When I Woke Up

I awoke as normal. In my bed, in my room. Like I had done for five thousand eight hundred forty days. That day was my sixteenth birthday, and I could not have been more excited. Everything was in its place. My mom had my favorite breakfast waiting for me on the table. Later that day we were going to buy my first vehicle with the money I had saved up mowing yards over the past few summers. Little did I know that as perfectly in place as everything seemed, nothing was as I knew it.

We headed out about 10 o’clock that morning for the used car dealership. I was on the hunt for a small truck. Something not terribly awful on fuel mileage but still something with which I could haul my lawn care tools. About the third row of vehicles, I saw it: a maroon Ford Ranger. It was positively perfect (and my favorite color)! I hoped it wouldn’t cost me more than two thousand dollars. I had 500 more than that but I really did not want to spend all the money I had bled and sweat for. School was about to start again, and I also needed new clothes.

I walked slowly to the dealership office with trembling hands and a pounding heart. It was a good nervousness but nervousness all the same. You know that feeling when you’ve worked hard for something for so long and now you are on the cusp of attainment? Fulfillment plus tension with a dash of satisfaction. My mom walked beside me beaming with a proud smile. This is what all those hard days were for, days when my friends were out having fun. Fun times that I got to hear about as a mere story after the fact.

I finally reached the front door. I took a deep breath and with all the confidence in my soul, I pulled the door open towards me, entering the office building. A warm, smiling man with greased-back hair greeted me, asking how he could assist me. I informed him that I would take the Ford Ranger (in the third row)! I pulled my stash of cash from my pocket and explained how I hoped the truck would not cost more than the healthy sum of two thousand dollars I held in my hand. Then quickly flashed the most seductive, persuasive face that I could muster. The man, with the greased-back hair, countered my facial expression with his own that was more of a confused nature.

My previous confidence was starting to take a downwards turn forcing my breakfast back up my esophagus. What would come out of that salesman’s mouth next would shake my very existence. He asked, “whatever in the world are you holding in your hand?” Perplexed, I replied, “money.” He laughed a deep belly laugh, shaking his head. “Nice try, kid. Come back when you have money to purchase the truck and hopefully, it will still be here,” he tried to say reassuringly.

I slumped my shoulders, hung my head, and walked out of the dealership like I had been kicked in the stomach by a horse. I didn’t understand. I quickly glanced over at my mother and saw a look of disappointment on her face that I hadn’t seen since I shot a squirrel with my slingshot. We rode in silence for awhile as we returned to the house. When I thought I couldn’t stand it anymore, she finally spoke. “What were you thinking, Angelina?” Oh no, I thought. She only called me that when I was in the worst kind of trouble. Otherwise, she always called me Angie. “What do you mean, Mom?” I hoarsely croaked. She angrily snapped back that she was embarrassed and ashamed of me. How dare I print weirdly shaped sheets of paper to pass as money, she continued. And why would I pick that awful green color? She returned to her state of disapproving silence, and I did not feel apt to interrupt.

As soon as we returned home, I rushed to my room. I sat down at my computer and launched the internet browser. I didn’t know what I was searching for but there was something very discombobulated about this day. The green-inked paper money is what seemed to upset everybody so I decided I should enter ‘money’ as the keyword in the search engine. As the results loaded, my brow would continue to scrunch into a furrow. What I was looking at was a complicated credit score system based on good deeds and kind acts. This would require a snack! I snuck to the kitchen, grabbing a soda and chips. When I had successfully crept back to my room undetected, I locked the door so I could sit in peace for as long as needed.

It turned out that this credit score process was not only very layered, but I had accrued a negative score by trying to earn a profit in an act of “helping others”. Only I could not for the life of me understand how mowing yards was considered helping others. They were either too busy or wanted the convenience, after all! Furthermore, this was not the case just yesterday when I mowed my last yard of the summer and received cash money payment. Next search: major events in the last twenty-four hours. Results: the largest particle collider had made a breakthrough of cosmic proportion. And consequence, apparently! Could this be my new reality, I thought? Did I awaken in a new dimension? Everything else seemed normal. My mother, too, seemed as I knew her in every way.

I sat in my computer chair for what seemed like hours. I pondered on what this could mean for my future. I decided that my first plan of action would be to figure out how to correct my negative currency score to continue existing in this new reality. My second course of action, though, would be to figure out if my reality still existed at all. I had no idea how I was going to solve this puzzle. Well, particle physics anyway! I would have to pour over theoretical sciences, parallel realities, wormholes, you name it. It’s not that this one seemed bad or wrong, but I would always wonder. I never thought that when I woke up that day, the universe would stand on its head.

I still feel like I have gone out of my mind, but I am coping and adjusting to this new set of rules I find myself in. I have my mom and she is still the wonderful, caring parent I have always known. My friends seem to be the same too. School starts back on Monday, so we’ll see how that goes. I tread forward with trepidation cloaked in hopefulness. I simply wish for no other curveballs out of cosmic left field. So long as this new existence continues to follow the current status quo, I know I will be alright. Wish me luck. Sincerely, Angie.