A Walk On Broadway

"Can you keep a secret?" echoed a soft, distant voice. It resounded between my ears, yet seemed to come from nowhere in particular.

I stopped mid-stride, now standing still among a busy urban sidewalk. What did I just hear? Or did I hear nothing more than my imagination? a phantom thought, stress induced, or possibly from the poor air quality in this part of town. I restarted my walk, as per usual, casting away the false question I decided not to have heard.

Maybe ten more steps later a sharp chill ran down my spine, through my body, out my fingers and toes. I stopped again. People pushed past me, ongoing with the current as I was a boulder in the stream suddenly.

"Good," the voice returned, this time a few decibels louder in my head. "You at least react when we need you to - a good sign of your potentiality and obedience."

"Ok..." I mouthed, nearly voiceless. Here I was now, motionless, in downtown Denver, on the side of Broadway, as everyone was hurrying to and from offices and appointments, lunch dates and gym classes. Less than a minute prior I was part of the rushing crowd, the torrent of humanism, but now, and suddenly, I was a mutable sentient being. "What's happening to me right now..."

"Keep moving. Act normal," the voice said, this time it sounded clear, robotic almost, neither distinctly female nor male, rather a blend of sexes and ages and accents in a wave of sound. "Do you believe in more than yourself? In more than what you've been taught, told, learned? What if you were to gain knowledge beyond the concept of your own reality? A universal secret that only you will have, and only you will be able to use."

I looked around. No one was noticing me, which was good, since this was weird. They were going about their own business, eyes down or glued to phones, or checking someone out from a safe distance. It seemed quite normal, except this notion of something different happening within my mind, my soul, if I could believe in it. It felt secretive, me hearing this voice, or voices, unsure of what to make of it. What's going on, I was asking myself, confident the entity creating the voice knew what I was thinking by this time.

"Human! Speak. You've been selected," the voice boomed, louder and stronger than before, drowning out my own thoughts. It was in there, in my head, whatever was happening.

"Uhh... I don't know," I replied. It was beginning to feel like a migraine.

"You do know! You must know, if you think for yourself, if you are alive, and you are, you must choose a response. Now, do it."

My breathe staggered and I became faint standing, walking slowly. I found a bench, sat down, straight under the glaring midday sun, sweating heavily, hot and cold and confused. Then a blast of glacier air hit my face, my skin chilled to goosebumps, the sun was no longer hot, but merely a lamp shining on me like a spotlight, an interrogation.

"Yes, yes," I finally eked out into my thoughts as my eyes stayed closed, unsure if I could muster the strength to reopen them in my present state. "I believe in something more, but I don't know what. I'm nobody, though. I just want to fit in with everyone else, be one in the crowd, not noticeable and definitely not special. What's happening here? Why is this happening to me?"

"Open your eyes. It's safe now," the voice said, softly again, calmly. "You are experiencing the rush of universal knowledge, of information no other human has experienced, the secrets your species has long sought. Death, life, love, evolution. All of it and none of it."

Suddenly, upon reopening my eyes, I was no longer in downtown Denver. I was flying, soaring weightlessly through a desert of vibrant colors, purple and green sand duns and starburst oranges on my left and right, hot and cold and neither, and no tangible sensations I could feel, or knew how to feel. So much was coming in, and out, and between. Chatter was filling my head, indistinguishable words, sounds of all types of pitches, songs and chants and pulsations not known within my own realm on earth.

I stopped, motionless and weightless, in a cloud of black with billions of tiny iridescent white dots around me. Thoughtless for the first time, clear minded, lucid.

"You are ready. You've gained the secrets. We will return you..."

Looking around, back in Denver, with a hot sun blaring down again, pains and aches in my neck and back like normal, except my mind was still clear. A freshly cleaned room of crystalline windows. People were circled around me, staring with concern and awe, and shocked.

"You alright buster?" a young shouted at me, looking too closely at my face, at my eyes. She had a paramedic uniform on, dark blue with a red emblem on the front. Another paramedic placed two fingers on the artery on my wrist. "We thought you were a goner for a bit there. Scared as half to death ourselves passing out right on Broadway like that."

"Yes. I am fine," I replied. "Thank you, for asking, although I am unsure why."

"You sure bought that, guy?" the other paramedic said to me with concern in his voice. Now both were staring at me, questioning my presence with notably inquisitive expressions. "We can haul you in the ambulance to the hospital if ya want. Get your head checked out, MRI or something."

"No, thank you. I feel perfectly fine, better than fine, actually," I said as if nothing wrong had happened.

The crowd gasped and took a collective step backwards as I stood up, as if I'd just returned from the dead.

"Now, if you'll excuse me..." I stated and moved along the sidewalk, along my way.

The crowd parted, scared, unsure of what secret I carried. Then, another ten or so steps further, I stopped, turned back, and saw nothing but the motion of people moving about their business. The crowd had dissipated, everyone had returned to their own normalcy.