W: Weird Wedding Memory

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Weird Wedding Memory

Though every part of Adam’s body felt like it was ablaze with energy, it wasn’t painful.  It was just . . . odd.  With each cell vibrating with power, it seemed as if he might just come apart.  His molecules would simply drift away from one another, filling the entire room with invisible bits of himself.  Yet, even with all the implications this result would have, Adam didn’t find it alarming.  His brain no longer seemed to have room for worry.

That enabled him to focus on the vision of the giant cake.  The icing was white with yellow and blue flowers piped around the outside of each tier.  The whole assembly stood about ten feet tall.  This cake came from his first childhood memory of something truly bizarre happening to him.

Why is it here now? he wondered.  He hadn't thought of it for so long.

At four years old, he was leaning out the third story window of the apartment where he spent the first ten years of his life.  The cake was set up on the patio far below for a wedding to which his family had not been invited, while almost every other family in the building had been.  Little Adam was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to eat any of that impressive cake, but that wasn’t going to stop him from looking.

Then came the point when he’d leaned too far.  He felt something shift, and gravity seized him with iron fingers.  He recalled the sensation of falling, and the bewilderment.  He didn’t have time to find fear as he tumbled headfirst toward the waiting world below.  A sugary scent filled his nostrils, and a split second later, he was plunging through the spongy layers of cake.  He stopped when he was buried head-to-waist, leaving his little legs flailing desperately in the air.  At first he thought this was a dream come true.  Then he realized he couldn’t breathe, and his arms were pinned firmly to his sides. 

The cake that kept him from smashing into the cement now threatened to suffocate him.  That kind of death definitely would have made the newspapers.  Fortunately, rough hands grabbed his ankles, and soon he was pulled free, left alone on the patio to lick away the cake and icing that plastered his body while an irritated wedding planner sent a guest to find his parents.

Adam recalled that incident with absolute clarity.  The sense of euphoria that accompanied this brush with death was indistinguishable from the sensation that filled his body as the recalibration procedure continued.  It felt like it always did when things inexplicably worked out for the best.

It took a minute for Adam to realize that the electric current had ceased.  He blinked several times, and the vision of the cake faded, leaving in its wake Layla, Emmett, and a whole crowd of observers.  He pushed himself out of the chair, hastily yanking free the electrodes that hindered his movements.

“Let me get those!” Emmett exclaimed.  “The equipment is delicate!”

More time passed as the scanners became intimately acquainted with Adam and his altered bioelectric field.  “The readings look good,” Emmett confirmed.  “We’ll see how you do the rest of the day so we can be sure how you’re doing.  Still, we’ll have to move quickly.  The human body has a way of resetting to its default over time.  I doubt this change is permanent.”

When Adam left the science lab, Layla walked out with him.  Though she had plenty to do, she wanted to be sure he made it back to his room okay.  “I’m telling you, I feel great,” he insisted.  “You don’t need to worry about me.”  And it was true.  The rush of euphoria had become a constant feeling of well-being.  He felt invincible.  He could only hope this effect was not psychosomatic.

“I hope you’re right,” Layla said.  “I just want to be sure.  You went through a major experimental procedure, after all.  I don’t think I’m overreacting.”

Adam knew she wasn’t overreacting, and it felt good to know that she cared this much about his well-being.  Maybe, if this recalibration really did work as intended, things with Layla could work out the way he’d been hoping.

This thought was cut short as George came catapulting down the corridor.  He flew past Adam and Layla, generating a significant breeze in his wake.  “Sorry, I don’t have time to stop and talk right now!” he yelled behind him.

Adam laughed.  “See?  Mr. Misery doesn’t have time for us.  My luck is improving already!”



Proceed to entry X.