Words Warp Worlds: Tyler and Ellie's Unified Adventure

The pool was finally empty, but the lifeguard still sat at his desk. He wore a blue and white striped shirt, with epaulets to make him look bigger, even though he was too skinny for that to be necessary. He had a thin layer of black stubble on his chin, and thick rimmed glasses. His hair was black, kept in a ponytail.

“This is the last one,” I said. “I can’t wait anymore.”

Ellie didn’t answer me. She took off her shoes and socks, and left them by the bench next to me. She dipped her toes into the water; she shivered as the cold water brushed against her skin.

She walked over to where the diving board stood out of the water like an island; her toes touched the edge of it, and she looked back at me. There was something about the way she looked at me that made my heart beat faster than usual. I felt warm all over, and it wasn’t just because of the sun shining down on us. Every time someone new talks to you they have different words in them; they make different sounds when they speak or laugh or smile or any other noise that people make. It makes you feel good when someone says your name just right, making all those letters together sound good in their mouth. I loved how Ellie made her ‘T’ sound soft and sharp at the same time, like she was barely touching her tongue to the roof of her mouth before pulling it away again; she always made that sound when she said my name. And sometimes when she really smiled, I could hear her teeth click together like dice being rolled inside a cup.

I took off my shoes and socks as well, leaving them next to Ellie’s on the bench. We both walked towards the ladder leading up to the diving board; we didn’t hold hands this time, but we were close enough for our arms to brush against each other every few steps up the ladder. When we got to the top of the ladder, I turned around so I could look out over everyone else in the pool: there were dozens of kids running around underwater, jumping off diving boards and playing volleyball or football in the shallow end near where their parents sat watching or reading or sleeping in deck chairs with their eyes closed, while they drank sodas from cans wrapped in paper bags with straws sticking out of them.

It was such beautiful weather yesterday that using umbrellas would have been silly. The sky was perfectly clear, except for those two white lines on either side that were far away but seemed close thanks to how bright they were against everything else that was dark blue above us--a light blue sky above us probably couldn't have been any more blue! But today, it is raining nonstop! It doesn't matter that we're inside--the windows are covered with water droplets streaming down them now like tears being squeezed out of eyes too full with sadness--our clothes are soaked through because we didn't see this coming! And we never will see this coming! It's too late now! The umbrellas did nothing! You can't protect yourself from things you can't see coming--you should know better than anyone else here, Ellie!

We're here now though--we're here forever, unable ever again to go outside without taking umbrellas into our hands first, wondering if this day will be one loud crack of thunder away from being our last day ever. But none of us will ever know which day is our last day ever because that day is going to come without warning, so suddenly we won't even have time to think about what's happening, maybe even whether anything is happening at all until we wake up again somewhere else entirely, surrounded by strange creatures wondering why everything looks different than it did before, questioning why everything sounds different than it did before, terrified at how everything tastes different than it did before, thinking something must have been wrong with us before remembering how nothing has been wrong with us since birth instead realizing this is something completely new, something entirely unknown, something terrifyingly new, terrifyingly unknown, terrifyingly frightening!

And then I'll know everything has changed forever--because it already has--because every moment has already passed, having already happened once, leaving behind memories in our brains stowed away somewhere safe as long as we remember where that place is--that place where memories are kept safe--that place within ourselves where memories can sit untouched until needed, pulled out again one memory at a time, looked at, examined, thoughtfully considered, placed carefully back, tucked away safely, gently shut away, locked behind strong doors never opened again, locked forever until only opened again briefly when someone wants, desperately needs, has desperately needs, has desperately needs, must find, pull out that memory again, unwrapped carefully, unfolded gently, held open again briefly, reminded what once was, what once was, what once was, what once was, what once was, what