Two Women, A Shadowy Figure, And Confusion In It's Highest Form
This has no relation to my current WIP it's just something for fun/something I might pick up later
So yeah, if it's messy, that's because this is largely for fun and not a serious, committed project
Hope you enjoy! If you do (or don't) please feel free to like, comment, and reblog to your heart's content!
"Hurry up, you're going to be late."
Having just woken up in the middle of a street, I was utterly confused by the strange woman in front of me, telling me to hurry up.
She made a disgusted sound, as though I was the single most inconvenient person she'd ever met. "Hurry. Up. You're going to be LATE."
The woman seemed very impatient to be rid of me.
"Miss, with all due respect. Late for what?"
At that point she stopped speaking to me entirely, apparently fed up with my ignorance.
She had told me I was going to be late but she didn't tell me what for, or even a direction to walk in. So I simply stood there, (unintentionally) only irritating her further judging by her general demeanor.
Despite the disgust with me that was so clearly evident on her face, she was quite attractive. She was hard to place in terms of, well, everything. She seemed to be every possible thing simultaneously, everytime I blinked she seemed to shift in appearance. Was that when possible? No, no it couldn't be, I thought. Despite the pretty exterior though, she seemed rather harsh.
Deciding it would be better NOT to stare at the woman who clearly detested me, I took in my surroundings. I was in the middle of a street and there was a car in front of me. The car was parked, no, frozen. Everything was frozen. I was suddenly extremely aware of the fact that there was no wind, no breeze, and in the middle of that street with it's lonely car, I realized nothing was moving that normally did. I peered into the car and saw the driver's face, he was unkempt with a panicked look on his face. Looking closer I saw empty alcohol bottles littering his car.
Before I could take in any more of my strange circumstances I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, expecting to see the woman, but instead found myself staring at a dark, hooded figure whose robes seemed to encase them in shadow.
"Ah, hello. There. Um, I don't suppose you could tell me what I'm late for, could you?"
The figure shook their head.
An unhelpful fellow but polite enough.
I looked over the figure's shoulder and saw the woman walking away.
"Miss! Do you want me to go with this ah, person?"
She stopped for a moment and turned back to look at me. The disgust in her eyes was enough to make me regret my question before she'd even opened her mouth.
"Yes. Now go, you're already late and I have nothing more to do with you."
Nothing...more? Whatever that meant, I didn't know. But she clearly wanted me gone.
The hooded figure placed a bony hand on my shoulder, sending chills down my spine. Wordlessly, they led my down the road. Eventually, the figure's hand became a comforting presence, as it was the only guidance I'd received all...what was it? It was hard to tell the time of day. Come to think of it, it was getting harder to tell where I was. The road seemed to have drifted off into nothingness.
But of course, I knew that roads don't do that. They don't just, drift into nothingness. That'd be silly, preposterous really!
I found myself very grateful for the person guiding me along, without them I probably would've gotten lost along the way. Their hand, though initially spine chilling, had become a warm presence. They themself were a very comforting presence. They spoke no words but they guided me gently towards our destination.
Which turned out to be my house. But not quite my house. It wasn't in my neighborhood, or even on Earth it seemed, but it was there. It looked like it at least.
I turned to my guide. "So do I go in?"
They nodded before turning to go.
The thought of going in alone make my stomach turn.
"Wait! Ah, would you...show me in?"
They seemed to be looking at me, though I couldn't tell, as their face was obscured. After a moment, they nodded, resting their hand on my shoulder and walking me to the door. They rang the bell for me before turning to go again.
I rushed to tell them one last thing. "Ah! Thank you, for guiding me. I...I needed it."
They tilted their head, as though confused by me, before nodding. A silent acknowledgment I suppose.
I turned back to the door and found myself face to face with yet another stranger.
It was another woman. Less beautiful than the first but nonetheless, she seemed very interesting. She was dressed entirely in dark, rich fabrics that seemed to engulf her small, skeletal frame.
"You've arrived I see, come inside with me."
I obliged, trusting that my guide wouldn't have led me somewhere dangerous.
I followed the woman into my living room, where we each sat down on our respective sofas. Remembering what the first woman had said, I felt guilty for keeping the poor woman waiting for me, though I still wasn't sure what she been waiting for.
"Uh, I'm sorry I'm late."
The woman smiled at me. "Oh don't worry about that, after all, time doesn't exist."
Somehow, that wasn't the most confusing thing I'd heard that day. Regardless, I was still hopelessly confused.
She looked amused with me as though I was a very small child asking a silly question.
Though I suppose I was to her.
"She told you that you'd be late, didn't she?"
The woman from before still remained nameless, much to my frustration. "Oh, yes. Yes, she did. Why was that?"
She sighed, seemingly exasperated. Not with me though, no, with the woman from before.
She stood up, heading towards the kitchen. "Life is so strange, rushing people out like that. Would you care for some tea?"
"Oh, uh, yes. Thank you," I said as I moved to follow her. She referred to life as less of an abstract concept or a state or being, and more as a being themself. Surely though, I thought, I'm overthinking it all.
She started boiling the water. "So tell me, where exactly do you think you are?"
Her question caught me off guard. Think I am? You? Not we? After all we were there together. But again, I thought, surely I'm just overthinking things.
"Well, Miss, it appears to be my house." So far it had the same layout, the same furniture, the same appearance from the outside, it was my house.
"Interesting, perhaps you should look a little closer," she suggested, not unkindly.
I looked down at the floor, it was the same tile...except, wait, there used to be a crack in the tile there. I walked back over to the living room, noticing that the walls were a slightly darker shade of green than I remembered, as though the paint had never faded. But it had, I was sure of it. It all looked the same but, off, like a strange and pristine copy of my home.
She woman turned the stove off as the kettle began to screech. "You're with me."
That wasn't a very clear answer, now was it?
"Yes, I know that, but where are we?"
"You're with me," she repeated.
"Oh, I'm afraid you wouldn't like to hear it. Can you wait until the tea is ready to ask that question?"
I'd never met this woman, how could I dislike her for simply telling me who she is? It wouldn't change anything, right? Regardless, I agreed.
She smiled gently. "Why don't you go back to the living room? I'll bring the tea out."
"Alright." So I left her there and went back to the sofa. It was all very confusing, frustrating even. Who were all these people and why wouldn't they give any direct answers to things? She didn't seem to be a bad sort of person, she seemed very welcoming actually. She'd been a very kind host, if more confusing than than a puzzle with a million pieces. At the very least, she was more pleasant than the first woman. Though, I suppose that isn't very difficult.
"Alright! Here's the tea." She came in and handed me a cup. It occurred to me that I hadn't bothered to ask what kind it was. Oh well, tea is tea after all.
She sat across from me, on the other sofa.
"So, you have some questions for me?"
Would I finally get some straight answers? Only one way to find out I supposed.
"Oh uh, yes. Yes! Firstly, who was that woman who told me I'd be late?"
"Her? Oh. Hm. How to explain...she's my opposite I suppose. Though please don't judge her by that meeting, she's a complicated thing, that one. She can be incredibly kind, or terribly cruel. You'll have to judge her based off of your previous experiences with her."
"Previous experiences? But that was my first time meeting her."
She laughed at me, apparently amused by my ignorance. "Only face to face. You've known her for as long as you've known."
So much for straight answers. "You said she's your opposite, so who are you?"
She grinned. "I'm neither kind, nor cruel. I just am. What most people don't know, is that what gets you here is outside my control. I do not bring you here, I simply welcome you."
At this point, I was beyond exasperated with the strange non-answers. "Would you PLEASE stop being vague? What's your name?"
