One Moment
One moment, one second, that’s all it takes for everything to change, indefinitely.
I gasped, my eyes flying open with surprise. But I didn’t feel the gush of air enter my lungs. I didn’t feel the racing of my heart that should have accompanied the shock in my eyes. It wasn’t until I looked down that I realised I was even standing, standing in the midst of an empty corridor with a vaguely familiar lush green carpet enveloping my feet, almost like grass. I didn’t feel that either.
Then the hall wasn’t empty anymore, in a split second, people had filled the void. Faceless, immobilised people. Figurines. A boy, or should I call him a man, he stood, half of him in the hallway, the other half in another room. One of his hands grasped the door frame while the other was outstretched reaching towards the second figure – a woman.
She stood her posture aggressive. Her legs were slightly apart, braced. Her shoulders set and her arm outstretched, not like the man, towards another object. She was holding something, something that gleaned in the light. It was something I could distinctly recognise. A man-made object that took the life from everything it crossed paths with. A gun. And coming from its barrel, completely motionless, a small silver bullet.
It hung in the air between this woman and another, the one standing at the door. The door that was spilling light onto this whole scene. A bright light.
Before I took another look or a step in any direction, the figurines changed. The faceless dolls grew features. They became familiar. My best friend, Alex, looking pained and desperate with a bleeding wound dropping scarlet tears down his face, arm outstretched towards his sister, Autumn. Autumn’s eyes were bright. They were hazed and filled with fury, with a hatred that couldn’t have just been spurred. She held the gun pointed towards the last person. Me.
I should have been shocked. I should have felt something, but I couldn’t. Like I said I couldn’t feel anything. I had no emotion towards this woman. Nothing. We grew up together. That’s all I can tell you. She was always distant and I never really pushed the issue. Maybe I should have.
I took a step forward, that silver little bullet right in front of me. From here I could see where it would hit. My heart. No chance. None, whatsoever. I looked back at the bullet. What if I touched it? Moved it off course? Made it hit my leg instead of my heart? But then would it matter? Would I just die a different way by the hands of this woman, this monster? I saw my face reflected in the bullet, the green of my eyes highlighted.
With one sparing glance, at Alex, at me, at Autumn and then back at the bullet, I realised that it wasn’t my place to change the course of event. Being here, like this maybe it was just a chance to say goodbye or to just see.
Steam rose from the scene. Alex’s chest move a fraction in a breath. Autumn’s finger tightened on the trigger even though she had already pulled it. The bullet it moved a millimetre forward and me, I stayed in the same place, at the door, my eyes wide, staring death in the face.
It was time to press play. I looked at the bullet as it shimmered in movement. I counted it down.
Three...Two...One...
