I was there, sitting on my bed, against the wall, checking the feed on my phone and having a few laughs with memes and such. Nothing out of the ordinary. It was a small apartment, but fairly decent. The next day, I would once again leave for college, then later go to my part-time job, before returning home to do it all over again. At that moment in time, that was my typical life.
But then... something weird appeared in front of me: a metal bar.
Was that a bar? Maybe a metal tube? Was that metal at all? It looked like that at least... I'm calling it a metal bar for now. What was that thing doing there?
Was it a robber, just about to hit my head with it? Not really, the metal bar wasn't moving.
Perhaps the fictitious robber was suggesting that he could harm me? Not really, there was no robber present at either end of the metal bar.
No one had invaded my residence. The fact was that I was still alone in my apartment, as I always am at that time of the day.
The bar simply appeared there, in front of my eyes, a little closer to me than my arm's length.
The weird thing was that it was standing in mid-air. Yes, it was simply floating, as if by magic.
It was actually a coincidence that I noticed it so fast, as I was looking at my phone on my lap a second earlier and just looked up to stretch my neck a little. It truly just popped out of nowhere as I did that. At that moment, little did I know just how fortunate I was that my neck was feeling stiff, which prompted me to look up.
My mind was blank. It wasn't that I didn't start to think about what that metal bar was doing there. Or maybe think about the fact that it was floating, no one holding it. The problem was that I didn't have the time to think about any of that.
Why? Because the bar suddenly swung at me? Not really, the bar hasn't moved.
Was it because I was scared and decided to run away? Not really, I didn't have the time to think about that either, so I haven't moved yet.
The reason I didn't do anything related to that metal was... nothing!
You may be confused. Nothing? What do you mean by nothing?
Was I thinking of nothing? Well, not far from the truth. Since I didn't have the time to think about anything, saying I was thinking of nothing could be a good explanation. Of course, that wasn't the reason.
Could it be that nothing happened, thus I didn't do anything? Nope, that couldn't be further away from reality.
By nothing, I mean there was nothing anymore. I'm talking about everything else!
My bed? Gone!
My phone? Gone!
My apartment? Gone!
Even my clothes! Gone!
In fact, the entire building simply disappeared!
Absolutely everything vanished, leaving NOTHING behind!
No, wait! I'm sorry. That wasn't entirely true. Four things were still present at that moment in time... well, actually five.
The first one was the metal bar. Yes, you guessed it. The metal bar was still there, floating in front of me.
The second one was actually the ground. However, that wasn't the same ground as before. I lived on the thirteenth floor, and my apartment building wasn't anything luxurious. So, I was supposed to be about forty meters above the ground, give or take.
Yet, that ground was anything but forty meters away. I wasn't exactly a genius at estimating distances, but I was 100% sure the ground below was at least 10 kilometers down!
The third thing I noticed was the light. It was supposed to be nighttime, and yet, everything was as clear as day. How did the day arrive so fast? Once again, no time to think about that.
The fourth thing, and most importantly... I wasn't alone!
What? Monsters? Aliens? No, wait! Maybe birds! I was high above the ground, after all... It was not birds either.
People! That phenomenon didn't happen to me alone! Everyone was experiencing the same thing!
In front of every single person, there was a metal bar. My neighbors above and below, the people who were on the streets, those inside the houses, cars, planes, you name it! A floating metal bar appeared in front of us all!
Too bad none of them had the time to think about it either. Don't forget! I was supposed to be just about 40 meters away from the ground. But the ground, which I must mention, looked nothing but a flat land devoid of anything else, was at least ten kilometers down. Naturally, the people who were on the streets were almost as far from the ground as I was.
And yes, before you ask, we were all naked. Listen, I didn't start that shit, okay? Besides, worrying about clothes was the last thing anyone cared about at that moment.
Why? Hey, I mentioned five things were still present, didn't I? I only talked about four of them so far. One last thing that, although no one could see it, was still very much present:
Gravity!
There you go! Now you know why I haven't had time to think about anything. That's because I was about to die! That's why! I had, at most, one second to do something! Everyone had, at most, one second to do anything!
"HOLY SHIT!"
Those were the first words that came out since everything went bananas.
Truly, how lucky I was that my neck felt stiff at that moment. Thanks to that, I noticed the sudden appearance of the metal bar. When everything disappeared, and only death awaited below, my hands stretched out by instinct!
*Tu!*
I grabbed the metal bar as if my life depended on it. Errr... Alright, my life did depend on it. It was really on the nick of time. My hands almost slipped when I did that. Fortunately, the metal bar was dry and had a good grip.
Before I could pull myself up, the people from the apartments above me began to fall as well. Mr. Robson, who lived just above, was also awake and on his bed a second ago. Nice guy, we had a few drinks together. Helped me with rent once... still haven't paid him. No, let's not deviate from the story, shall we? The point is, he did not grab his metal bar in time.
Nonetheless, he noticed me right below, and my metal bar. What did he do? You guessed it! He tried to grab it; that was his last chance. As for me, I was still barely hanging, so there was no chance of trying to stretch my hands to help him. I wouldn't stop him from trying to grab the bar, either, though. I only hoped that in case he missed, he wouldn't try to hold me instead.
I mean, we were all naked, right? No, wait, I'm deviating away from the story again. Ahem! As I said, he tried to grab the metal bar I was holding on.
But then, the craziest thing just happened!
Hum...
No, considering everything that happened so far, I don't think that was the craziest thing. Anyway, he tried to grab the metal bar I was holding myself on... and his hands passed right through it! Since when did Mr. Robson become a ghost? Sure, he was pretty white, but that was ridiculous!
Then, he tried to grab me, and I thought: That's it... There is no way I will be able to hold onto the metal bar for both of us. I had just grabbed it myself; I was still dangling like a pendulum and far from stable at that moment. The weight of another grown man, and sorry if it sounds rude, Mr. Robson, but also quite fat, would be impossible for me to take alone.
Yet, lucky for me, not so much for Mr. Robson, his hands also achieved the ghost status! They went right through me, and I didn't even feel anything!
I didn't think much about it at that moment. I just began to pull myself up as the screams of everyone else reached my ears. Yes, it goes without saying that the vast majority failed to grab their metal bars. Statistically, I Should Be Dead.From the looks of it, the situation was the same for everyone. You had one chance, your metal bar, that was all. If you failed, you'd better know how to skydive without a parachute.
Oh, by the way, before I start telling you how everyone began to become flat, red pancakes on the ground, I think I might as well tell you my name.
I'm Rick, and that's how I met your mo- Ahem! Wrong story...
That's how I arrived in another world.