the outside of the tunnel. His footsteps would come down the side and then be beneath me. He would then walk up the other side and be above me again. I have no semblance of direction, time, or space. After a little bit, I think maybe it is me who is all over the inside of the tunnel and that maybe he is walking a straight line.
"In-between what?" I ask as I follow his imprints a little further until he stops. He stands still for what seems to be quite some time and I have to sit down because all the crawling across the spongy surface is tiring me a bit.
"Just in-between." He says. "If I must put it in terms you can understand, then I guess the point is lost. Maybe if you rest for awhile you can ponder what might be, what your reality is right now."
He just stands there. The imprints of his shoes mocking me as if I were a child calling out for his mommy in the night. I don't consider that this may be a dream because it's so real, so concrete. The texture of the material under my hands and knees. The volume of the voice above me resonating so in my head. I am in the middle of wrestling with the sheer reality of it when he speaks again.
"How long will you follow me?"
"I don't know," is my reply.
"Popular answer, that," is all he says as he starts to walk again. I feel as if gravity is releasing me as I get up on my hands and knees to follow him once more.
"Do you remember what it's like to be born?" He asks.
"I don't kn.......why no, I guess I don't," I reply. He is walking just a little faster now and it takes me a great deal of concentration to keep up.
"How about to die?"
When he asks this I stop abruptly. He does too. He is waiting for my answer.
"Should I?" I ask. I can feel the tremble in my voice even though it is not meant to be there.I can feel my heart begin to race just a little and I can feel the beats in my ears as if my heart is in my head.
"We all should remember what it means to be born and to die. These two moments are like the epiphanies of our time spent in consciousness. We forget. that is the problem. We forget the most important times of our being. It's a pity."
With that, he starts walking again. I follow, intent to watch the imprints of his feet and the soft baritone of his words. He takes his time with me, speaking sporadically, each time asking me questions that are puzzles. Puzzles that have no real answers.
At one point I do believe that he sits down. The imprints above me indicating feet, hands, and most certainly buttocks.
"Sleep now, my friend. We have many miles to go before we are through here." I can see the imprint of his body now, or what I most certainly think is his body. I raise up on my knees and reach for the top of the tunnel, stretching as far as I can with my fingertips. I brush my fingers along the imprint of his body and feel real weight there. He does not flinch or move in any way and this amazes me more than anything that has happened thus far. He knows me. He understands me. His non-movement as I place my palms against the imprint of his body comforts me.
I finally lay back down on the spongy inside surface of the tunnel.
"Where is in-between?" I ask in a whisper.
"It is where you are," came his reply, even softer than I could ever imagine.
And so I slept.
User Reviews
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-10-19 03:49:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
There are a solid four pages of +2 streaks with 30 or more reviews. That is stupid. I am weeding it all out by giving every one of them a +1; that way posts that have 1.99 with 200+ reviews gets best ever.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-08-24 21:39:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2005-08-24 18:44:07 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-08-24 18:36:18 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-08-24 10:01:13 (#)
Ranking: 2
You rock, FG...
Haha. Over here it's BM, thank you. ;)
========================
Hahahaha! Wow.
BTW, sorry Mike that it's taken me a couple of days to get to this. I really liked this.
You're a damn good writer.
Thank you forensicgirl. The FG is a reference to my account on another site.
By the way, kaos-king is a damn good writer in his own right. Quite the imagination, that one.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2005-08-24 18:44:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-08-24 18:36:18 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-08-24 10:01:13 (#)
Ranking: 2
You rock, FG...
Haha. Over here it's BM, thank you. ;)
========================
Hahahaha! Wow.
BTW, sorry Mike that it's taken me a couple of days to get to this. I really liked this.
You're a damn good writer.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-08-24 18:36:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-08-24 10:01:13 (#)
Ranking: 2
You rock, FG...
Haha. Over here it's BM, thank you. ;)
Submitted by Mister (user info) at 2005-08-24 10:33:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
nice.
Submitted by stardamage (user info) at 2005-08-24 10:22:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Can't think of anything to say.
Why are you so awesome?
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-08-24 10:01:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You rock, FG...
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-08-24 08:34:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2005-08-24 07:16:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by iradney (user info) at 2005-08-24 04:28:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
as usual, you totally rock
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-08-24 02:08:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Daniel,
If what I write reaches you in a place that is seldom revealed then I guess that's the highest of compliments.
Thank you.
I don't mean to make anybody cry D. I promise. It just comes out the way it comes out.
Hmmmm...fishing. What a great idea.
Submitted by DanielH (user info) at 2005-08-24 01:29:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-08-23 23:40:06 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by DanielH (user info) at 2005-08-23 23:30:03 (#)
Ranking: 2
"We all should remember what it means to be born and to die."
- - -
For some of us the latter occurs more than once in our lifetime, and is infinitely worse than "our" final end- because we live with it and remember it always, whereas in death we may not.
Byron longed for oblivion, it took years for me to understand this.
+++++
I have come to terms with my mortality. It isn't easy, but when it happens, life becomes a little more clear. I know this sounds kind of arrogant or maybe a bit flippant but, once you realize that there is an end and that it is closer than you think, everything kind of changes.
My life is easily more than half over. Most of you are looking at three quarters of your life yet to be lived. I am looking at maybe a quarter. It's all about perspective.
- - -
Thanks, M.
I've come to terms with my fleeting mortally, and even tinker with it daily. I'd bet you've got more time left than me, because I'm constantly daring death, swimming out too far during red flags days, not evacuating during cat. 3 hurricanes- the only time we can surf here, during storms. Not eating my greens.)
Strange as this will sound, it was your mentioning of the hammock that startled me. It was too coincidental.
I've kept a journal since I was 14, and something happened last week that evoked "buried" memories, so it's already written if I decide to post the story.
(Not for reviews or hits, I never post, but for myself).
If I do, it will be a sort of breakthrough for me: i.e. my journal has many gaps that I have never had the balls to fill in. Even though I've painstakingly filled in my childhood, not all of it is there. Thanks for that. Even if I don't post it.
Once again, you are The Rock. And you made me cry like a little bitch- for that I don't forgive.
PS: Fishing trip down here is always open- free room eats drinks -I've got 10 crab traps out now, some stone crabs in the mix even. It's fishing paradise.
Submitted by bob (user info) at 2005-08-23 23:54:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i thought you left?
Submitted by GodChicken (user info) at 2005-08-23 23:49:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Glad to see you're still around a little BigMike. You're one of the few I still read regularly.
Check my last 3 posts out when you get a chance, for an update on life in general.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-08-23 23:40:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by DanielH (user info) at 2005-08-23 23:30:03 (#)
Ranking: 2
"We all should remember what it means to be born and to die."
- - -
For some of us the latter occurs more than once in our lifetime, and is infinitely worse than "our" final end- because we live with it and remember it always, whereas in death we may not.
Byron longed for oblivion, it took years for me to understand this.
+++++
I have come to terms with my mortality. It isn't easy, but when it happens, life becomes a little more clear. I know this sounds kind of arrogant or maybe a bit flippant but, once you realize that there is an end and that it is closer than you think, everything kind of changes.
My life is easily more than half over. Most of you are looking at three quarters of your life yet to be lived. I am looking at maybe a quarter. It's all about perspective.
Submitted by DanielH (user info) at 2005-08-23 23:30:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"We all should remember what it means to be born and to die."
- - -
For some of us the latter occurs more than once in our lifetime, and is infinitely worse than "our" final end- because we live with it and remember it always, whereas in death we may not.
Byron longed for oblivion, it took years for me to understand this.
+++++
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-08-23 23:04:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2005-08-23 18:32:11 (#)
Ranking: 2
bIG mIKE i AM VERY SORRY. yOU ARE AWESOME i THOUGHT YOU HAD LEFT OR i WOULD HAVE PUT YOU ON MY AWESOME USERS POST.
Thank you cindy.
I'm still around, just frequenting another site more often. You'll get stuff from me now and again.
Submitted by Saxon (user info) at 2005-08-23 22:03:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is very interesting. stop teasing and give us more.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-08-23 22:00:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You've gotta continue this, man. Or I'll DIE. And come back and haunt you.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-08-23 21:52:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome!!
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2005-08-23 18:39:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Method (user info) at 2005-08-23 18:34:53 (#)
Ranking: 2
dON'T mIND cINDY, sHEs rEtARdED
---
Iam aswell
Submitted by Method (user info) at 2005-08-23 18:34:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
dON'T mIND cINDY, sHEs rEtARdED
Submitted by c1ndy (user info) at 2005-08-23 18:32:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
bIG mIKE i AM VERY SORRY. yOU ARE AWESOME i THOUGHT YOU HAD LEFT OR i WOULD HAVE PUT YOU ON MY AWESOME USERS POST.
Submitted by sideshow (user info) at 2005-08-23 17:59:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good so far, keep it coming
Submitted by Fungah (user info) at 2005-08-23 17:38:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It sounds like a less colorful version of a mushroom trip I had once
Submitted by silent1 (user info) at 2005-08-23 17:22:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:21:00 (#)
Ranking: 2
What they said.
Submitted by miss_tila (user info) at 2005-08-23 16:39:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Really good begining. I hope you finish.
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2005-08-23 16:11:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good job on reminding me that I'm claustrophobic.
Submitted by Xcuses (user info) at 2005-08-23 16:09:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent work
Submitted by LiquidPaper (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:45:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:28:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Exellent. I hope you continue this. I'm thinking the tube could be a possible methaphor for the entrapment of the self-concious, but ignore me, I'm the guy who starts questioning the ending five mintues into a movie.
Submitted by userpete86 (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:21:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
WTF?
Just kidding, good shit.
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:21:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
What they said.
Submitted by Mister (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:15:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood shit.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:15:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:14:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good stuff. as usual.
Submitted by badassmofo (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:08:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Please post more...some of us still like to read/write.
Submitted by goose (user info) at 2005-08-23 15:07:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Fucking awesome