Five Minutes

*~ Chapter 4 ~*

We step out on the white land and survey the landscape, seeing...nothing.

Aviva looks at me and mumbles, “Where are we going now?”  

I look down at her and sling the bag onto the wet, slushy ground.  Rooting around in the contents, I find a pair of small, cheap, flimsy binoculars and hold them up to my eyes.  As I glance across the landscape through the small, magnifying holes, I see a small city, just beyond a patch of trees with small water droplets falling from its arms.  I let a light shriek escape my mouth and give the binoculars to Aviva.

As soon as she sees it, she starts bouncing up and down and squealing, almost allowing the binoculars to hit the muddy, blackish snow.  I catch them mid-air and start laughing.  I toss the binoculars back into my backpack and while I’m thinking, I stop abruptly.  The happiness and hope dies inside of me.

How will we get there?  That has to be at least 100 miles away, we could never walk all that way.  Even with all of the food, water, and other things packed for us, we will never be able to have enough to travel there.  I shut my eyes and try to breath deeply.  I sense Aviva, and look down at her.  My eyes bug out of my head, trying to comprehend what she’s doing.

Her arms are outstretched, palms turned to the pale blue sky and lids closed.  Sparkling white light spins around her in strong rings.  She darts around them, and grabs my hand.  The light envelopes both of us, swirling and occasionally giving off reflections of ourselves  Aviva looks peaceful, quietly murmuring something to the air, myself looking frightened and wanting to sprint away.  

I fight the temptation and quietly stand, still as a statue, and feel myself evaporate.

It is the most strange feeling, being evaporated.  My whole body tingled, feeling weightless and feather-like.  I felt sweaty, and realized my skin (well, what was skin) was covered in little water droplets, my body literally melting away in the air.  I felt as if I was becoming part of the atmosphere and I saw the same conditions happening to Aviva, water condensing all over her hair and face.  In moments we looked like walking clouds, and I heard a pop.  I blinked, and we were in a town square.  People were bustling around, carrying expensive, Prada-worthy purses, bland grocery bags, kids carrying old plush, stained animals.

I stifled a scream.  All I wanted to know was how we got here and why we got here.  I stare at Aviva’s hands, that are the color of fading white, turning back to a rustic color.  

“Aviva! What happened?!” I yell, but not directly at her.  She looks up at me with the look of complete and utter uncertainty.

“I have...no...idea...BUT WASN’T IT AWESOME?!  POWER!”  She jumps in the air, pumping her fists, laughing and screaming.  I cautiously look around at the faces of everyone, but, again, just blank faces with no visual annoyance of two crazy...ghosts, I suppose.   I grin and start chuckling.  

“OK, ok...don’t hurt me!” I pretend to cower in front of her.  She starts laughing maniacally and grabs my hand again, pulling it towards the main part of town.  

As I stare at “live” people, they seem to stare right through me, as though I’m a figment, a picture, never remembered.  I nod to them, acknowledge them, but they pay no attention to me.  Their eyes slide right over me.