Life is Stranger

The Vortex

Chloe felt her mind twisting. No. That wasn't right. It wasn't her mind. It was the world that was twisting. The universe. Christ! Everything was being wrenched around in a dizzying, incomprehensible vortex. All she could see was a strange golden cyclone spinning everywhere. Above her. Below her. On every side. It looked like a single cyclone, but it couldn't possibly be. It danced and spun smoothly yet erratically. Even Escher couldn't have conjured up something as demented as this in a drug-induced nightmare.

All of this chaos was happening in complete and utter silence. Chloe had never heard (or to be more accurate, not heard) total silence before. No person on earth ever had. There was always some noise everywhere.

'So this is death then, is it? Well, at least it didn't hurt. I must have been killed instantly when I hit the rocks, before my brain could even register any pain.' Chloe decided to see if she had any wounds. She didn't have a body. Nothing. 'What am I? A ghost? Pure energy? How am I seeing all this madness without any eyes? How am I thinking without a brain?'

Noise. She couldn't make out what it was. It was far too faint, but it was steadily getting louder. Correction, it was getting closer, not louder. 'What? Listen to yourself, genius. That's insane. Or am I insane?' Something was coming. It was a long way away, but it was definitely making a bee-line right for her. It was approaching fast. 'I should be scared. Why am I not scared?' She would have laughed out loud if she had a mouth. 'You're dead, Chloe. There's nothing more to be scared of. It's all over.'

The vortex suddenly transformed itself. She was now zooming along a tube at an unfathomable speed. Then she began to decelerate, slowing to a complete stop. A shimmering oval faded into view, like some sort of weird mirror made out of liquid mercury. A figure started to materialise in the centre. It was a person!

"Daddy?"

It slowly came into focus. It wasn't her dad. It was her mom in the kitchen at home, cooking a meal. "Mom! It's me! Chloe. I'm sorry Mom. I love you. Please tell Max I love her too. I..." She realised that she wasn't actually speaking. Her 'voice' made no sound.

The vision started to grow dim. "Mom. Please don't go!" But she faded away. Another room appeared, one she didn't recognise at all. It was quite dark inside, but Chloe could see a large rug which read 'KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON'. An acoustic guitar leaned against the wall. What appeared to be a tall plant near the window. A figure lay on the single bed, fully clothed. Chloe recognised her instantly. "Max!" She was sobbing gently. Chloe could hear her. "Max I'm really, really sorry. I've been an absolute idiot. I know you can't hear me, but I just want you to know I don't hate you. I didn't mean it." Max changed position, revealing the teddy bear she was hugging to her bosom. One word drifted up from Max's lips and made the mirror briefly appear like rippling liquid gold.

"Chloe."

"Goodbye Max. I love you. I'll wait for you. Forever."

The room faded. The mirror drained away to nothing. Chloe had completely forgotten about the noise. It was nearly here. Everything suddenly vanished. Now it was just total blackness everywhere.

The noise arrived.