AIRE: SHE MEASURES

"i'm ready to check out."

Abdiel: no.

Abdiel raced past everyone in his way and trod along as if towed by something else. never before was there so much determination in his walk, there was air in his sails, for the first time.

Abdiel crashed through the glass front door of the brick library and scurried along to save Jil from sure disaster. he had joked with her that the authorities were coming to her house to take her away. why? cos he could, and did. but here was proof, here was the limit, there was in fact a limit, whatever Abdiel believed before, here was a certain line that shouldn't be crossed. Abdiel was learning new things which replaced the old things, these concepts whizzed by him without his permission. he was moving, imperceptibly moving away from his stance. he was moving to Jil with lightning speed.

Jil for her part was in a panic. Abdiel told her that the higher-ups determined that she was the cause of the leak and was certain to pay. she needed to get to her computer at the brick library and erase everything, even though she didn't do anything wrong, it was all a big joke. from her house to her library workplace, it was a treacherous path. see, there was a stretch of road that was so thin that passengers simply couldn't squeeze through without confronting speeding cars. why no one made a sidewalk there remains a mystery. after you confronted this part of the path and survived, you were home free cos the rest of the journey was literally a walk on the beach. but on that highway, one hasty move to the left away from the slim edges of the railing and you were roadkill. Jil had her hat down as was her wont, she liked to remain anonymous, but she couldn't see where she was going, it was covering her entire face, a face made red with embarrassment at this whole scandal, which was a non-scandal.

Abdiel had caused this disaster, it would be his fault if she died. Abdiel couldn't handle such a thing. before he was the harmless prankster, but this was REAL, actually REAL, ON, this couldn't be taken back, deleted with a keystroke, he would affect the timeline of the world with her death in a profound way that could never be erased. this was too much responsibility for poor Abdiel, he was meant to be flitting in the air of time, forgotten as soon as he was remembered, he was never meant to carry such a terrible burden. he was not on the sidelines as usual, he had to be the hero.

Abdiel spotted Jil trembling as she skitted along the dangerous road. vehicles whizzed by without a care in the world, much less caring if they hit her. like a fireman jumping in where the rest of us and angels fear to tread, Abdiel launched himself into the middle of the road. you'd be surprised, but there wasn't a lot of horn-honking going on. the cars did perceptibly speed up, though. Abdiel made a beeline for Jil just as a large semi-trailer truck was about to strike her down. the truck was towing on its back a Wanamaker Organ, one with ten sets of keys and ten sets of organ buttons and ten of stops and ten pipes, on a precarious string. the organ danced from left to right on the road as it got towed. the day was so frightened it quickly turned to night. the front lights of the truck shone as

LIGHTS IN THE SKY, CLICK HERE, RIGHT HERE AT THIS LINK.

time stopped. no, it slowed. it went into slow motion, not as a perception, as a reality.

Jil: thank you for pushing me out of the way, my friend.

Abdiel: what's going on? everything is in slow-motion. i've heard about life flashing before your eyes...

Jil inhaled the longest breath of her life. she paused. she took off her hat and scanned her surroundings. time was traveling in slow motion. she finally had the time to see. to see. she saw the two lights of the truck. she held onto Abdiel's shoulders as Abdiel was pushing her to the side of the road. they were locked in an eternal embrace which would never end. their faces were up close to each other, touching noses.

Jil: two angels.

Abdiel: no, couldn't be, why is this happening? it's an Inception Intervention.

Jil: no jokes or clever Instagram puns explains this. you can't reduce this to a tv show or film.

Abdiel: it's impossible.

Jil: and yet it is happening. there must be a reason. nothing from nothing, sure, but this is something, this is an actual event that is happening, it is something.

Abdiel: is it gonna go back to normal time? what is our fate?

Jil: i believe you've pushed me hard enough to save me at the side of the road. however, you are still vulnerable. you will be on the ground prone position. you won't have time to react and flip out of the way. the organ will steam right into you.

Abdiel: this is how it ends for me?

Jil: give a life to save a life. i am forever grateful.

Abdiel: but i don't want to go. I WANT TO LIVE!!!

Jil: and that's what makes this so special. for the first time, you did something truly selfless. you weren't buried in your cocoon of cynicism, spouting all your hate and disgust at the online world. you stepped out into the fresh air. you were away from the virtual and did something REAL. this mattered. you saved my life, in more ways than one. i'm starting to see things now, a lot of things i never bothered to see before in my cocoon.

Abdiel was crying, his tears reached Jil's cheeks.

Abdiel: real men don't cry.

Jil: did you learn that on the internet?

Abdiel: yes.

they both smirked at the same time. Abdiel winced.

Jil: you are a real man, finally. and i'm becoming a real woman. we are citizens of the world, not trolls. i shall take you with me forever, your spirit inside my heart. you gave me a second chance, and i intend to use it up, squeeze out every inch of toothpaste. please, invade my dreams, haunt me.

Abdiel: your sex dreams?

Jil: especially.

Abdiel (stuttering in 3/4 time): y'know....i never....when i had the chance...i was always too shy to tell you...

Jil: i know. listen, they are two angels. you will go to heaven, you won't go to hell. life is hell. you're not a monster. you're not evil. you repented at the last minute. this one act erases the other bad acts, like a keystroke. it's a beautiful concept, isn't it? it happens whether or not you believe. i'm starting to believe in other things. i'll see to it that you make it there. you have an ally in me. this is what it means to live, this is what it means to have friends. friendship is important, it's vital, it's everything, real people, real touch, it's all there is.

time lasts. time endures, it speeds up and slows down at the same time. it's impossible to record, at least precisely, it moves imperceptibly, it doesn't exist and so it always exists. some time later, impossible to say when, the time went back to normal, full speed, in front of speeding cars. there were no brakes. there was a crash. boom. smoke. smoke coming out of pipes. the truck driver's cigarette. metal mangling. doors opening and closing. a huge cloud of smoke. dust everywhere. dust blanketing the world. foreign noises sounding never to be sounded again. one big pile, railings dissolving, divisions fading...

Jil rolled and rolled and bounced off the side of the hill until she landed on the soft sand of the leisurely beach below. the babes in bikinis and hunks in trunks hadn't a care in the world for what was happening above them, the sonic metronome of the waves of the sea calmed everyone, replaced the noise of the road, of society, with endless nature.

TO BE CONTINUED...

.