Georgina’s steps faltered as she moved away from the house that was and wasn’t hers. The world around her felt like a jigsaw puzzle with mismatched pieces. She tried to think, to plan her next move, but her thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and fear.
Wandering aimlessly down the street, she barely noticed the people beginning their day, casting curious glances at her disheveled appearance. Every step took her further away from the life she knew, yet she had no destination in mind.
As she turned the corner, she almost collided with a man walking his dog. “Sorry,” she mumbled, her voice hollow.
The man gave her a concerned look. “Are you alright, miss? You look a bit lost.”
Georgina opened her mouth to reply, but what could she say? That her house was no longer hers? That no one seemed to know who she was? “I’m fine,” she lied, forcing a weak smile. The man didn’t seem convinced but nodded and continued on his way.
Her mind raced with possibilities, each more far-fetched than the last. Had she somehow slipped into an alternate reality? Was this some kind of elaborate prank? Or was she simply losing her mind?
She decided to try her job, the law firm again, hoping against hope that something there would make sense. But as she approached the familiar building, her heart sank. The sign that should have bore the name Armstrong & Keller Legal Associates now displayed Brightman & Reid Consultancy Group.
Desperation clawed at her. She pushed open the door and stepped inside, only to be met with unfamiliar faces in a layout that seemed subtly wrong. Approaching the reception desk, she asked for her boss, Luis Litten.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone by that name,” the receptionist said, eyeing her with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?”
Defeated, Georgina left the building, the door closing with a finality that echoed in her soul. She was truly alone, a stranger in a world that mirrored her own but was twisted into an unrecognizable form.
As she walked, her mind turned to the mysterious man from her morning jog. His words, once dismissed as the ramblings of a madman, now seemed like a dire prophecy. She had to find him, to demand answers. But where to start? He could be anywhere, or perhaps, like so much else, he didn’t exist in this version of reality either, where the path behind Georgina, inhabited by her life and her people, had crumbled into nothingness.
Not. The. End.
MADD FICTIONAL 