Hypnosis

Prologue

    Everything is gray.

    Fog is suspended off the ground, leaving merely the tops of daunting skyscrapers in clear view. Only the tip of the iceberg is visible of the city.

    I enjoy the urban composition this way, the sounds of traffic trapped under the foggy curtain. Only the voice of the wind is auricular. Things are more peaceful this way.

    My feet are planted on the ledge of a lofty structure. Inches separate me from thin air, too brittle to hold my weight.

    I feel at home in this moment, so powerful above everything and everyone that is too naive to even be aware of my existence here. I could control the air, and if I willed it, the oxygen could possibly hold my weight.

    I turn my wrist and the face of my watch reflects the ambiguous light that reaches through the clouds. 4:32

    Air escapes through my nose and mouth, deflating the skin that contains my physical body. Up here, I am the only living being. Everything below, the fattened pigeons and humans monotonously driving cars, are copied images, lacking the proper spark of life that I have yet to understand. On days like these, those thoughts make my Arcady just short of perfect.

    My watch smirks at me as I look again, taunting me with its quick-moving hands. 4:57

    "Of course," I sigh. Deep thoughts always pass time swiftly.

    The fog below mimics cotton, giant cushions of dirtied white. Saturated air cloaks my skin, fading into my clothes.

    Kicking a rock over the edge, I lean slightly forward, feeling the muscles in my stomach clench as I watch it disappear. "Let's see if you can fly." My foot hangs over the air and as my other leaves the ledge of the roof, I feel the blood in my body raise. My hair levitates, and for a few sweet moments, it feels as though I'm flying. The skyscrapers grow past me into the fog, and my significance to this world diminishes. The ground meets my body with a sickening marriage of sound, and my vision turns to the black of the pavement.

    5:09