Days have been getting shorter and shorter.
Simon sighed as he stepped onto the crosswalk with a dull expression.
With his short and lean stature, all he could see were shoulders passing him by from the corners of his eyes. The suit he wore would have been a beautiful work of art, had it not been for his slouching posture he had grown habit out of.
It's already been a full year at this damn company. I'm… tired.
Being lost in thought for a while, Simon found himself standing in front of a tall sky scraper. A building this gigantic probably stood at around 50 floors.
He let out another long sigh, shook his head and entered the building through the large glass doors, his presence blending in seamlessly with the dozens of people going in and out of the building every few minutes.
Simon kept a dull expression on his face as he glanced momentarily over at the reception desk where a long line stood.
His gaze quickly moved on as he did too, sparing a glance at the luxurious cafeteria where men and women dressed in corporate suits and luxury dresses sat, their mouths never ceasing movement.
He retracted his gaze and looked straight ahead at the elevator he was steadily approaching, before looking down and continuing in silence.
When he reached the elevator, he was first to enter. He was followed by a small crowd of employees, who seemed to pay him no mind.
Once the doors closed, however, they started stealing glances at the short man who stood quietly at the corner.
"Is that…"
"Shhh! Yes, that's the president of the research department."
"That's ridiculous."
Their whispers, although soft, reached Simon's ears without fail. He paid them no mind, however.
Little by little, they cleared out until he was the only on left in the elevator. On the 45th floor, he eventually got off.
A short corridor led directly to a beautiful brown door.
A woman stood at that door.
When he reached her, she bowed slightly with a calm expression.
"Good morning, President Cole."
The heavy, straight strands of her glossy black hair fell down her back like thick curtains. She wore an elegant black suit that complemented her beautiful hair, and had flawless white skin.
She looked like a slightly older version of him.
"Good morning, Diana."
She opened the door for him and followed him in, closing it behind her.
"How many times have I told you to not address me so casually Simon."
She had a vicious grin on her face as she spoke, betraying the cold demeanor she displayed a mere moment ago.
Simon chuckled slightly.
"It's very strange that my own sister would address me by my last name."
Her left eye twitched for a moment.
"You brat! Ah, forget that, when are you going to start looking more presentable as a president?! Look at yourself!"
She wasn't wrong. Apart from the expensive suit, Simon looked a mess.
His raven black hair covered a great portion of his face and his skin was extremely pale. Four luxurious golden earring hung from his ears, two on each side, the exact same as his sister. However, his could barely be seen under all of that hair.
"We need to get to the meeting soon, Diana. It's almost 9 am."
She stared at him with a furious expression.
This punk is ignoring me!
…..
Five minutes before the meeting started, Simon and Diana walked into the large room with the huge round table in its center.
All of the seats were occupied and only one was left open.
Simon walked up to the chairman and to a seat next to him, to his right.
The chairman smiled at him and nodded slightly.
"Alright, the meeting can start."
As soon as he spoke, a woman on the opposite end lifted her hand.
She had red hair, certainly a dye job along with plump red lips and beautiful amber eyes. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman anyone in that room had ever laid eyes on.
The chairman looked at her and nodded his head.
"Yes, Ms Charvi?"
Her lips curved up, her pen spinning in between her slender fingers.
"I feel disrespected, chairman."
Her voice was smooth and calm, and so was her face.
"I'm sure we've all seen your incredible academic achievements on paper, young mister Cole. However, does that really warrant firing a president who's been here for two decades and replacing him with an eighteen year old, chairman?"
Following her words, silence enveloped the room.
Shifting slightly, the chairman faced Simon with a polite smile and gestured with his hand for Simon to speak.
The old man showed little signs of being in his fifties. Besides the graying stubble on his face, he looked to be around the age of 35.
Simon glanced at the old man, then looked up to face Charvi.
He had not had the chance to reintroduce himself following his recent promotion—so hoped to use the opportunity here, to display a mature and more likable demeanor. To atleast try to get along with them.
"I…"
However, the opportunity never came.
What Simon remembered to be a room full of executives dressed in designer clothing and proud faces, was no more.
His eyes widened behind the thin strands of hair covering parts of his face.
The air had warmth to it, completely different to the air conditioners he sat under just a moment earlier.
A cold sweat trickled down his face.
The fancy meeting room was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was in a wide corridor, so long that he couldn't see the end to it.
Pink glow reached across the floor, illuminating the pink and blue paint style that dressed the corridor walls.
Simon blinked. Once, twice, the meeting room refused to return.
"What?"
His gaze darted behind him. No conference table, no executives, most importantly, no Diana. Only an endless corridor washed in pink light.
Simon forced himself upright.
It wasn't until Simon took a step forward, that he felt a strange cold sensation on his legs and a strange sound as he took a step forward.
His heart tightened instantly, his head shooting downwards!
Seeing his pants stuck tightly to his legs, the lower part of them a darker shade of black than what was on his knees and thighs his eyes narrowed.
On the ground…
"This… this doesn't make any sense."
A sheet of crystal clear water coated the hallway, no deeper than two inches. The floor shimmered beneath a skin of still water, turning any movements of his legs into rippling constellations.
His heartbeat still felt uneven.
Whatever this place is… standing here won't answer anything.
He took a hesitant step forward once more and continued forward at a slow but steady pace. At the same time, his eyes moved around the hallway again this time studying it with closer attention.
The hallway reminded Simon of a school corridor after every one had gone home, though he never attended a school that looked remotely like this.
Warm fluorescent light hummed softly with the rhythm of a distant lullaby, carrying the strange reassurance of somewhere he'd forgotten.
Simon forced himself to pace his breathing.
In. Out. In. Out.
His pulse settled enough for his thoughts to untangle.
"Observe first, panic later."
But all too strange. It feels all too much like… like a dream.
His gaze drifted to a thin crack that ran along the wall a few meters ahead as he took cautious steps forward.
No but… How could a dream be this consistent?
The crack remained exactly where it had been.
He frowned.
Another step.
Still no closer. His pace quickened, water rippling around his ankles as he crossed the hallway each splash echoing further than it should have been. It was of no use though, because the crack never seemed to approach.
Simon stopped.
The silence returned. His breathing regained it's unnatural and loud rhythm.
"…No."
He blinked hard and then looked again, this time watching the walls instead of the crack.
They moved.
The pastel walls drifted apart, widening by fractions too small to notice until they had already happened. The fluorescent lights glided with them, never breaking their perfect rhythm while the ceiling stood unmoving above his head.
It was slow enough that the eyes wanted to deny it, but not slow enough to miss it.
Simon's throat tightened.
He hadn't moved in place. The hallway had.
"A dream. This… this is definitely a dream."
His eyes started darting around the room again.
Nothing.
Just the stretching wall, endlessly expanding the hallway in both directions with no exit in sight.
Why would a dream be this real. It feels so real!
Simon reached his right hand out to his left hand and placed two fingers on his wrist.
A pulse.
He looked down at his hands, feeling the violent pounding of his pulse at his wrist. Then his eyes narrowed, his gaze moving past his hands.
On the rippling reflections of the water on the ground, he saw himself. However, past that, he didn't see the ceiling or the lights placed on it.
He saw clouds.
Clouds?
His head shot up to look at the ceiling. On their way up, something dark flashed in his line of vision up ahead. But his head was too fast to properly see what it was.
His chest tightened.
The ceiling looked normal, however he only caught a glimpse of it before dropping his head again quickly.
Straight ahead, beyond several pools of pink light stood a lone silhouette.
He couldn't exactly make out what it was from a distance but it seemed human.
Simon remained in place.
His breathing quickly calmed but he was still on edge.
Why hasn't he approached? He could be weary of me, just like I am of him.
He lifted his foot slightly, ready to take a step forward. Then he stopped.
No. How did he get here? This hallway has been stretching this entire time and it hasn't stopped. How was he able to come to me? Why haven't we been drifting further apart because of the stretching?
Simon's foot dropped back into place.
He stood in silence for about 10 seconds, then a ripple spread across the water.
Far ahead, the silhouette shifted.
The sound arrived several seconds later.
It didn't take many step for Simon to realize that it was actually closing the distance between them, unaffected by the stretching.
When it reached the crack, its steps came to a halt.
"Wha…"
He took an involuntary step back.
As the silhouette drifted closer, details slowly emerged through the fluorescent haze.
It wore a perfectly tailored charcoal suit that hung neatly over a lean and lanky frame. Although it's steps sent ripples across the floor, his black leather shoes never sank into the shallow water.
Above his shoulders… there was no head.
An old cathode-ray television rested where on should have been.
It's dull gray casing was worn smooth by time, rounded at the corners and streaked with tiny scratches.
It's screen was off at first, only dull gray glass on it's surface.
It stood there for a few seconds, as if evaluating Simon in silence.
Suddenly the screen glowed with a pale, bluish light, interrupted only by thin lines of static that rolled across it in complete silence.
Then silence fell onto the hallway.
This time it was different. No trickling of water from below. No breathing. Even the fluorescent lights seemed to have stopped humming.
The screen flickered.
Then a voice emerged from it.
It was hoarse and deep.
"Children of the endless once dreamed of peace. Now, we dream of hope."