Chapter 5

Several hours passed on with Conor sitting there on the sidewalk. He waited and waited for any signs. Occasionally, he would throw some pebbles at the place where the hole had been to see if the hole had reopened.

To his disappointment, nothing happened. Slowly, he fell to a quiet sleep. Several more hours passed, and Conor finally woke up. He checked the time but his watch wasn't working anymore. The dials of the wristwatch were spinning crazily in both directions.

Conor tried to stand up but he couldn't. He was stuck to the ground by a pretty strong force. He tried again. And again. And again. After several tries, he finally managed to get his back off the ground.

Once fully standing, he looked at the grass-infested place he had sat down on. The area where his body had been just now had no grass anymore, only darkness. It looked absolutely pitch black, like looking into a black hole. And it sure did feel like a black hole, considering how the "dark thing" had tried to suck his bottom.

This thought gave him chills. What if the reality was really just a place like the afterlife, where the dead dwells? Whatever living thing Conor touches is destroyed, surely the reality itself will be destroyed at one point. Destroyed together with him.

'I've to get out of here' he thought. He walked back to the place where the hole had been but it still hadn't appeared. Conor panicked.

'If this really is a reality of the dead. Then does it work like death?' Conor asked himself. Death sometimes comes by surprise and when someone is not anticipating it. So, it might be like the hole will appear by surprise and when Conor doesn't think too much about it.

Wanting to distract his mind, he went for a short run. He ran and ran and ran. Until to one point, he got very tired, and his legs were aching. But he still ran. Conor wasn't focused on where he was. His whole mind was occupied by the thought of the aching leg. He rounded a corner to the right and continued running until suddenly he slipped and lurched forwards to a fall.

Conor let out a yelp and braced for the impact but it didn't come. Instead, he saw bright flashes of light, the feeling of weightlessness, and the sensation of objects hitting him. 'I made it! I'm going back!' Conor thought. He felt contented. Who knows what would happen if he was to be stuck in that reality for a longer time.

Conor sensed that he was slowing down and then hit the hard ground. His eyes were squinted. Suddenly, a high scream sounded.