Wasting time with Jet

I keep having this recurring dream. It’s usually triggered by movies like “The One”, a few episodes of “Justice League” or when I think of that ol’ tv show “Sliders”.

I’m standing in a room, and there are 4 or 5 other people with me. They’re all different, but they’re really…ME.

I walk to the first one and I ask, “Who are you?”

And he says…

“I’m YOU, only instead of dying in a car accident, Deidre was paralyzed from the waist down…”

Then I see mechanical wheelchair in the distance, as he continues…

“We still got married, and I went to school, finished and acquired a job working for a software company. Mom, sis and Granddaddy live together, and I still visit them. When I’m not working, I spend all my time with Deidre. Taking care of her, feeding her, dressing her...”

“We try to be happy, but she feels like a prisoner in her own body...”

“We don’t...make love or...anything.”

His voice trails off,

“I have everything I could possibly want, and yet...we’re so miserable.”

"SOMEtimes, I..I...Almost wish...."

I walk away before he finishes the unspeakable thought...

Then I walk to another, who as I approach him, a hospital bed materializes...

"For me, Deidre lies in a coma..." He starts...

I sit and watch him woefully guard over a faceless woman lying in front of us.

"...everyone has given up on her but me. I never went to college, never learned any fancy computer skills...I've put my entire life on hold, just for her...in hopes for the day she'll wake up..."

"...But then I wonder, what's gonna happen when she does, and I can't function in the real world anymore?"

He lowers his head in a sigh and I move on...

I then walk to the next man and ask, “And who are YOU?”

He grins back at me, “I’m YOU, bro...only Deidre didn’t take that ride on that fateful night because I MADE sure she didn’t!"

I suddenly see a shaken faceless woman standing in a corner a few step away from him. Her head down in a defeated stance.

“See, “ He continues “I’m not used to hearing the word “NO”, So when things get out of hand, SHE sees the back of MY hand...”

I then notice a black eye and bruises on her arms...and I flinch in disgust.

“She does everything I say. We’ve been married 10 years and have 2 young boys. Sometimes I gotta get a lil something-something on the side when they get on my nerves, but I’m still raising my boys right…”

He Chuckles, “…so they grow up to be a player, jus like their daddy.”

At that point, I go berserk with rage...

I grab the punk and start berating him with blows...

“I...WOULD NEVER...HIT...A WOMAN!!!!” I scream.

I just start smacking the shit of this fake-ass copy of me...

“IS THIS how you HIT HER?!?...LIKE THIS? *WHACK!!!*...OR THIS?!?!...*SMACK!!!*...OR THIS?!?!?

The other versions all pull me off of him as I rant...

“I’M...NOTHING...LIKE YOU!!!! LIKE ANY of YOU!!!! You have no idea how lucky you all are, how unappreciative can you bastards be?!?

And they all reply the same message...

“You don’t know...You didn’t experience it OUR way...”

And then I realize what they’re saying...

Our path is made out of our the events in our lives.

All the other versions of me, in different scenarios, all missing something while gaining another, who's to say I wouldn't turn out like them if things changed?...

Then I turn to another lonely stranger with my face...He’s soft spoken and contempt and showing very little emotion...

“And YOU...” I start...

“What’s YOUR relationship with her?” I ask

He never even turns to look at me, all I see is a profile…

“I watch her everyday from afar..."

...”She’s miserable, heartbroken and spends everyday in grief...Sound Familiar?”

And then I ask “Why?”...”What did you do to her...?”

And then he finally turns and I see the full distorted carcass that is my body…

An twisted ironic smile forms from his lips...

“I got in that car...I took that ride home...and I never made it...”

I look in horror and gasp at the realization...as he confirms it...

“She alone...and...”

his final words are never heard as his mouth moves.

I know what they are, I know what he says...I just can force my mind to accept it.

And after so many years, I don’t think I ever will.

Alternate realities is something outta science-fiction, there's a good chance this type of stuff does not exist, but then again...What If it does?