Parallel Heart by J L Robinson

Author:J L Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783066414
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

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Flipped, reversed upside down, I now stand upright. Expectedly confused, my passing fooled me into believing that I would land with a thump. Though, after readying myself, the need was not, as my miraculous materialisation be nothing but a change in scenery. Blinking into a new world, I take in foreign surroundings.

Though alien, this alternative world is still familiar, with its office buildings and sounds of tooting cars. Peering out from one of the ultramodern, evenly surfaced structures, I see stretches of evermore-mountainous blackened buildings, glimmering in the sun’s rays. Pressing my head against the cold, smooth surface, I eyeball a computerised square of wall. Detailing the temperature, date and time, it also projects, in the form of a segmented neon lime pie, a breakdown of the population. Useful as it seems, the gloom of these ominous-sized eyesores make for a dominative environment.

Recomposing myself, I glance down behind me and see Julia bending over, readjusting her backpack. As she looks up, her relief is evident to my having followed her, and so with a smile she compliments her proud, watery-eyed look of love. Within this I sense an essence of apprehension from Julia, which is quickly dismissed as she takes my hand and timidly rests her head against my arm.

“Welcome home,” she says.

Her words cement and harden in my lungs, making breathing a struggle as she speaks the daunting truth. Much like an animal taken from its natural habitat and placed somewhere similar, I am unknowing of the new laws of the land. I shall ride with my stabilisers on, until Julia shows me how to balance without falling off and grazing my knees.

Still messing around with her backpack, she pulls out a hat and thrusts it towards me, “Put – this on.”

Inspecting the dark brown brimmed hat has me wanting to vocalise my sheer dislike for wearing any type of headwear. I keep quiet, as not wanting to annoy her already with one of my numerous neuroses. Thrusting it onto my head, I position it to obscure most of my facial features.

“Head down,” she insists. Not giving me a chance to ask why, Julia drags me out into the oncoming rushers by. The packed volume of human traffic is akin in congestion to the major capital cities of home. Overpopulations of people rampage down the badly-designed narrow walkway, like meteors, they threaten to obliterate us.

Managing to bustle our way into a smoked-filled café, we hide from the baying crowds. Inside, the solemn customers read what appear to be foldable newspapers, made from a thin acetate material.

Burrowed down, this basement’s coffee-coloured walls appear darker, as thin-slit windows are placed up at street level, enabling all who are inside to see only the quick patters of centipede feet outside.

Still scrambling for breath, we find a secluded spot in the corner. Emulating a gentleman, I pull out Julia’s chair. We chortle at the awkwardness of being civilised in such a dump. “What do you want?” I ask, before Julia gets a chance to offer me.

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