Horizons of Existence
Between the countless layers binding all realities, a rift had opened.
From within emerged an unknown entity, shifting, insubstantial, forgotten by all existence.
Its very being echoed through eternal silence.
No sound, yet a resonance could be felt.
The end had come.
Earth
"Wake up, idiot. We've got an appointment to get to."
"Hm… Let me sleep a few more minutes. It's not like we've got anything more important to do."
…
"Son of ######, if you sleep one more minute, I'll turn you into a hysterical little girl!"
"…You wouldn't dare."
"You wanna bet?"
With a groan, I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled into the adjoining bathroom to get ready for the day.
"I'm tired of all these appointments… this shitty life… living in a white world."
"And all this because of you, bastard!"
"Why are you blaming me? I didn't ask for this. If I had to make an analogy, I'd be a baby who never asked to be born, brought into the world by some selfish or crazy woman without my consent."
"What the hell did I just hear? Ugh, I feel like throwing up. Couldn't you think of a better analogy?"
I'll just pretend I didn't hear that…
Enough nonsense.
Time check.
My eyes flicked to the clock hanging above the door, the only one in the room.
11:25 a.m. Five minutes left!
"We'd better hurry. You know what happens if you're late."
I bolted through the floors, corridors, and rooms, knocking over several people in my rush.
Without looking back, I ran with everything I had until the meeting room finally came into view.
Breathless, I stopped at the door, my heart hammering.
"Idiot. You trying to get us killed running like that? Have you forgotten what state your body's in?"
Ignoring it, I steadied myself and knocked.
A single voice called from within: "Enter."
The doctor was already there.
"Hello, Mr. Kael. I almost thought you'd forgotten our appointment."
"Ha ha, how could I miss our monthly health check-up?"
"Time? He doesn't even remember the date. What an idiot."
"Good. Take a seat. We have a lot to discuss."
He paused.
"With some bad news about your health."
"I bet it's your damn brain again."
I rolled my eyes upward. Whose fault do you think it is?
"Mr. Kael, are you talking to your other personality... again?"
Shit. How did he know?
He sighed.
"You know that ever since you were diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, your health has only gotten worse. I called you today to tell you… you only have a few weeks left to live."
"Well… nice knowing you, roommate."
The hallway smelled like bleach and despair. I hated both.
Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, flickering like dying stars.
My reflection stared back from the glass door, dark hair, dull eyes, skin too pale to look human.
"Three weeks left," the doctor had said.
Three weeks. Funny how time suddenly feels real when you're running out of it.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and started walking. Every step echoed. Too loud. Too empty.
"You gonna mope all the way home?"
The voice was back. Smug. Familiar. Like a roommate I never asked for.
"Don't start."
"Oh, I'll start. We're dying, Kael. Might as well enjoy the encore."
I ignored it. Outside, the air was cold, too clean, too sharp. I lit a cigarette I didn't remember buying. Smoke curled upward, grey against the colorless sky.
That's when I saw it.
A crack. Floating in midair. Thin, trembling, impossible. It pulsed, like the world itself was trying to breathe through the wound.
"See that? Told you the end was near."
It wasn't mocking anymore. It sounded… reverent?
Wind howled through the fissure.
A soundless whisper.
A pull, insistent, impossible to ignore.
My chest tightened.
My vision blurred.
And for one heartbeat,
I thought I was standing at the edge.
Staring into the precipice of my own end.