As a multiethnic kid, Keon Wesley has always had to straddle two worlds. He just never expected that metaphor to become a literal reality.
Ever since his dad left five weeks ago, he's struggled to adjust to life in a single parent household. When a...
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Keon's eyes were getting heavy. He didn't know why he was still awake. It was late; he was tired, and his mind was slipping in and out of that weird state of consciousness when your dreams intermix with the real world. The sound of his mum washing the dishes became the sound of a helicopter coming to land on the sands of a dusty, war-torn valley, when reality suddenly jerked him back.
His grip tightened around his phone. He stared again at the picture of the eternity symbol, as though looking at it long enough would somehow yield her secrets.
You can stare at it all you want, Keon...
The buzz of his phone startled him. His fingers fiddled to unlock it. It was a text. A chill ran through his body as he viewed the sender. Another tap opened the message.
I love you, son.
Dad
His eyes moistened, his lips curled, and his breathing grew shallow. Before he knew it, he was typing a reply.
Why aren't you here then?
He stopped; thumb hovering over send—then swiped 'home.' As the tears began to roll, he put the phone on 'Do Not Disturb' and turned off the screen. He was going to sleep. He refused to be awake anymore.
* * *
The phone was still in his hand as his eyelids slowly sank to meet their lower siblings. He could hear his breathing deepening to roaring snorts. Feel the air thickening. The tick of his alarm clock grew louder as the space between tocks stretched to infinity.
As his eyelids finally met, the phone slipped from his grasp. His eyes snapped open and his arm shot out to grab it, leaning his entire body over the edge of the bed. He stopped. It didn't hit the ground. Instead, it hung there in mid-air, rotating slowly on its axis.
He looked from side to side in bewilderment. Gravity had stopped working. The entire room had rotated ninety degrees around him. Or he had. He wasn't quite sure, but as he stared at the phone, he noticed a flickering orange glow dancing beneath the bed. He swore he could smell freshly baked bread wafting out amongst the fragrance of blossoming flowers and dew speckled trees. Suddenly, a soft breeze blew a handful of crispy brown leaves across the floor.
"Muuum?!"
He waited.
Nothing.
Even the air was still as stone.
Grabbing the phone, Keon turned it over. There was no signal, and it didn't respond to his taps or swipes. He put it back on the bed and shook his head as if that was enough to wake him up. Gulping, he pulled himself inch by inch over the edge towards the underside of the bed. The world spun around him as the centre of gravity shifted. His legs suddenly dropped, dangling from the underside of the bed down towards the ceiling. He chanced a glance, eyebrows curling at the oddity of seeing his bedroom light sticking up out of what should have been the ceiling but was now on the ground. As he hoisted himself up onto the bottom of the bed, a sudden rush of light blinded him. Once his eyes adjusted, he found himself staring through sunlit green leaves into the glow of an early afternoon on a distant horizon.
