Aldona was having the strangest day of his life when his vision and surroundings began to change. An inexplicable impulse deep within his mind had set a chain of events in motion. At first, none of them seemed particularly significant; yet, as they unfolded in a particular order, they brought about something no human had ever witnessed.

He was riding his bike along a route he took once a month when he spotted a strange-looking, crippled animal. Normally, he wouldn’t pay much attention to his surroundings, but something about that same inexplicable impulse made him notice. Aldona stopped, got off his bike, and approached the creature. Its appearance was difficult to describe, let alone identify. You might have mistaken it for a gazelle or a deer, but it was no bigger than a cat with dwarfism. A strange, half-formed appendage protruded from its hindquarters, as though its body had attempted to grow a tail and given up halfway through. “Did satan give birth to you”, said sarcastically. Eventually, he managed to catch the creature and look at it straight in the eye. He examined its right eye first, then didn’t even bother looking at the other. He turned the creature over in his hands and tried to determine whether it even had a sex. It was at that moment that he realized that the thing was feeling pain. He placed the creature on the ground and took a picture of it. He considered putting it in his bicycle basket but changed his mind, realizing that the bumpy road would make the creature suffer.

The dilemma gnawing at him made him consider putting the creature out of its misery right there and then. He stood up and began to contemplate. Would it be more humane to take the ugly thing to a vet and let them put it down, or to end its suffering himself rather than prolong it? He didn’t know but being caught between these two options marked the beginning of something far more complex than he could ever imagine. He came to a decision and began looking for a rock big enough to make it quick. He found a weird-looking one with curves that resembled an unskilled kid’s drawing of Patrick Star from SpongeBob. He bent down to pick up the rock with both hands and the way he held that specific rock was the second thing that was contributing to the complexity that had just begun. He felt it as a breeze, like a whisper from far, far away, but he didn’t attach any meaning to it. The next step was to walk towards the creature. The rock was heavy, so Aldona moved sideways like a crab. This unusual walk and the intention behind it triggered the third stage of the growing complexity, and this time, he felt it as a gust of wind. “My conscience is bothering me,” he thought, unaware that the change in the weather was real and not just in his mind. He approached the creature, and for a moment, there was complete silence. The creature on the ground started making noises, as if it realized that its end was only seconds away, while Aldona’s inner voice murmured a song that one might hear at a funeral. The final act meant to bring this sequence to an end was to let the rock, which was larger than the creature beneath it, fall. He realized that the more his inner voice murmured the song, the closer he came to witnessing the miserable creature’s final moments. At that moment, the gentle breeze began to feel like a powerful wind. What an epic scene it was, as though the story of Cain and Abel were being reenacted before his eyes. The final act that brought the sequence to its conclusion was the depiction of one brother killing the other, the song stirring deep within his gut, and the fall of the rock.

The wind died down, along with the creature’s voice. This certainly brought something to an end. He felt proud, like a hero, like a priest. Aldona glanced around aimlessly, pondering his next move. Should he stay there a little longer, or should he leave? While thinking he realized that something was changing. The colors seemed wrong; blue was red, and red was green. His emotions no longer felt the way they once had. He didn’t feel happy, yet somehow, he was. His senses were not sensing anymore, he could see what he was supposed to hear and hear what he was supposed to see.“Am I dying?” he cried, breaking into a run toward his bicycle. The moment he reached it, the bike vanished. He stood there, bewildered. Could his conscience really be powerful enough to shatter his perception of reality? No. This was no game his conscience was playing with him. It was reality itself that was falling apart. He looked up at the sky and saw it being torn apart by an unnatural force. The first thing that came to mind was a black hole, or something of the sort, passing through the planet’s orbit. He thought of the creature. A strange sense of pride filled him; at least he had spared the creature from witnessing this apocalypse. Yet he couldn’t help feeling unhappy at the thought that he, himself, had to endure it. It grew harsher and harsher, followed by a violent earthquake. He sat down, closed his eyes, and waited for destiny to bring everything to an end. He was as miserable as the creature he had put into an endless sleep. A moment later, everything came to a halt. He felt nothing. He opened his eyes and found himself in the same place. The colors had returned, his senses were back to normal, and his emotions felt as ordinary as ever.

Had it all been a daydream? Was he dead? Where was his bicycle?

Who was that man staring at him?

The man?