Choose To Choose

"Just stay for a little while, here in the Interzone we can pass the time enjoying the nothing. Drift off where everything feels ok; no need to force a smile. When's the last time we laid in the warmth of the sun, no thoughts beyond basking? When's the last time you can truly say you weren't consciously masking?

"But...we both know what I'm truly like...who would want to see that? I don't think you really understand what you're asking. Remember why we choose to hide in plain sight. I get to remain in the background when you're around, unaware of what it even means to be hidden. For you...for us, that's just life."

They agree to go unseen, mask to every extant, and oh how peaceful, how serene...to leave yourself and just be. Let the other you take over. Even the skies open up, seemingly approving the path chosen, magnificently tinted in a scarlet hue, like a beautiful rose.

After a moment of soaking in the peace, something goes wrong...a sudden sense of whiplash. He realizes he has been alone, speaking to no one but the voice in his head. As the truth is revealed, he feels his blood start to congeal. His muscles tighten, and his nerves are shot. Left even more disoriented, how could he ever stop questioning what is real?

"Soon...sooner rather than later everyone will know your truth." He starts to fear, once again. It's like all those around him can hear his every thought. He desperately attemps to cling on to his metaphysical mask-forces a smile, it's just for a while...

"They'll never know, if I just keep smiling, keep on hiding."

"But will they? Could they?" As he fully starts to lose his grip on his situation, the questions become increasingly concerning.

"Has there ever even been a real me? Is there a real you? Are we one or are we two?" A darkness takes him over as his eyes begin to gleam, begin to bleed. There's no way to cry out, no way to plead.

He thinks to himself, "This must be acceptance, this must be happy. I understand now this has to be reality. Certainly this is the actual me."

"Is it the actual you? But wait, oh wait...If I'm not really here, are you made up, too?"