Ten Seconds of Confusion

All I heard was a steady beeping.

The steady beeping of what though? I wondered. It wasn’t a bird, that was for certain, though if it were it would likely be a new species. It wasn’t a person either as far as I could tell, it was too rhythmic, too.. machine-like.

Machine.

Machine. It was the beeping of a machine. But what machine?

One second has passed. Nine seconds remaining.

One second has passed? Surely that was longer than a second. Surely.

“Umm… I think there’s been a mistake. That was much longer than a second. Oh, and where am I anyway? Prison?” I conjectured.

“There has been no error Daniel Stanley, one second did indeed pass.” a voice calmly… said?

No, not said. It was too… too much like my own thoughts. Maybe penetrated?

“As to where you are, that is for you to determine. One point four seconds have passed, eight point six seconds are remaining.” The voice was very articulate, punctuating each word with mechanical clarity.

Where was I, where was I? I was clueless.

“There will be no clues Daniel Stanley”

“Wait, what? How…?”

“I know all your thoughts Daniel Stanley. This is the way things are.”

“No you don’t that’s impo…

“…ssible?”

“Yes. Exactly that.”

"It is not impossible Daniel Stanley, only improbable. Anything is possible in theory.” I paused to think but my thoughts were interrupted. "Now, Daniel Stanley. Where. Are. We?”

“I don’t k…”

“You do know Daniel Stanley you must remember. Oh, and in case you were wondering two seconds have passed, there are eight seconds remaining.”

“What!?” I exclaimed “How is that even possible... probable.. likely to happen, I don’t know?” But the voice was silent.

My mind began racing furiously. If so much could happen in one second, then it seemed likely that I was outside the bounds of reality, or at least the reality I was used to.

But where was I?

Seconds passing slower than usual, a voice inside my… no, that wouldn’t be accurate. A voice coming from somewhere and a steady rhythmic beeping. It had to be somewhere.

But where?

“Two point two seconds have elapsed” the voice said. “Seven point eight seconds remaining.”

“Do you have to count out loud so often?” I asked angrily.

“No, the voice replied, but most people prefer me to. It keeps them accountable.”

“I see. Well, I would like to guess where I am.”

“All of your current guesses are wrong.” the voice intoned. “It is not a hospital, or a morgue or any building in which you might be expect to be dead.”

“Well is the beeping at least from a machine then? A heart monitor?”

“You are correct on that account”

“Well where could I be?” I cried angrily “If I am not in a building where I might expect to die, and it seems certain that I am dead…I am dead, right?”

“You are not dead.” the voice replied. " And neither are you living before you ask. Oh, and just for your information, two point eight seconds have elapsed, seven point two seconds remaining.”

I began thinking some more.

“Right, okay. So I am neither living nor dead, am not in a building in which I might expect to die and have less than ‘seven point two seconds remaining.’” I surmised.

“Correct.”

“So I am between states?” I asked

“Yes. You are between states.”

My mind began swirling, making mental lists of all that I knew. I was between states, that I knew for sure, and I was not in a building in which I might expect to die…

Building.

“I am in a vehicle!” I exclaimed

“Correct” The voice replied. “You are in a vehicle.”

“Then, then, then I must be in an amb…”

“Seven point one seconds remaining”

“Am I in an ambu…?”

“Seven point zero five seconds remaining”

“I am in an ambulance!” I cried.

“Yes.” The voice answered dejectedly. “You are in an ambulance”

“Why?”

“I cannot tell you” said the voice.

“Cannot, or will not?” I asked

“Will not”

“Yes you will”

“I will n…”

“You will. And you will tell me now”

The voice remained silent for a moment.

“Time is running short” I said. “You have six point eight seconds remaining”

“It is not possible for you to know that”

“Not probable” I replied. “It is possible, just not probable”

The voice remained silent, and then sighed. “You are being transported. You are in a critical condition. It is probable that you will die”

“Why?”

“This I do not know”

I felt the truth behind the words of the voice. Not alive, not dead, but dying. Why? I began casting my mind back, searching for clues.

Wind.

The wind had something to do with it.

Water.

Water? Did I drown?

Lights.

Many lights. Red lights, yellow lights, blue lights.

Blue lights.

“How many seconds remaining?” I asked

“There are six seconds remaining.”

Six seconds, six seconds to figure this all out.

Wait. Figure what out? And for what?

“What am I trying to figure out?” I asked. “And why?”

“Where you are and what you were doing” was the reply. “It is essential that you do this or you will die.”

“I see.”

Think, think, think I told myself. Where was I? What was I doing? What… day is it?

“Hey, hey voice. Wait… can I call you voice?”

“You may. It is the 27th of December in the year Two Thousand and Twenty.”

I conveyed my thanks.

Steady beeping, wind, water, lights, especially blue lights. What could it all mean?

Maybe I needed to try a different approach?

“Voice.” I began. “Who are you?”

“I am whoever you wish me to be. You created me.”

“I created you?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“The trauma of the incident left you mentally unstable. You created me as a way to respond to all that is happening.”

“You seem older than that though. You speak like an adult.”

“This is correct” the voice intoned. “You created me many years ago when you were a child.”

His words rang true. His words carried an air of familiarity, the smell of days gone by. He seemed no longer a voice, but a part of me.

“Yes.” the voice answered. “I am a part of you.”

“Voice.” I began. “How long do I have left?”

“Four point one seconds are remaining”

“I see.”

Try as I might I could not piece it together. Was I just crazy? I was talking to a voice inside my head after all. No, I couldn’t be crazy. Well, I could, but was it probable? I thought for a moment. No. It wasn’t probable. So far everything lined up and made sense, but maybe that’s what a crazy person would say. My mind whirred like the wheels of a bicycle.

Bicycle.

Bicycle. Bicycle. Bicycle.

“ I am, or rather, am I a cyclist?”

“You are not currently a cyclist.”

“Aha!” I exclaimed. “Not currently. But I was?”

“Yes. You are correct. You were a cyclist in your mortal life. You were a cyclist at the time of your passing. You will die a cyclist.”

“Time of my passing? I thought I wasn’t dead?” I stymied.

“You were not” the voice answered softly. “Now you are”

The beeping slowed, then came to a stop.

“Congratulations” the voice said. “You figured it out.”



Then, I heard nothing.