Pluto
As Jake awakened, slowly regaining consciousness, he felt his mind was pretty hazy, and his legs felt as asleep as he just was. He then shakes the absolute hell out of them at an attempt to wake them up.
“Wake up you little shits!” he said, out of frustration.
He then proceeded to stand up and dust himself off, before looking around to see if he had any idea where he was. With his hand covering his eyes from the beaming sun, he noticed someone in the distance.
“What the?” he said, wondering why he was seeing someone by themselves in such a huge area. “Maybe they can help me figure out where we are.”
He starts jogging, making his way over to this mysterious person. As he gets closer, he starts noticing a little more detail, getting a better idea of what they look like. Once he gets close enough, he’s immediately taken aback. He’s mesmerized by her caramel skin, along with her long, voluminous jet black hair along with her knee high lavender dress. Jake eventually catches himself. “Excuse me!” he shouts, as he jogs over to her, “I’m so sorry, what’s your name?”
“Julissa” she replied. “Everything alright?”
As Jake caught his breath, he explained his situation to her as best he could.
“Well, Jake” said Julissa, “we’re on planet Charon and this city is Hera.”
“Charon and Hera” Jake thought to himself, “why does that sound so familiar..”
So, as the day went on, she showed him around and actually ended up helping with jogging his memory a little. More and more places they saw, he slowly but surely started feeling the fog go away. This strange yet familiar place began to feel a little more like home the more he saw. But what was strangest of all, was that Julissa was starting to feel very familiar. Familiar to the point it feels like he knows her from somewhere, but he just can’t put his finger on it. Stumped, he carries on with his day as they grab a quick bite.
“So, Julissa” said Jake, “how long have you lived here? It’s beyond gorgeous.”
“How long have I lived here?” She repeated rhetorically. “My whole life! I’ve been to a lot of places but this is definitely home. And no other place can really compete when your hearts already found home.”
After hearing that, he gets hit with that same feeling from before, that feeling of familiarity. Except it hit a bit harder this time.
“Are you alright?” Julissa asked.
“Yeah!” he said, as he quickly snapped back to the present. “My mind is still a tad foggy, but I’m good.”
“Cool.” said Julissa “Just wanting to make sure. But before we keep on with this adventure, is it cool if we make a quick stop at my place? I’ve got a couple things I gotta do really fast.”
“Yeah, sure!” Jake said.
So Julissa picked up the bill and they were on their way. As they were walking back, Jake couldn’t help but examine the night sky and all its beauty. Both of the moons were very luminous and radiated energy that felt warm and made him feel at peace. He looked at all of the stars. They looked like a jumbled, random mess made of a trillion little specks. But in that mess, every star looked like it was exactly where it was meant to be, like individual pieces of a giant puzzle.
They finally arrive at her place, and Jake was blown away by the aesthetic.
“Huge fan of the rustic bohemian style I see. It looks amazing!” said Jake.
“Thanks!” said Julissa, “it really just makes you feel right at home and like Gaia is your roommate. I love it so much.”
As she said that, Jake had that weird feeling again of familiarity, and it was much stronger. Now he was sure he knew her from somewhere, there was no doubt in his mind. The way she talks, her presence, the way she carries herself, he’s experienced this somewhere before. But for the life of him, he just can’t recall where from.
“Done!” Julissa said, “ready to go?”
“Yeah, sure thing.” Jake replied, “I just have one question.”
“What’s up?” Julissa replied.
“This is probably gonna sound weird, but I feel like I know you from somewhere. I don’t know why, but as the day’s gone on and the more we do, I feel more and more like I’ve already met you, but I also don’t remember you at all.”
As Jake finished his sentence, there was a small glitch in his surroundings, as if reality was malfunctioning, but it happened so fast he barely notices it.
“It’s weird you say that.” Julissa replied, “I’ve had that same thought a couple times today but didn’t know why. You feel familiar. I don’t know, it’s weird.”
“It really is.” Jake replied.
So they headed back out to town to enjoy the rest of the night. She showed him a couple of frozen lakes with ice a mile thick. They went to a museum and Jake learned a little of the history behind Charon. They also went to a pet store and saw six-legged creatures called Labradillos (Labrador/Armadillo).
“I’ve never seen one of these before in my life! Who found these??” Jake asked.
“Well, their native home was Canis Major. But there was a gamma ray burst that disintegrated their star system. Luckily scientists were able to detect it way ahead of time and evacuate before it hit.”
Saddened by the story, Jake sat next to the creature and started giving it affection.
“But!” continued Julissa, “if you wanna put a positive spin on it, they’re all basically like their own little canine versions of Superman.”
Jake chuckled a little, still giving the labradillo lots of affection and said “Fuck. If I knew where the hell I was, I’d take all of you home. You guys deserve the best.”
As he continued to pet the creature, it looked Jake in his eyes, and he looked back. Moments later, it felt as if the labradillos eyes sucked Jake’s soul into another dimension. And in an instant, Jake sees flashes of images of him and Julissa, as if he was watching a movie, observing it all. Hanging out, kissing, cuddling, holding hands, sex, tears, grief, all the ups and all of the downs. They indeed did know each other. They’ve had an entire relationship, but when was this from and where? How could they have had an entire life together, but neither one of them remember a single bit of it.
As more and more images appeared, Jake began to cry. Although he can’t remember any of this, his heart does.
“I love her.” Jake thinks to himself, “I fucking love that woman.”
And just like that, Jake finds himself back in the pet store sitting next to the labradillo.
“Julissa!!” Jake yells, looking around for her. He looks around the entire store but she’s nowhere to be found.
Unable to locate her, he begins to panic. He starts feeling lost and abandoned.
“Where could she have gone?! I’ve gotta tell her!”
Still unable to find her, Jake falls to his knees and begins to feel himself flood with anxiety. As his heart begins to race faster and faster, he feels a gentle tap on his thigh. He looks, and it’s the labradillo. Jake wipes away his tears and sits with his legs crossed so the creature can sit in his lap, and starts to feel better. As he’s petting it, he starts thinking back to its story.
“Man, you’re such a strong little guy and you probably don’t even know it.” said Jake “Thousands of light years from what was your home, in an environment completely different from your own. Yet here you are, content and enjoying this attention. I could learn so much from you.”
The labradillo barked, hopped out of Jake’s lap, curled into a ball and rolled right out of the door.
“Damn. You too, huh” said Jake.
And just like that, everything around him began looking like breaking glass, turning into fractals. As he was wondering what was happening, everything turned black and the fractals shattered. Jake was in complete darkness before seeing “0017” flash in red.
The numbers stop flashing and everything goes to complete darkness before Jake opens his eyes and sees he’s suspended in a vat of red liquid that starts draining. Once it’s all gone, the door to the vat opens and he steps out. As he stretches, he looks ahead and notices a woman with long black hair. It’s his wife, Julissa.
“So,” said Julissa as she walked over to Jake, “how was the simulation? Did it address the trauma?”
Jake began crying and hugged Julissa. He hugged her so, so tight, embracing her, just appreciating her, her energy, her essence, just her.
“Yeah.” Jake replied, “and so much more.”
