The Law of Inertia: A strange pull

He stared into the distance, drawing in each breath of oxygen with his chest. It felt as though there was not enough air — not only in his lungs, but in his life itself. For a long time now, he had been searching for the meaning of why he should continue working at the publishing house at all. Every day brought the same monotonous articles about fleeting celebrity scandals, containing nothing new except photographs of movie stars captured in ever more revealing angles of their moral downfall.

While strolling through the park, he failed to notice how quickly time had passed. His lunch break turned out to be shorter than usual that day.

Passing the last bench near the park exit, he noticed a couple. The man wore strange-looking glasses with elongated frames at the sides. The woman was wrapped in a red shawl. Both looked puzzled. They were holding hands, yet seemed distant, as if their thoughts belonged somewhere far away. He walked past them, took a few steps forward, then, for some reason, turned around. The couple was gone.

“Strange…” he thought and moved on.

Approaching the publishing house, he once again stumbled over the first step leading to the entrance — just as he did every day.

“Damn it all…” he muttered, repeating the same words for what felt like the hundredth time.

At the door he was met by Alex — an intern who had been training there for about half a year. A twenty-year-old kid whose wardrobe changed only in one detail: his socks. Or rather, their color — from neon green to burgundy with little flowers.

“You did it again, Mr. Adams,” Alex said with a slight grin.

“What exactly?” Adams snapped irritably.

“You stumbled again. Like every day… Oh—sorry,” Alex suddenly turned pale. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Yeah… right,” Peter replied shortly.

Peter Adams — the rank-and-file journalist of the month. A splendid title he could just as well have earned for five years of work at the publishing house. His life had long turned into a gray, sticky routine: coffee and haste in the morning, endless work during the day, a sandwich for lunch at a small café near the city park, then work again, and in the evening — television and emptiness. No ambition. No forward motion.

Once, everything had been different. Once, he had shown great promise at university in the journalism program. He had been the best. In everything. Always…

Lost in thought, he failed to notice the girl standing right at his desk.

“Come with me. I know what to do,” she said calmly.

“But…” Peter faltered — and suddenly noticed the red shawl. The very same one he had glimpsed in the park.

Curiosity proved stronger than fear. He followed her. The girl’s walk was fast yet strangely smooth. It felt as if only he could see her. Suddenly she vanished behind the door of the conference hall. Peter flung the door open and stepped inside.

He found himself in a dark room, nothing like the familiar bright office he knew so well. The door slammed shut behind him and vanished just as mysteriously as the girl in red.

“Where am I?.. Is anyone here?”

Silence answered him.

“Who are you? I’m probably here by mistake. How do I get back out?” Adams said, but no reply came.

“What do you want?!” he finally burst out in irritation.

“Just sit down,” a voice came from nowhere.

It was calm, even, almost emotionless — the kind of voice usually heard from news anchors.

Peter looked around. In the dim light, the outline of an old chair emerged.

“First you will answer my questions! I won’t do something I consider unnecessary!”

“You already are, Peter Adams. Every day. For five years,” the voice replied in the same calm tone. “Every working day you walk along the alleys of the city park without ever looking around. But today you did. And that became a fateful decision.”

“But I…” he began, not understanding himself why he felt the need to justify anything.

“The law of inertia,” the voice said. “Have you ever heard of it?”

“The laws of physics are familiar to almost everyone,” Adams answered uncertainly, yet with growing courage.

“Excellent. Then we will work well together. Now return to the door through which you entered. We will find you again. And remember rule number one: obey the law of inertia — and your life will change…”

The voice vanished.

Peter rose from the chair, pushed open the door — and suddenly found himself back in his office among the familiar desks, papers, and noise.

In complete bewilderment, he slowly sat down at his workplace.

“Obey the law of inertia — and your life will change…”

What could that possibly mean?

He had no time to sink into his thoughts when the employees suddenly began rushing toward the window.

“Look! The intern… Alex… He’s on the roof!”

End of Part One.