Vasily's Twisted Dance

I was well beyond the borders of Hungary. I had seen many things and met many people, but this man was different than all the others before him. He smiled and spoke to me as if he knew me. His face was friendly and I felt myself drawn to him, despite my better judgment.

"Hello," he said. "My name is Ben."

I told him my name and we stood in silence for a bit, until I asked him where he came from.

"I'm not sure," he replied after a long pause. "I remember being in a place very different than this one."

"What..." I began, but before I could finish my question Ben interrupted me with a strange laugh.

"It's hard to explain," he replied. "This world you live in is so...crowded! It feels odd."

I looked around at the vast expanse of desert around us, the sun high above us on its daily journey across the sky. There was no one else here except for me and this unexpected stranger.

"You are right," I said. "There is no one here but us."

"That's precisely what I mean," replied Ben, "because there should be no one here but us."

I turned back towards my smiling companion and shook my head slowly side-to-side at his words, still trying to make sense of them.

Ben continued, "Do you see that small hill over there?" He pointed to the closest large rock that lay about 20 feet away from us on our left side. "Do you see the hole in its steep side? That hole is what I meant when I said it should be no one here but us."

I squinted at the dark hole, not quite sure what it was or what it meant or why it mattered at all. All of a sudden Ben sprang forward and ran towards the rock, diving into the dark hole without hesitation as if he expected me to follow him inside. Confused by his sudden movement, I glanced down at his body laying flat in the darkness of the cave and quickly ran to catch up with him before he could disappear into whatever lay beyond the opening on that hillside rock. When I got close enough to reach out my hands and feel his clothing, Ben suddenly disappeared into thin air as if he was never there at all; just like when someone walks through a door into another room even though they're standing right in front of you when they do it. I reached out again with both hands as far as they would go into that deep blackness and felt nothing at all; no clothes or skin or anything else...nothing except for a faint breeze blowing against them as if there was another world beyond that wall on the other side of that blackness. Still confused by this strange man and his odd behavior, I turned around to look back out onto the desert and saw nothing except for a vast plain stretching out in every direction; just like when you walk into another room in your own home or office building even though you were standing perfectly still when you did it...just like when someone who has been sitting next to you on your sofa suddenly disappears without warning before your very eyes because they walked past through an open door leading into another room; just like when someone tells you some new epiphany about what happened to them during their vacation last year while they were walking down the street...just like when someone tells you they have a great idea while they're standing right in front of you only to disappear completely out of view seconds later because they walked through an open door into another room...just like when someone tells you they just ate dinner while they're standing right next to you only to have dinner disappear moments later because they walked through an open door leading into their kitchen...just like when someone tells you they just took a shower while they're standing right in front of you only to have water surround them moments later because they walked through an open door leading into their bathroom...just like when someone tells you about their childhood years growing up on a farm while they're standing right in front of you only to have those years vanish moments later because they walked through an open door leading off into their past...just like when someone tells you about how much fun school was for them while they're standing right next to you on a bright summer afternoon only to have those years vanish moments later because they walked through an open door leading off into their previous school days...just like when someone tells me something unusual about how this world works while they're standing right in front of me at this very moment only to have everything change moments later because they walked through an open door leading off into some bizarre alternate dimension where their words make no sense at all anymore; just like when someone sees something odd happening somewhere during their day just as quickly as everything changes around them; just like seeing something odd happening somewhere during your day just as quickly as everything changes around them; just like seeing something odd happening somewhere during your day just as quickly as everything changes around them; just like seeing something odd happening somewhere during your day just as quickly as everything changes around them; just like seeing something odd happening somewhere during your day just as quickly as everything changes around them; just like seeing something odd happening somewhere during your day just as quickly as everything changes around them; just like seeing something odd happening somewhere during your day just as quickly as everything changes around them; just like seeing something odd happening somewhere during your day just as quickly as everything changes around them...