Fata Morgana

Poof. Up in smoke. I reappear spinning through a kaleidoscope of light and color. Arms and legs crunched and compressed into a tight bundle, spinning and somersaulting. I go hurtling through the tunnel's endless expanse. Reds and oranges, periwinkle too. Hues of blue fill in the cracks. Flashes of ghoulish green fill my pupils to their awe-inspired brim. Tumbling through the strange vacuous void. Never bumping or knocking into anything, which surely would have turned me to a pile of giblets. Just tumbling, spinning, falling up and down sideways and wide ways through the vibrant void. Feeling things begin to disappear, my socks, my shirt, my favorite pair of jeans with the rip in the crotch, all disappear. Poof. Poof. Poof. Then as I tumble through the ether. Rocketing into the great other. I feel something in my chest begin to shake, then vibrate with evermore intensity. I cling to it sinking my nails, harpooning the strange mass with mental stakes. Realizing the kaleidoscope is shaking loose my most prized possession. What I hold most dearly. Poof! Pow! My narrative swirls out of my ears in a cloud of smoke.

So there I go tumbling in giddy nudity. My fingers and toes, the tip of my nose tingling as I’m zapped with an electric sense of now. My hair stands on end and my heart begins beating a thousand beats per minute. Feeling every muscle contract and glow static blue. Then releasing, as I’m squirted out of the tunnel. Froosh. Rrrrrghh. Zonk. Boink. Boink. Skatatat. Haaahhhh. I land in a cobblestone square. In a euphoric sweaty heap. Unable to move, I lay there feeling my heart pound and pure electricity flux through my body. Staring up into the evening sky, periwinkle with puffy orange clouds. My pupils slowly begin to shrink back down to size. Slowly standing up, feeling my palms press against the cool cobblestone. Setting a pair of wobbly legs under me. Like a fawn in a spring may meadow. I rise to my feet. Hearing for the first time the tremendous cheering crowd surrounding the square. Seeing also, the forty or so other people wobbling to their feet in wonderful sweaty disorient. Everyone in the square with hair spiked like they just touched a lightning rod. Feeling the static ball of fur on my own scalp. I spin in a circle to see the cheering crowd. Hooting and hoorahing nude with spiked hair as well. Wearing only neon green rainboots.