The Reversed Timeline

Charlie was spiritual. He enjoyed the mystic, magical beliefs, devotee to Odin, he separated himself from most societal norm, to journey into the unknown. He was particularly interested in lucid dreaming; hypothesizing that each dream, was another life, in an active, differed timeline. This obviously broke many a thought within others, especially those normalized into and around societal norms; yet, he was optimistic in his theories, and was even more so, excited to attempt another travel.

Come Monday evening, his plan was complete and he was ready to try it. He patiently cleaned the dishes after dinner, grinning a bit with the fantastized journey ahead, playing about his inner vision. He came to the bathroom, where the light created a silver cast among the porcelain, eggshell color of the walls and fixtures. He stood in front of the mirror, ready to experience his vision vividly, only wishing he had a way to record the encounters ahead. Swiftly, he squeezed the last bit of toothpaste and tossed the tube, into the silver trash can, below the sink.

Finishing brushing, after three minutes exactly, he walked to his room and crawled under his makeshift quilt. He again, breathed deeply in three times exactly, and readied himself.

He awoke in his apartment, his walls were reversed, as if the entire room had been flipped upside down. They were a darker color, a depressed blue matte. His kitchen, the fixtures and appliances hung ovcr head, as if he was walking on the ceiling. He reached upward, attempting to touch the phone, bound to the wall by a squiggly, tangled white cord. As he reached, the phone would lighten, as if dissolving into the wall.

To test another section, he walked to where the fridge would be facing distnace. He reached out, as if he were standing correctly positioned with the appliances, and watched as the above image began to open. This frightened, Charlie, as it was the first true effect of his theory. He was able to control a mild mass of energy, here. Soon, the room darkened and Charlie knew it was time to wake up, you never stay when the darkness comes, because you never know who is journeying with it.

Upon awakening, Charlie wrote his findings and documented his experiences. His next task was to find why the timeline was reversed, why the colors were inverted, and why such paranoia came with the time to wake up. Why were these instincts available? He couldn't shake the eery feelings of awkward and paranoia; like they had been sewn in from this one experience.

He got out of bed and went to the kitchen. There he saw the fridge door, open in the way he opened in his lucidity and froze. If he could makeshift the happenings in lucid dreaming, was it a separate timeline or was it chaos theory, now? The thought provoked a rumble in his stomach. He continued to the coffee maker, routinely adding the pod and choosing the largest mug available in his cupboard, still considering all the possibilities of the world reversed. At the beep of the maker, after several minutes of pondering, he turned to grab the milk from the fridge. Again, freezing in tracks, the door was now closed, locked and the screen read, "Good Morning, Charlie". He observed the lighting, dimming from the golden sun glow, to a more depressed blue shade, and immediately closed his eyes and began breathing.

One deep breath, two...finally, three- upon opening his eyes, the glow was returned through his bedroom frame and he was once again, cuddled safely under his makeshift throw, nowhere near the kitchen he was once making a cup of coffee. Was he now, stuck in a loop? Only time would tell.