Odd Future

Tomorrow Never Knows

My psychology professor once asked me to write in a sentence what role I played as a member of a social group. I pondered over his question for hours, but in the end, I wrote down nothing. I had no friends; no direct family to support me. And on the day, I died, I was alone. No one even knew my name.

Death felt strange and cold. I floated in what felt like a sea of molasses for far longer than I could remember. Then the salty odor of the sea woke me. Was I stuck in a dream? I opened my eyes to see an unforgettable sight; a world I did not recognize. Its beauty was incomparable. But how did I get here?

"Alice, my dear," a voice rang out; clear and crisp.

I turned and looked over my shoulder as an elderly woman beckoned me. Her name was Lucia. How I know is beyond me. But who was Alice? Did she mean me?

"Have you mistaken me for someone else?" I asked her, curious.

My eyes widened in disbelief. Was that my voice? I sound like a child.

Lucia puckered a brow.

"Are you under the weather?" She asked.

I stood and peered into the clear water; the dock I came to on jutted out a short distance from the shore. And what I saw startled me. I was a child; no older than ten it appeared. My hair was crimson red and my eyes – once a pale blue – was the color of dark seafoam. But how? I was a teenager. I felt like I was living in the body of someone else.

The events of my death came rushing back like a tidal wave, so fast that I might faint.

"Alice, dear," the elderly woman called to me in worry.

I turned to her, frowning.

"Where am I?"

"Gondolia," Lucia answered.

I have heard this name before. Memories that are not mine flooded my head like a pond during a thunderstorm. I fall to my knees, vomiting on the dock. Why does my head hurt so bad? I don't understand what is happening to me.

Moments later, arms encircled me. Someone lifted me, but I drifted into unconsciousness, seeing hues of green before the darkness consumed me entirely.