Ryan steps tentatively through the long grass that dampens the bottom of his rolled up burgundy pants. It gently tickles his bare ankles as he makes his way to the top of the hill. His blue and white button up shirt flaps like a flag in the breeze. The afternoon sun peaks past the singular white cloud misplaced in the vast blue sky spreading its loving warmth on the dandelions scattered across the plains.
Reaching the summit Ryan gazes across the land that seems to be right out of a children’s fairy tale. Wild horses nibble on the grass behind him, their hooves leaving imprints in the ground as they wonder.
The sounds of rushing water coming from the side of the hill is the only thing heard. Its gentle stream snaking down towards a larger river that flows through the valley.
A small pack of buffalos quenches their thirst in the river below, small egrets stay saddled on their backs.
“This is beauty.” He says to himself as he watches the flock of sparrows play in the tall oak trees that littered the valley.
The animals in this incredible land lives in seamless harmony. It seems to Ryan as though nothing of humanities creations can come even close to that of natures beauty.
A loud crash of thunderous proportions snaps him out of that thought. Ryan’s neck snaps around searching for the startling sound. Another loud sound echoes through the land, this time a high-pitched beep followed by another and another after that.
Ryan covers his ears with the palms of his sweaty hands as he frantically rushes down the hill. The world crumbles from his feet into the void beneath it. The thought of falling urges his legs to travel faster yet it seems there is no escaping his fate.
The sky grows dark, the once blue sky now replaced with a dark depressing grey. All the while the beeping grows louder drowning out all noise.
The grass from underneath Ryan’s feet finally gives way leaving him free falling as he desperately flails his arms hoping to catch hold of anything that will save him from the fate that awaits below.
He lets out one final eardrum piecing screech as he enters the darkness of the void, the light of the world he left behind grows smaller and smaller until there is nothing but the darkness left.
***
Ryan’s eyes shoot open; his chest rising and lowering rapidly as he regains some composer. He no longer sees darkness but instead a beige ceiling tainted by spots of peeling paint. The sounds of the early New York traffic jam fills his room like a symphony played by the most annoying sounds in existence and is accompanied by his bed side table alarm.
Ryan turns his head towards it, the stubble on his chin scratches at his neck agitating him further. The red figures seems like just a blur until a couple of hasty blinks sends them back into focus. It reads 8:30am. He gathers the strength to lift his right arm and slams it on the clock. Once again his fantasies of running in the hills amongst nature is tainted by the worst invention known to man, the alarm clock.
His stomach begins to grumble as he crawls his way to the end of his bed where his wheelchair is parked. It’s not long until he is due to meet Sylvia and Brandon at the café around the corner of the block for breakfast.
The city smog smashes into Ryan’s face with its profound city stench as he wheels onto the footpath. He struggles to move as the worn down rubber wheels of his chair bounces around on the uneven concrete path.
“New York City. What a lovely place” he scoffs to himself as people pass him without a second thought or acknowledgement of his existence.
“Knock Knock. Need a hand?” Ryan turns to see Brandon who grips onto the handles of the wheelchair. The sweet smell of his cologne allows a moment of relief from the odours surrounding them both.
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“Thanks mate”, Ryan replies gratefully.
The pair turn the corner to see Sylvia already at a table outside the café with her nose buried in a notebook. Her eyebrows furrow until they almost connect. The boys know that look. It’s the same look she had when she tried to wrap her mind around the idea of stuffed crust pizza.
“ What a waste of perfectly good cheese that can go on the actual pizza.” She would always say.
“Hey Sylvie…what’s new?” Brandon says as he wheels Ryan’s chair into position at the table and apply the brakes.
“Cheers Brandon.” Ryan retorts. He reaches for the water jug and begins to pour it into a glass.
Sylvia’s head emerges from the confines of her notebook.
“Oh…hi guys! Don’t worry its nothing. I want to know how your rehab is going.” She states changing the subject. She turns and looks at Ryan, her golden hair softly swaying in the morning breeze as it rests gently on her dandelion covered dress. Its surprising how a dirty city like New York can accentuate the beauty of someone so much, Brandon thinks to himself.
Ryan blushes. He can’t help it when Sylvia looks at him with her sky-blue eyes and rosy red cheeks.
“Um…yeah it’s going really well” Ryan replies shyly.
“You’ve gotta give me more than that” Sylvia says almost in an annoyed tone.
Ryan releases the breaks to his wheelchair and rolls back a couple of feet and lets out a cheeky grin.
“Behold!” He announces as he gestures to his legs— his fair skin a complete contrast to his blue shorts.
Brandon leans over the table resting is head on his arms.
Ryan begins to tense up as he concentrates all is strength on his feet. He grips his armrest as veins protrude from his skinny forearms.
His toes slightly twitch. Eyes widen around the table.
For the first time since the car accident Ryan has feeling in his toes which is his best achievement for the year to date.
The thought of the crash still haunts him to this day.
His disability is a constant reminder of what he lost that day, not just the use of the lower half of his body but also his parents.
Endless spinal surgeries followed the incident with hours of rehab after. After three years of heartbreak Ryan finally had visible proof that all the pain is starting to become worth it.
“I can’t believe it” Exclaims Sylvia her smile matching that of his.
“Won’t be long until we can go back on those walks we used to do up Heartbreak hill” adds Brandon.
“Yeah I dream about that a lot” Ryan replies, his mind wondering back to the bliss of last night.
“That reminds me… before I forget...”Brandon declares reaching for his backpack. He unveils two thick books and offers it to Ryan.
“The best fantasy novels in the bookstore. I saved them just for you.” He hands the gift which is received graciously by Ryan.
“I can’t believe you don’t want one this month Sylvie. Usually it’s a novel you have your nose in not that tacky notebook “he says gesturing toward the book resting on Sylvia’s purse.
“I don’t need them anymore; not after what I’ve discovered” She replies.
“Go on then. Spill the beans” Ryan retorts impatiently.
“It’ll sound stupid to you guys. You’ll laugh at me…” she answers. “But ill tell you if you promise not to make fun of me.”
“We promise” the boys reply in unison. “I’m dying to hear what this thing can be” adds Brandon.
“Alright. I was talking to a girl I met at Club Monny’s last weekend. She was kind of mysterious, wore a baggy t-shirt and jeans and had massive bags under her eyes like she haven’t slept in weeks. Still, we got to talking for a little while and she was saying how she could disappear from the world we live in and enter one that was created in her head.”
“ I didn’t believe her at first obviously but she was adamant that she did and that I have to try this technique myself. She gave me a hearing aid looking device. She said that it is the device that will make my greatest fantasies come true.
“There was one more thing she told me that day…” Her gentle voice trails off for a short moment before she snaps out of her trance to finish.
“…she said to be incredibly careful not to get sucked in because though time travels faster in this world you can quite easily be sucked in. If you stay too long your real body starts to deteriorate.”
“So did you try it?” Ryan asks. “Sounds a bit like just a vivid dream to me.” He does not try to hide his scepticism.
“Yeah I did. I went through the steps she told me one night before bed” Sylvia replies ignoring the sceptic tone. “Believe me I didn’t think it was going to work either.” Sylvia stares out in the street as if lost in her recollection of the events.
“ I wanted my creation to be a utopia…a place where I can live amongst the animals of the world. I wanted it to be a place untouched by the harsh hands of humanity.”
Sylvia tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
“ I put the device in my ear like the girl told me and closed my eyes thinking of this utopia...” She stops as if apprehensive to continue with her recount.
“Well go on.” Brandon urges impatiently.
“…well it worked.” She rests her eyes on the boys who at this point are as encapsulated to her recount as school kids are during Storytime.
“So let me get this right…” Brandon exclaims in a mocking tone.
“You met this chick who tells you about some weird dream she created…believe her…. accept some weird device she gives you and then somehow create a dream of your own.”
“You don’t understand. It’s not a dream it’s transportation into a different reality.” Slyvia replies hastily. Regret seeps into her face as she reaffirms to herself that she never should’ve told anybody.
“What do they call it then?” Ryan asked jokingly. “Sounds like some Narnia crap.”
A stern look grows on Sylvia’s face.
“It’s called… Reality Transit.”