Planet

it “You are the most beautiful girl on this planet.” “I am the only girl on this planet!” He laughs self-righteous. I hate his smile. He'd better tell me what he's up to with me. “And the planet is beautiful too,” he says, as if I didn't say anything. “I made them.” I would run away, but I know that doesn't make much sense. We're enclosed, with a thick layer around us. You could almost call it snow, but it's not. It's two degrees: ice cold, but just no freeze. I walk silently to the side where I still see some of the daylight. The bunker has only small and large round holes. It's day and night, depending on the side you're looking at. I ignore the stars on the right and choose the rain on the left. I look at the street where I used to live: noisy, lots of shops, always cozy. Now it's quiet and only men walk in tight black suits. They look out rigidly in front of them, and follow one direction with firm step silently. “The 'Tattoo congress',” he guesses my thoughts. “Today they all get a tattoo on the left upper arm.” I'm looking at him. “The tattoo turns red when they commit a sin,” he continues. “This way the police have less work.” I look at my arm unnoticed. I'm looking at a picture of his face. “Even I have humor,” he laughs. He walks up to me and shows me on his arm. “We belong together now.” “What?” I answer. “I'm with Jonas!” I realize I haven't thought about Jonas yet. He starts laughing. “Oh, I kicked that out. Save a lot of drama.” “Kicked out? But...” “He's outside the planet,” he says. “He can mean little here.” “How could you? He is your best friend!” “He shouldn't have run off with you! Now he sits... far away.” I'm squeezing my cheek. No, it's not a dream. That's when our bunker starts to move. I hold where I can, but everything shakes and trembles. There are cracks in the bunker. “Hell,” he curses, “not again!” He jumps on a step, presses a button and shoots up. In a floating office, with the only door I've seen so far, he puts himself on a sort of control panel with a thousand and one buttons. The bunker stops shaking occasionally, but does not stop. I hear him cursing. Everything crumbles one at a time. I hear him ramping, but there's no start. The round holes become larger and no longer hold their shape. Rain flows in and on the other side the stars fall down. I look at the street. The men seem to be awakening from their trance. They look at their new clothes, like someone else dressed them. They look each other in the eye like they want to ask, “Do you know what happened? “ The street is starting to live again. Sounds penetrate through the layer. Everything is starting to go back to the old more and more. There's only one I can't find. “Where is Jonas?” I call. “Your game is over anyway, tell me!” He doesn't seem to hear me. His office has been shot even more up, it's just a tiny speck in the sky right now. My tattoo sweeps itself away, as if everything is being erased. “Jonas! ,” I call, “Jonas! Where are you?” “Quiet,” I hear a voice, suddenly very close. “I'm here, right next to you.” I feel two hands touching my face. A second later, I look around in a giant room. I blink my eyes. “Honey, I'm sorry,” says Jonas. “I programmed something wrong. Did the VR glasses not work well?” “It was lifelike,” I say, with a shaking voice, “But I found you nowhere and...” “Hà die Jonas!” I hear a familiar voice coming into the room. “Will it work?” Ronald is standing next to me, a little too close. He takes my hand unnoticed as Jonas walks away with the glasses. Now he caresses my upper arm. “I played a little with the program. Don't say anything,” he whispers. This story is part of the writing challenge January 2020 of @Hans from Gemert #Schrijfuitdagingen