A young man dozed on a recliner kicked back with his feet up. A cozy microfiber throw blanket draped over him. Last night had been another all nighter and even though late afternoon sun shone directly in his face he didn't shift at all. Though when a breeze blew over him he scrunched up his eyes in consternation. There wasn't a window open in the whole house, and now that he thought about it there wasn't one next to him to let in the sun either. These rather slow realizations blundered through his waking mind and were followed quickly by frustration. One of his roommates must have dragged him and the recliner outside, well no it had to have been at least two. This recliner wasn't exactly light and neither was he.
Ozzy had never been one for practical jokes and didn't know why they bothered since they'd likely not get the reaction they were hoping for. Rubbing his eyes to remove the sleep he cracked them open and sure enough there was a clear sky above him. Which was not just strange since he'd gone to sleep in the living room but because a clear sky was rare in early spring. He turned toward the house, or at least where he thought it might be but it wasn't in that direction. Which again was strange as there was only one direction he'd see an open sky as they were on a basic suburban street with the exception of one side of the street being undeveloped yet. However, what he saw in the other direction was just more open sky. Silently he cursed whoever the fuck decided this would be funny and cast his gaze in every direction but only saw more of the same. That's when he made the decision to look down and immediately wished he hadn't. As below him was actually just more sky, well other than the recliner and small section of flooring it was sitting on.
Contradictory to every statement he'd ever made about him not being one to overreact Ozzy unfortunately did just that. Unfortunately because sitting on a recliner on a small section of floor in an endless expanse of sky is probably a perfect definition of precarious. Not unlike himself the Recliner also didn't react well to its sudden change of situation. The jerky and wild movements of the human atop it ultimately started a wobble that only helped to further unsettle the occupants nerves, and of course further its wild movements. It was only the fact that humans most commonly try to shield themselves, by bringing their appendages closer to themselves when faced with danger that prevented the whole mess to get completely out of control and topple over. At least that's what Ozzy reassured himself with as he panted and tried to steady his nerves, heartrate, and body to prevent further upsets.
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Most young men think themselves rather well put together, and capable when it comes to dangerous situations, but honestly in this day and age facing danger isn't a common occurrence or even a rare one and you never know how you'll react until you come face to face with it. Ozzy would not be quick to admit just how long he sat there puffing with his eyes screwed shut. Eventually his heart rate slowed and his panic subsided. After which he peeked out again, first around him to confirm he didn't see the house. Which he didn't, let alone anything else for that matter. Just the ever-present clear sky. Tilting his head painstakingly slow over the edge he looked down carefully, and sure enough there was more sky below. As far as he felt safe peeking out there was nothing more to see but sky.
Sitting back he pondered his situation. There was not much he had to go on. Feeling himself over, even pinching seemed to imply he was fully awake. Never once had there been a dream so realistic, not even a tenth as much. This didn't seem like the afterlife, but neither of those were very helpful insights. As there was no way to be certain either of them weren't the case, other than just stating that wasn't it. Instead there was more he could do to explore. There was a bit of space around the recliner on all sides. The whole area being about a meter. Without a way to measure he couldn't be absolutely sure, but it was close enough. Cautiously he moved back to a fully upright seating position, locking the recliner in place. Double and triple checking that the recliner was locked before moving any further, The recliner was inconveniently centered on the square. This gave barely enough room to stand on the edge which was too much of a gamble in Ozzy's mind. Instead he inched the chair and himself backward carefully going from toe to heel repeatedly. Which wasn't easy given the heft of the recliner.
Taking no chances again Ozzy tested things out first. Gingerly putting a small amount of weight on his feet then slightly more repeatedly ensuring he was certain of his ability to stand without wobbling in the slightest before standing fully. Even then he never lifted his hands from the recliner arm rests and quickly turned to face it rather than the open sky. Being unsure he wouldn't falter anyway after seeing the expanse of nothing opening up around him. While facing the recliner he now had a better view as he moved it further backward and now toward the corner, giving him even more room on the tile of floor he had. Now he sat on the space provided and again took a moment to center himself before moving again. Heights had never been a particular fear of his, but seeing just complete absence in all directions initiated a new level of fright.
Leaning once more yielded the same results. Confirming there really was nothing below, although now the edges of the square of floor were visible. The faux hard wood and the subfloor looked cleanly cut on the edge of the square. Below that the beams of the floor were fit perfectly on all sides as if a new structure designed specifically to hold this square had been constructed, with ninety degree metal plates on the corners securing each side together. The implications weren't clear but at the very least it appeared this wasn't a cutout of a section of the floor he, and the recliner had been sitting on rather a representation of it. That was something but didn't explain anything about the situation.
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Ozzy decided to take a risk. A calculated one. Flipping himself over in the small space left by the recliner wasn't easy but with molasses like movements he did it without causing a panic to rise again. Now he lay with his stomach to the floor and was able to reach his arm down and under the flooring he was sitting on. The sensation was strange, and at first he wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but after letting his arm go limp his hand semi floated oddly, as if it was attracted to the bottom of the floor but was pushed away by his own arm which was being pulled in the other direction. Initially he pulled his arm back and shook it, feeling weirded out by the sensation, but eventually put it back and retested. It's always better to retest a hypothesis than to go off of assumptions and feelings, even first hand and recent ones. This time he allowed his arm and hand to hang limp for a good few seconds and observed. Sure enough the hand moved toward the under side of the flooring, in turn twisting and bending his arm awkwardly. Eventually it bumped against the beams there and stayed with the gentle pressure he would expect if he'd set his hand on the ground back home.
"Well that's new" Ozzy said out loud surprising himself with the first words he'd spoken since he'd awoken. "What the fuck" he said, now that he'd broken the silence he felt he needed to fill it up as much as he could. "What the ACTUAL fuck?!" he said looking about once more as if expecting some kind of answer. "Hello?....." He tried. Of course nothing and nobody answered him not even an echo of his own voice. Half expecting another panic attack to bubble up he was surprised when it didn't, but then again he was getting emotionally exhausted from all the revelations so far. There was only so much adrenalin in the human body after all. Nearly shitting oneself several times in a row was prone to leave you drained.
Shifting his focus back to his hand he decided he may as well continue the exploration. inching himself forward again he now placed both hands on the underside. With both hands and forearms resting on the bottom he could now get his head under and was only mildly surprised to find no shadow or dark nooks at all. With nothing but sky in all directions it was as bright on the underside as it was the top. Squinting he realized something at this point that he hadn't noticed before. Despite what seemed to be an afternoon sun and bright blue sky in every direction he hadn't seen a single sun in the sky. Quickly he scanned about the underside, and peeked up to do the same for the topside. Nothing. Not a sun, or cloud or anything. "what the fuck..." he said this time in a whisper of dejection. Of course there wasn't a sun, That would just be something logical, reasonable, and normal he could rest his hopes on.
Thankful for his seeming lack of emotional investment he returned his attention to the underside. Scooching over slightly each time he slowly inched himself to where he was surprisingly half on the top and bottom. It was the strangest sensation he'd ever experienced. As if someone had glued him in place on both sides of the floor, but he could adjust position. Being a little bit daring for the first time since awaking he flipped his legs around and positioned them on the subfloor from the bottom. Pushed himself up and stood. Regret washed over him as did disorientation, but it left just as quickly. At least now he wouldn't need to be so freaked out about falling. What the heck, he thought, why not one more daring move? Taking a quick step he whirled around the edge of the square ending up standing next to the recliner on the other side. The disorientation, although still there was becoming something of a usual feeling.
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Ozzy had now flipped back and forth between the top and underside of his square meter of land several times and made absolutely certain that there was nothing more to see in his little kingdom. At least as far as the breadth exploration goes. Now for a depth exploration. Looking at himself and the recliner he took stock of the situation. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and jeans, and had on a pair of socks. That was it for clothes. In his pockets were his wallet and a swiss army knife his uncle had given him. As to the recliner, there was a pocket on the opposite side to the footrest lock, it had a pad and pen, as well as a couple hard candies, and of course there was throw blanket. Not much to live on. Speaking of which he was feeling a bit peckish. Which was definitely a point in the 'not the afterlife' category. Unfortunately that also gave a point into the 'might be the afterlife soon' category if we were keeping track.
He made a quick recap of everything he'd found so far. Flipping to the underside and back, checking his pockets and the one in the recliner. Even moving the recliner again and checking between the cushions he confirmed there wasn't even dust left behind. There wasn't much to work with, not much at all. One might even say nothing to work with. Tucking the candies, pen, and notepad in his pockets he decided he really had to find a way out of here. Wherever here was. Taking one more quick glance around he wasn't sure if that was possible, but there was no way he wasn't trying. stepping to the corner of the square he prepared himself for a running jump. He figured worst case scenario he'd just end up on the underside again. Launching himself forward he flew through the air. Was this air? he wasn't really sure, but didn't have much longer to wonder as suddenly he landed on ground. Not just the ground but grass it felt like. Dew covered grass. He was about to cheer when he heard a hiss not far from his feet. Which was around the same time he realized he couldn't see anymore.