It is time for another piece from our Invite to Write Challenge! We asked our writers to craft a story, telling us about their fantasy world. Stay tuned throughout the fall to continue reading the amazing work. The one below is by Katie Gasemy!
Welcome To My Worlds
Welcome to my fantasy world. A world just over 4 years ago I never knew existed. Now it’s a world I visit as often as I can. You can call it “self preservation”. I close my eyes and see a brilliant bright light. It spans far and wide. It highlights all the wonders of my secret world. A world without disease. Without pain and suffering. In this world I can walk without stopping to catch my breath. I can travel without leaving my body weak and depleted. I can swim underwater while holding my breath. Bask all day in the sun without fear of passing out. I can stay out all night dancing and wake in the morning refreshed. A world where there is no such thing as counting my “spoons” before making plans. And of course never having to break those said plans. A world where my house is clean and laundry is done; all in the same day. A shower will no longer take 5 hrs leaving me soapy and with dirty hair. This is my fantasy world. Isn’t it beautiful?!
I open my eyes and my fantasy now becomes my reality; if only for a moment. At this moment I have no pain. There is no numbness in my limbs. The heaviness is gone. Light enters and penetrates my cells. I take a deep breath. I can breathe with ease; how can that be? Is this what healing feels like, I wonder? Is this what feeling good feels like? It’s been so long I’ve forgotten. You know this feeling; or maybe you don’t. Honestly, how could you ever know. Come take a ride with me and I’ll show you my worlds.
Imagine for a moment you are living your best life. A thriving career. A healthy body. A drive to continuously expand your mind. It’s your 46th birthday. You open your eyes and you feel different. Perhaps just the aches & pains of getting older you think. You close your eyes again. Never a thought of how fragile just one moment in life can be. Not even taking the slightest pause to think it could all change in a moment. It’s that feeling we all take for granted; until we don’t.
You open your eyes again and something is different. There has been a shift from within. You’re not sure what but something is off. You didn’t pay much attention to this strange new feeling. You jumped out of bed and into the shower, with only minutes to spare before heading into work. You worked hard. Served those around you and felt a great deal of gratification. Yet something was off. You canceled the rest of your plans for the weekend for a much needed rest & recharge. Yet what you didn’t know was it was too late for that. This was not a matter of a much needed r&r. This was a foreign body that had already infected every cell of your body. From your head to your toes. A heaviness set in. You can’t get out of bed. Pain runs rampant through your veins. Your chest felt heavy. Unable to catch your breath. Your throat is horse and raw. With every cough it feels like what little air you had is escaping your lungs. The silence in the room is deafening. The sun peaking through the curtains hurts your eyes. You close them slowly. You drift back to sleep. Days turn into months… Now, dare I say years! Four years and five months to be exact. How can this be? You were so healthy. You were thriving. You had your whole life ahead of you.
For the sake of time let’s fast forward 4 years. You now live in my world. My reality of darkness. Where light hurts rather than heals. Isolation brings hopelessness. The fatigue leaves you depilated, unable to recharge. Heaviness keeps you in bed for days, weeks, even months. You have exhausted your resources. Your fear of becoming a burden on your family and friends has taken up residency in your new reality. You sit in silence missing out of our own life; while you watch loved ones living out their best lives.
Now that we’re here in my reality, let’s dip back into my fantasy world. Everything is new & beautiful. Like a rebirth. Light is healing. Sound is soothing. No pain. No numbness. No hopelessness. You are free if but only for a moment. That moment you wake from a dream and you have yet to open your eyes. It’s as if your mind has yet to catch up to your body. In those few moments you are free. That’s where you’ll find me… welcome to my fantasy world where you can be anything you chose… that is before reality sets in.
