What would you do if you could shift realities? I thought of many possibilities. I could shift into a reality that I could be a lawful king or maybe one where I became friends with all the characters in my games that I wish were real. I wish I knew it would all lead to a nightmare. Granted it was all my fault, wanting to shift in the first place. When I found out people could shift I should have just guessed it was all fake and live out my dull normal life, but temptation is a powerful emotion that even the strongest of men couldn’t fight; so I tried it. It wasn’t hard, just look up a couple of articles and then bam you’re done, you know how to shift.  It's been awhile since I was back into the regular world, so I don’t remember much.  All I do remember is laying on my bed with some cheap headphones listening to these weird beats that are supposed to help you in your shifting journey. I did it my first time. It was weird actually, I remember closing my eyes in a dull monochrome bedroom and opening them to find myself in the most colorful, soothing world I have ever seen.

 It was the most idyllic place in the world. I vividly  remember thinking to myself” I could stay here forever.” 

I stood out against everyone, my monochromatic clothing and appearance contrasted a lot in the colorful world, but nobody even batted an eye at me. I walked on the baby pink cobblestone pathway all the way to a big pastel castle. The creatures here were all magical as well, some being anthropomorphic animals others being people who looked so beautiful that they seemed they couldn’t be real, and I knew they couldn't be real. I then remember that after I thought that the ground shook with such force I fell over. I looked up and saw the most terrifying thing in the world, everyone was staring at me with a blank emotion.  I know it wasn’t real, but at that very moment it felt real. The exact moment I thought it was real everything seemed to go back to normal. The creatures were walking around doing whatever they were doing before, just like nothing happened. 

The change was so abrupt that I must have passed out, because the only thing that I remember was waking up in the most beautiful bedroom I have ever seen. Leaving the bed I walk into the hall. The hall was huge, and was so colorful it could make anyone happy. I was so lost in thought I didn’t even notice a short stubby penguin in a blue king’s gown waddle up to me. What he said to me was a blur, but I do remember him saying around the lines on how this kingdom was mine, and how it was my destiny to be here. 

I was there for a while, no clue for exactly how long, but it was long enough for me to slowly forget about the real world. It was also long enough for me to slowly get bored of this world. Here being a king was such an empty title, all you ever did was smile and wave at the townsfolk to make them happy, as if they weren't happy already. I wanted something different, I wanted an adventure, and then the wall came to mind. The whole kingdom was surrounded by a giant wall with no real way to get on the other side. My thought process was that if I could get to the other side I could slowly conquer it and then maybe I could be king of the whole world, not this small piece of land.

It’s been so long I forgotten how I got to the wall without being noticed, but when I did get to the wall I felt an overwhelming sense of dread, and my gut was signaling that I shouldn’t climb over it and just be happy with the world I have now, but the thought of being left bored again made me forget this feeling and just begin climbing. 

I started my ascent up the very tall pastel purple brick wall. The lightness of the color seemed to fade every time I got closer to the top. Feeling the color dull around me with the mix of the rumbles of the earth made me feel a bit anxious. The calling of the creatures below me telling me to get down should have convinced me to go back down, but I was so close to the top I just had to see it.  When I finally did get to the top I was out of breath, but that didn’t seem to matter when I finally saw what was on the other side.

The other side of the wall was dull, the sky was filled with such thick smog it covered the whole sky. The landscape was black and it almost looked like ink. The only color I really could see was the wall, it was so dull and covered with the inkyness of the ground  it might have just been gray. I didn’t see any form of life, which gave everything a more apocalyptic feel. I decided I didn’t want to claim this land and how I wanted to go back, not just to the castle but back to my home, my real home. The advice they gave you to wake up  long left my brain and everything I could think of doing at that moment wasn’t working and then  I remembered I started to panic. This panic mixed with the earthquake caused me to slip and fall, not on the colorful side, but on the inky dark side.

 What I remember when I fell was the screams of the townspeople and feeling regret of even doing reality shifting in the first place.

The fell must have made me pass out, because I remember waking up in a black inky cell with the only source of light being the door. I remember trying to open the door and getting my hand sucked into the wall which left it stuck for a bit until I had to use all my might to get it out, this left my it permanently dyed a black. This was when I started to realize I was going to be here forever, there was no chance I would get to see anyone I loved ever again, I wouldn’t get to graduate high school, wouldn’t get a car, wouldn’t get to see anything. My heavy breathing from me hyperventilating must have alerted the… guard? It must have been one since it checked up on me but it didn’t look like any of the creatures on the other side of the wall, it was just a blob. A very big inky blob and even though I don’t remember seeing eyes I do remember feeling it stare at me as I sat in the cell.