HUMAN SPIRIT

HUMAN SPIRIT; Ch. 13

Something was off. While many of the suited men looked completely solid, others looked… transparent. Like they were holograms or something.

Then, flashing. Very brief, and practically unnoticeable. The world would return to San Francisco, where Julius was bombarded with cars honking their horns and people talking. But it was only for a second, and again, he was brought back to the Abstract world.

He never noticed it, but everything in the second world was silent. There were murmurs of conversations on phones, echoes of footsteps, and things of that sort. But beyond that? Nothing. 

He stepped forth into the big, empty road, looking both ways curiously. Where the buildings eventually came to an end, the sky stretched on forever, indicating eternity. The thought made Julius step back. What was this place? He looked down, only to find he wasn’t in his regular clothing. Rather, he wore a white shirt and white pants, all cotton. He wore no shoes. Julius wasn’t the only one, though: half of the civilians were dressed like him, and half of the civilians were in aforementioned suits.

“Leonard…” Julius said, and bit his lip. Everything was peculiar, different. He wanted a stable chair to sit in, because he couldn't breathe properly. Julius leaned back on the building closest to him, then sighed. A hand grabbed his shoulder, and Julius immediately turned around in shock. But it was only Leonard who stood there, all dressed in white.

“Julius,” he said. “It’s a good thing I found you.”  Saying this, Julius sensed that Leonard was acting differently. Not necessarily bad, just mellow. Julius could only comply, so they walked down the gap. 

“So this is the Abstract world,” Julius said breathily. He was glad Leonard had found him. After all, who knew what would happen if they never met up? He tried not to think about it too long. “It doesn’t look like how I imagined it.”

“It’s a wonder, isn’t it?” Leonard responded. There was another flashing, and San Francisco revealed itself for a brief second. “I’m sure you’ve never seen anything like it.” That was for sure. Julius watched a man fade into the nothingness in an alleyway between two skyscrapers. He gulped.

“Leonard, I don’t think I like this place,” Julius confided quickly, still looking around. Leonard didn’t seem worried, though. He was the kind of person that cared for you if you were hurt, or if you were going insane. And since Julius was currently neither of those things, Leonard didn’t bother feeling sympathetic..

“Drop it, Julius.” There was a pause as Julius fell back, and stopped behind Leonard.

“Where are we going?” Julius said. Leonard looked back. “I don’t want to be out of the loop. I don’t want to be an oblivious know-nothing that you can pull around on a leash.” Julius honestly didn’t know where all of this was coming from, but it felt right.

“Julius, not here-”

“No, here is fine. I want you to stop acting like you have to keep everything a secret from me,” Julius started, opening the floodgates. “Now, I know that you told me all the basics in the book, but that isn't good enough for me. Call me selfish, but I want to know more.” There was a pause before he spoke up again.

“Leonard, I don’t even know you. You seem to know everything, and I just can’t catch up. You know about me, about the urn. You know about my whole life, apparently, but I don’t even know your last name.” He sighed. “I don’t remember much from the night I went crazy. I just know you were there. Helping me.”

Julius’ little speech was so compelling that Leonard thought it was wise to pull him into the nearest building and settle down for a bit. It was a hotel, and because it was past noon, lunch was being served in the restaurant on the first floor.