The pain surged through my mind.

“Open your eye!” He screamed at me from the corner of the room. Did he scream or did he whisper? I couldn't tell the difference.

“BOTH OF MY EYES ARE OPEN!!!” I replied, screaming in my mind as much as I was from my throat. “It hurts.” He knew that already. A solitary tear rolled off of my cheek and hit the cold metal floor.

“Open your eye and it will stop, I promise you.” His voice was husky and worn. The voice that belonged to one who knows all but tells little; the voice of wisdom. He never showed himself.

I closed my eyes now. My situation sickened me. The cold steel table I was strapped to must have laughed at my discomfort. Created for pain, it relished in mine. “This isn’t real,” I told myself. “This is just a bad trip. Dave told me not to take that shit. He told me not to. I laughed in his stupid face. His dog wasn’t too tough a match for me.”

“You’re rambling.” He said matter-of-factly.

Could he hear me?? Jesus, I didn’t say that out loud, did I?

He giggled in his corner, or maybe that was me. “Your kind isn’t ready to meet us, but you have little choice. The time is soon and you will be my messenger. Believe me, what you are feeling and seeing and hearing now is all very much real. Convincing yourself otherwise won’t help you or your kind.”

Another tear rolled off my cheek. I couldn’t move my head. I started to speak but my voice sounded miles away.

“What do you want from me? What fucking message are you talking about?!” Anger flowed through my voice like the tears from my eyes. The last syllables left my lips through a stream of saliva, causing me to choke.

“Do not be so hard on yourself. This was inevitable. You are the chosen one. You will deliver the message, a message of hope for those who choose to hear it and a warning for those who do not.” His voice floated from the right of the room to the left; from the top of the ceiling to right underneath me.

“This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This is all in my fucking head!!!!!” I screamed it over and over again. His patience didn’t even budge.

“So stubborn… the sons of Adam.” His voice fluttered in the room then disappeared. Then, like lightning, it flew into my brain.

“Open your eyes.” No pleading lived in his words. He was demanding I do so.

“Both of my eyes are open! You son of a bitch! I left Dave’s dog alone! Dave is going to be so mad! The colors are everywhere. He said not to take it. I took it, though! Bad trip, bad trip, bad trip.”

“You assume too much. Open your other eye, child.”

“What other eye, you crazy son of a bitch?” I replied, confusion stitched across my features.

“Your High Eye.” This is the only thing he had to say at all, if he had to say anything at all. I didn’t imagine for one second only his voice was inside my brain. He was probing me, about the deliver the message. That is when I felt it; an immense heat that didn’t burn. It felt as though ice cubes of different colors and smells were melting across my entire body and there it stood in front of me. The message was as clear as crystal. The universe stood before me, endless and beautiful. The awe inspiring home of all matter was moving incredibly fast. It moved into itself as if being sucked up by an amazing force. As soon as it appeared it dissipated into nothing.

Bright white hot fire shot into all of my senses as the implosion of all matter threw me back millions of miles. The lives and deaths of a trillion upon a trillion beings screamed through my veins in a millisecond. There was no fear, for there was no time for fear. I had to speak. I had to speak. They had to listen. Burning cold and bright darkness folded under my tongue and taught me a new language. My body turned into nothing and everything at once. Darkness surrounded me, complete darkness. Then, His voice spoke softly, so softly.

“Do not be afraid to feign ignorance, for it is how we learn. Next time, if there is a next time, do not make me pry open your third eye.” His voice was gone.

I awoke naked and drenched in sweat. Everything was intact. The universe hadn’t died. A blank piece of paper was plastered to my wet skin. That is when I smelled it.

“God damn it! I shit the bed again!”

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