Creative Writing

Living in a quaint one-bedroom apartment of Lower Manhattan was a man named Rafael. Rafael was an average run-of-the-mill New Yorker – middle class, paying his bills, single, and trying to build a career. However, deep down inside, Rafael felt as though he didn’t understand what his purpose was in life. He only worked because he had to be able to live, but he didn’t have a passion for anything – or so he thought. One day, Rafael met up with one of his best friends whom he’s known since childhood, named Dave. Dave had off from work this day and wanted to see Rafael since it had been a while since they last talked. They went to Times Square with the plan to just walk around and get some fresh air and chat. After arriving and talking for about 20 minutes, Rafael noticed something strange about the sky above. It seemed almost green in color. Rafael mentions it, but Dave says it’s probably just the sun set, since it was already about 6:00pm on a winter night. Just as Rafael began to speak in reply though, everything began warping in front of him and Dave. The roads, buildings, people – everything started to morph into odd shapes and curves. The two of them lost their orientation and collapsed. A few moments later, Rafael awakes in a place he does not recognize and has never been before. He looks around, and although it was now dark outside, he could make out the outlines of hills, roads, and trees. “Where am I?!”, “What the hell just happened?!” Rafael exclaims. Dave begins to come to his senses and reacts similarly. Both are utterly confused at the supernatural event that just took place. They try hitting each other to ensure they aren’t dreaming, but alas, it is of no avail. They yell out “Is anyone here!?”, “Hello!”, “Help!”, but there is no response. All they can hear are themselves and the crickets. Time is ticking, and as they walk around, the sky is getting darker and darker. Absolutely clueless to their location, they continue exploring, until they reach the conclusion that they must be somewhere close to Manhattan since the temperature is relatively the same as earlier, but they do not see any signs of New York City. They soon discover that there is water around them, but there is a thick fog surrounding the island they are on. Dave, somewhat knowledgeable on New York geography, begins listing possible locations – Riker’s Island, Hart Island, City Island, Pea Island, Pine Island, Governors Island, but as Dave says Governors Island, Rafael stops him and says that that name sounded familiar. Rafael continues, saying that his mother, recently passed, always told him he should visit Governors Island and how beautiful she thought it was. He never gave it a serious consideration because he did not care much for travel nor did he care about wasting his time sight-seeing an island when he had bills to pay. As he is explaining this to Dave, there is a voice from above which they hear faintly saying “Live!” “Life is precious!”. They are quite frightened and confused by this, but they keep on exploring to try and find a way off the island. Rafael tells Dave how he remembers being a child with so many hopes and dreams, even dreaming of being a superhero one day. He says how he misses having that hope that the future holds something worth living for, and that nowadays, he’s just going through the motions of his life, with no passions, no interests, not many friends, a minimum wage-job, and a small apartment that he’s lived in for ten years now. Dave asks Rafael why he feels that he’s lost his excitement and love for learning, “What exactly changed?”, he asks. Rafael says that after college, he couldn’t land a job he really aspired to have, and since both of his parents passed away, he “pretty much gave up trying to do anything in life other than survive for the sake of surviving.” Dave replies “But you know you have a lot to live for, right? You have so many years ahead of you, plus you have a place to live, a source of income, even if not that much, and you have me your friend.” This seemed to resonate with Rafael, and after coming to the realization that he is capable of more than he gives himself credit for and that life has so much to offer, a gleaming beam of light comes down from the middle of the dark night-sky. Amazed, they look up, and they see a silhouette of a person far above them. Dave, clueless as to who it could be, says “What is that? Is that a woman?”, but as he looks over, he sees Rafael crying, who then says aloud “Thanks Mom.” The fog clears, the sky opens up, and they are mysteriously transported brought back to their respective homes. Rafael goes to sleep that night, knowing that his future is bright.