The Transition

I live on my mortal life. Yet, a truth haunts me. They say existence is a river and realities are its tributaries. But my incessant visions, and tormenting nightmares cast upon a shadow, in the darkness of which, I see the end of this river, as I had seen it then. The world and I have snubbed my thoughts as figments of a lunatic’s imagination, and my experience as a dream. But I did see the truth in ‘the transition’… ‘Staying up late?’ Debra leaned against the doorframe with that familiarly mischievous smile. I knew what she meant. ‘Not today Deb. Those things need time to charge up’, said I pointing to the energy cells then making a low whirring noise. ‘And I ain’t waiting till tomorrow. I am going for it today’ ‘And make history?’ ‘Umm… let’s see…’ ‘And forget me?’ ‘Oh, no! I …’ That had bought her enough time to edge near me and place a finger on my lips. ‘Let’s see if you pull it off or end up short-circuiting all the instruments with you-know-what. Good-night.’ Thus she left me abruptly, and my mind concentrated after the puny diversion. In a couple of hours, the chamber was ready. The cell’s whirring noise was now an ominous burr. It had all been too easy to seem perfect. But I knew that my excitement would do me in, and in a couple of minutes, I found myself crawling into the chamber after some indispensible tests. As I closed my eyes, expecting the timer to go off any moment, I fancied my desires coming true. ‘Professor Wilson proves existence of near death experiences after grueling research. He is also an expert in ESP and…’ I don’t know whether my thoughts snapped up or I just don’t remember what I had thought. After a rush of pain surging through my body, I felt that I was drifting masslessly in darkness with increasing speed. A sort of impregnable barricade shot up from nowhere and I knew it when the subsequent collision sent me reeling in a spiral. I shrieked in that vacuum but the dizziness continued to surmount me. ‘Ah! Mistakes, follies! The beings ought to have made the quote as ‘To err is CON’ rather than put their own name there. ‘ ‘Where on earth am I…’ I could feel my voice echoing out and not coming from my own throat. The faint red ambience spoke of a towering presence. ‘The base language is mortifying. Yet, we must honor the being who treads the place. So, it’s not earth to clear the clouds of doubt.’ ‘What is this… and what…’ ‘You were being taken to just another er... your language lacks the word for this, call it visioned reality-any one of our numerous visions that help us reach closer to perfecting our own world.’ I could not feel the facial muscles stretch in an expression of surprise in that reality. ‘So is this a farce? Is it all…’ ‘We can’t make you forget all this. So off you go.’ ‘Subject’s parameters normal’, were the words which made themselves heard upon an unbelieving ear. My eyes opened to a place which looked akin to the place where it all started from. A girl bent over me. ‘Seems ok.’ A glass lid went up and the scientist in me thought that this was a worse option than making it open from the sides. So I did remember everything. I silently looked at all. ‘Why’s this starin’ so goofy?’ ‘Buddy had a hard time.’ The girl spoke up, ‘Sorry I was late Mr.Will. I am Deb.’ My heart skipped a beat. ‘Deblina Beaumont. ESP specialist and near-death researcher. What you just experienced was a simulation of dreams of a man in his last minutes. So don’t worry. It was all pure fake…’ But only if she knew…