I wake up wondering. Was my time with Nina last night all a dream? I look at my hand. No, I can still see the tooth marks on my hand. They have faded, as if I was bit by a real woman. But she could not have been real. THAT could not have been real.
My testicles feel as if they were emptied multiple times yesterday, so something happened at Fantasia. But I was only there for an hour. I am not capable of coming that many times in an hour. It is a bit of a stretch for me to have that many full orgasms in the ten or eleven hours of Miralea time that I experienced, let alone the one hour of this world that elapsed.
So something real happened as far as my body is concerned. But it could not have happened in the hour I was there. And none of it could be real. It can't be.
I ponder this during my shower. I am still pondering while I get dressed.
Over breakfast, I have a hope. Eric has been there before. Maybe he has an explanation. I text Eric:
r u available for lunch?
took your advice - have qs
I get back:
Giorgino's at 12:30? your treat
I reply:
c u then
explain it 2 me and i pay
The morning of work flies by and I get to the restaurant at 12:27. It's a nice steak and Italian place, by no means cheap, hence the brief negotiation over payment. It also has tables comfortably spread apart, so your neighbors are not forced to listen to your conversation, which I thought valuable today.
When he arrives, we give each other quick man hugs. Over craft beers and steaks, he starts the conversation. "So you went last night. Pretty amazing, wasn't it?"
"More than amazing. Impossible. Was your time all screwed up?"
"I didn't notice. I wasn't really tracking time."
"Well, based on the sun while I was in there, I would guess I was there for ten or eleven hours, which felt about right. We took a nap for a while together, so I can't be real sure. But my watch said one hour on the dot."
"You were outside? I never had an option of outside."
"Oh, I had two outside options and one inside one. What options did you have?"
"I had a choice of a women's locker room or a naughty teacher in a classroom the first time. The other three times I have been, I only have the naughty teacher. But I am not complaining. She is HOT! What choices did you have?"
"I had three choices: a harem with what looked like twenty women, a cheer leading squad practicing outside on a field, and a single beautiful maiden sitting by a creek waiting for her true love. I chose Nina, the maiden. I was, of course, her true love. And she bit me just before I left to make sure I realized she was real."
I show him my hand, where the bite mark is barely visible.
"Yeah, I have had some welts from ruler slaps in my session come back with me, so what happens in there is real, at least somewhat."
"So what is that place? And how did you find out about it?"
"I have no idea what the place is. Sam, at work, told me about it one time when Lily was away on a long business trip. I generally go once when she is gone for a whole week or longer. So what happened with your beautiful maiden?"
"We talked for a while, although she spoke in a completely different language than anything I have ever heard. It was almost singing. But I could understand it completely. I explained all about Amy and she told me about her life in her village, which is called Miralea."
"You just talked for ten or eleven hours? That wasted your time, buddy. And you turned down the squad of cheerleaders? I would have been all over that one."
"No, we did not just talk. But I would have gladly paid five hundred dollars to sit and talk with Nina for a day. We had sex three times, not counting when I ate her out or she masturbated in front of me. And after lunch, we had a nap, snuggling together nude. It was so nice to feel naked skin pressed against mine again. I have to say I was the happiest I have been in a year. And she told me she knew I would come back. And I will. Maybe tonight."
"She really has her hooks in you, doesn't she. Promise me you won't forget the real world out here, please."
"But what is that if it isn't real? We have both seen that what happens in there is real to the extent that it carries out to here. It felt real enough. The food I ate there filled me up. Come to think of it, I got hungry there. I should not have been hungry if my body was living in real world time.
"So my body clearly lived on Miralea time when I was in there. And it believed that it was real. And it is not just hypnosis or something. The bite mark and my multiple orgasms yesterday were all real enough to exist here as well. But I am not eighteen anymore, I cannot come three times in an hour. What would happen if I just ignored the gong and went to the village with Nina. Would I cease to exist out here? Does that world disappear when I am not visiting?"
"You always did overthink everything," Eric complains. "Go, enjoy getting your rocks off with your chick. Talk to her if that helps you get your rocks off. And then you feel better out here. But don't think too much about it. And don't get addicted to it. I don't know what it is. But it isn't this world and this is the one we have to live in."
"Do we? Have to live in this world instead of that? Anyway, I am going back tonight. And I promise to still come back, no matter what. I just need to see Nina again."
He shakes his head at me in disbelief.
I have a light dinner after work and then head straight to Wisteria Lane. The butler opens the door for me again, saying, "Good evening, sir. I must say last night I had not expected to see again you so soon. I assume you want the same choice again tonight."
"Yes, I do. I am sorry, but what is your name?"
"You may call me Charles, sir."
"Well Charles, I have a question for you. What would happen if I missed getting back in time after the gong."
"Trust me, sir. You would not like the experience. I highly recommend against it. And you would never be allowed to visit again if you do that."
We walk back down the hall to the desk and he pulls out the paying device.
"ApplePay again, I assume, sir?"
I tap my phone and then hand him the phone and my watch and he leads me to a different doorway off the hallway. I open the door and it leads to a small vestibule with a single door on the far side. I peer through the keyhole first.
I see Nina sitting under the cherry tree, but things are slightly different this time. The blossoms are all off the tree and it has a healthy growth of rich green leaves over it. The grass is darker, thicker. Nina sees me and smiles.
I open the door and step through. The handle disappears from my hand as I close the door behind me, along with the door itself and everything else connected to my world.
The sun is high in the sky and the air is hot. Despite the change in season, I recognize the same smell. The smell of Miralea. It is my smell of happiness.
Nina stands and opens her arms. I run to her and we hug and then kiss.
"I was hoping today was the day you would return," she says, almost singing, in her lyrical language that I somehow understand.
We sit down on the grass together. I take a moment to remove my socks and shoes; I need to feel this place, the grass between my toes, the warmth of the ground against the soles of my feet. I take a moment to let the sensations soak in. Those feelings are just as intoxicating to me as the sweet smell of the air and the music of Nina's voice. The stresses of my world dissolve in the glory of it.
One more deep breath before I turn to Nina, asking, "How long have I been gone?"
"More than two moons. I missed you everyday, but I knew you would be back this summer."
"For me, it was only yesterday that I was here. See, you can still barely see the marks you gave me on my hand."