AS REAL AS IT GET

           I opened my eyes for the third time to see I was now shirtless and standing on a balcony overlooking a courtyard on a beautiful warm morning. This reality was definitely more pleasant than the previous two and I didn’t feel a strange vibe as I had with the others. The air was so fresh and everything looked new around me, including the outdoor bamboo wicker chair I realized I was leaning against. I was careful this time not to do anything that would cause me to black out again because I remembered what would happen if I ventured further than three different realities. With that in mind, I decided to remain exactly how I arrived and waited for the essence of that reality to approach me.

                                                  Jordan (Me)

           “Are you ready, Jordan?” a man’s voice asked me from within the room that the balcony was attached to. “Don’t be afraid. Come on in and learn why you’re here.”

           Slowly, I backed away from the bamboo wicker chair and immediately noticed my navel was pierced. I’d always wanted it pierced but never had it done because I was afraid of what people would think if they ever saw it. I stopped thinking about it as I proceeded into the room. Unlike the previous two realities, nothing seemed familiar at first. I’d never seen the outside nor the inside of that room before in my life. However, when I noticed who was lying on the bed, I realized familiarity had taken the form of someone from my personal life. His name was Bryce and he was my girlfriend’s best friend and roommate. I had no idea why he was appearing to me in nothing but a pair of yellow briefs but there he was.

           “What is this?” I asked him.

           Keeping his attention on the large uncovered windows that showed the other side of whatever building we were in, he sighed and told me, “As with your last journey and the one before that, there can only be one way forward. If you make a mistake then you will proceed to your fourth and we both know what that means.”

                                                   Bryce

           “Bryce, what do you have to do with any of this?”

           “You tell me. I’m in your process, not the other way around. If I’m here then it means you want me here.”

           “That doesn’t make any sense. It would make more sense if Rochelle was here half-naked.”

           “Why am I here then? Make it make sense, Jordan.”

           As I tried to think of a reason for why he was there, I noticed how the morning sunrise caused a singular beam of light to bounce off of his golden skin. He was as heavenly pure as a virgin in holy water and as hauntingly beautiful as honey being harvested from a honeycomb covered in killer bees. I knew I was meant to admire him in that moment; however, the thought of going past admiring him seemed dangerous. I’d never wanted to see him that way before; yet somehow, that was the way he appeared to me. If this was truly my mind’s doing, I indeed wanted him as he was.