Lacuna

"Listen, I know hearing to someone says that there's an existence of an alternate universe and, you can have an experience of it, may sound ridiculous-- but it's true. Why don't you see for yourself before making any judgment out of it? And one more thing doesn't talk about any of this to people who aren't too close to you. Awareness of this should be maintained very limitedly."

"So you're saying that I can go into my alternate life and live in it?"

"No, no, no. Now you are getting the wrong idea. You can't live in it, but you can watch it. Like watching movies or plays that happen right before your eyes."

"I can only watch it? Ah, it's kinda disappointing, but anyway I don't buy what you just said. So how did you come to know of it? "

"Just like you knew from me."

"So, how was the experience of watching your alternate life? "

"you can't know the taste of ice cream by someone describing it. You can only know if you taste it. "

"Well, how can I get the taste of this."

"No. 745, Silverstone beach, Emerald City, 65072.

 You'll know when you are there. It's a silent house by the sea. And lastly, try to keep it as secret as possible as you can"

Try to keep it secret? I think they should aware of someone eavesdropping on it before they talk something in private. Well, I don't think it as I'm eavesdropping, because they should know the wall are thin and be cautious to talk around in a work environment like this. I would say it's more inevitable than eavesdropping. Honestly, I don't give a damn about it, but the experience of an alternate life. It's like that one of the guys said, sounds ridiculous. But what if it isn't? There's nothing in my life that remains meaningful after l lost my wife. Why should I work?, why should I earn? Why should I eat?, Why should I wake up every morning? Why?

After all the thoughts I had in my mind, I begin to move, and then a voice stops me. 

"Peter".

It's Lacuna. My co-workers.

"I just want to talk to you. Are you busy or something? We can talk later if you say so", she said.

"No. Nothing important. Anyway, I'm getting to leave right now. What is it Lacuna?"

"This Sunday evening, I'm having a little party for my daughter. She's turning seven now. I want you to be there for her."

"Ah-- I'm afraid I can't be there, I going somewhere even I can't sure about that place"

"It's okay. She always wants to go to Disney World maybe we can go next weekend. She really likes you, when she met you last month and wants to see you again."

"Again I'm sorry to say this, but if the place I'm going for is real, it would be the place where I'll find myself again because I've been lost in this world for so long and I don't want to wander anymore here again" 

"I think I messed it up for good. Peter, it's true when I said my daughter likes you a lot, but not she only. I completely understand what you're going through, because I've been there too when I lost my husband and wandered in the dark for too long, But when I met you I found some spark in there and it grows into flames even when my daughter likes you too. I thought that it would be our chance to come out of there, together. "

"Lacuna, I really love my wife very much. I don't think you will ever understand that"

Her eyes fill up with tears, she tries to say something but the words struggle between her shivering cheeks and she left. Even after she left, my mind tries to find what causes her to lose herself and cry, because the look in her eyes it's certain that it's not about the refusal of her feelings towards me. What was it?

A silent house by the sea--

I entered the door and found myself standing alone in the hall. The hall was almost the size of a tennis court and surrounded by eight-sided octagon walls and one foot squared seat in the center of it. While there's no one in here at the moment, I moved forward to the seat to wait for someone. Seconds after I sat on the seat, words begin to conjure in front of me with a voice and I was surprised to notice a transparent glass, almost invisible there before me and the words and the voice that uttered are-- Welcome to the arena of an Alternate Reality.

Every side of the wall projects visuals of me in this room, but each of them is different where I'm doing different sort things in it. Then more words were continued to appear on the glass.

 The visuals around you are some of an alternate reality of you in this room.

"Hello"

Hi, I'm Alterea.

"Alteria. Alterea. Interesting. So how much does this going to cost me?"

We are doing this for an experiment and we won't charge you for any of this. 

"Does this experience involve any dangerous effects on me?"

The process involves in the experiments contains no hazardous effects.

"So no malfunctioning kind of thing?"

The only risk involved would be your own decision to experience the alternate life events that may affect you in this life, So make your decision now.

"I want to do it."

We need a name and a password from you to continue your profile for the next session if you decide to visit again and don't use your real name.

"Hmm... Robert"

Not available. Try again

"Okay"

Not available. Try again

"No. I meant okay to try again"

Confirm your name-- No I meant okay to try again.

"No."

The name does not match. Try again.

"Robert Raymond"

Confirm your name-- Robert Raymond.

"Robert Raymond".

Hi, Robert Raymond. Choose your password.

"A light in the dark."

Confirm your password.

"A light in the dark."

We are going to commence the procedure, please close your eyes now. 

"Sure."

My tummy starts to get the feeling that we have while going down in an elevator and I got curious to see what's going on. Opening my eyes a tiny bit to peek. Five circle feet of floor around my me going down and also revolving right side. There's nothing I can see now other than the hole of the floor about gradually closing as if a full moon turns into a new moon and it's completely dark everywhere. The floor beneath me stopped moving down and revolving, then moves forward. The voice of Alterea came and the floor stopped moving completely.

Hi, Robert Raymond. Put your arms above you and you will find a helmet. Wear it.

You can choose any moment of your life to see its alternate one and you can also specify the alteration of that moment.

I already knew which moment I want to alter, it's the car accident, where I lost everything. If that only not happened, but instead I chose a different version of it. Why didn't I choose the one where the accident didn't occur.

"I want to see the one where I died instead of my wife".

Visuals projecting in thirty seconds--

Lying on our bed in sideways-- morning ten-thirty now-- she's still sleeping like always and like always I'm watching my sleeping beauty except that it's not beside her. I wake her up every morning gently biting her ear and she does her sleepy simile while her eyes are still closed. 23 minutes later, she begin to move her hand reaching to her ear and rubbing it. A drop of tear falls down her nose while her eyes are still closed. And the day almost went like that watching her dead inside. 

"Alterea, I want to see if there is any other life where my wife would be happy, after my death?"

Visuals projecting in thirty seconds--

Lying on the bed sideways, she's still sleeping.

She is smelling something while her eyes are closed. Some guy entered the room with a coffee and it's the aroma of a coffee that she smelled. He's spooning her and she finally opened her eyes and took a sip of the coffee. And he kissed her neck gently.

My wife begins to say something.

"John, thank you for coming into my life. I realised something because you, that people who haven't moved on from their past life will live as dead. I had this thought one day that what if I died in that accident instead of him, then he would also live his life as me, miserably. And I don't wish that kind of life for him. He said once to me that he doesn't wish to live in a world where I won't find a smile anywhere else and I wish to think that he's still alive as long as I can able to smile. And I'm grateful for you to bring that and him back to my life.

"Alterea, I wish to end the session."

Visuals shutting down in a few seconds.

Use can use your alias and the password if you wish to continue the profile in your next session.

"There won't be one".

Do you wish to end your profile permanently?

"Yes"

Can you tell us why do you wish to end your profile for our survey?

"At first, It felt uneasy to watch someone touching the love of my life, my wife-- a third person holding her hands, spooning her, and kissing her. But it's not him, I am that third person peeking into someone's else intimate life. I lost my wife in a car accident that's all there is to say. It doesn't matter even if that's me in another alternate life being with her, he is just someone else living his own life. He's not you and you will never be him.

I thought I know what love is, but I'm not and nobody will ever.

Love is much simple, You know. It's about being selfish-- to have someone only to ourselves. It's also much complex, you know, Being selfless to that person-- all we want is to see them happy, even if we are no part of their happiness.

We need the password of your profile to delete permanently.

"A light in the dark".

Your profile erases permanently in thirty seconds.

"Alterea, what's the time now."

05: 27 PM

I can still make it there.