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What do you see # 144

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I sit between worlds, watching.

A thin layer of dust separates two dimensions.

Two versions, of one person, and only the Elfin can see them born, grow, and change. Mostly, they stay the same. Sometimes they go to different places, at different times. De ja vu they call it.

We call it merging.

Just for a moment they can see through the eyes of the other.

I lower my hand, and the water ripples – these humans are unusual – they sense their counterpart more often than most. When Susanna was ten, she dreamt she broke her leg, falling from her bike.

She always felt that pain when it rained.

When Susanna was fifteen, she dreamt of flying to a warm, wonderful piece of heaven. Her counterpart never forgot that either. It was as thought they were intertwined for a reason.

‘What you doing today?’ I say.

Both look up, as if they heard me, but that cannot be possible. The third dimension is rarely heard. A shared experience, not only by them, but me too. I see their time is due, both will be mothers in a matter of days. I remove my hand, step away, needing answers of my elder.

We don’t have parents, we are not born, not until we venture into earth. My elder, a little like Susanna’s grandmother, the closest thing to family. Or I call her that anyway. We aren’t babies – we don’t die – we wait until we are born, live a life, then return as though we never left.

Time passes slower here.

I love this woodland, so surreal, with never ending roots, sinking into the soft earth. Where one branch starts, it also ends. A patchwork of life, sound, and bird song. Once I saw a beautiful ball of light decide what world to live in. You only get a second, but you do get to choose.

My elder, is there at the poolside, as if she knew of my questions.

‘They hear you because it is time to choose – you’ve watched them grow, from children to adults. Soon to be your birth mother. Where do you want to go?’

I close my eyes, and point down, knowing this version of Susanna needs me more. In an instant, I am a ball of light, floating down, through the thin veil, and into a world I’ve only seen in my dreams.