NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: A White Light and Cracks in Time and Space Itself
Germany, Ruhr area: Robin Möller is a winner. No doubt about it. How could he possibly be anything else?
He might not cut the most imposing figure, standing at just 1.70 meters (a little under 5'6"), but to him, success isn’t measured by size, it’s measured by wealth, status, and control. And in Robin’s eyes, he has it all.
Forty years old and already a millionaire. He has a beautiful young wife, two children who adore him, a spacious house that would make anyone jealous, a well-paying job, and, to top it all off, a brand-new BMW. What more could a man want?
After a hard nine hours at the office, though one of those hours had been spent in close company with his secretary, he steps out of the building with a smug smile, gaze falling lovingly on his car. “Robin, you’ve really made it. God, I love my life,” he thinks. “Maybe I should start saving for that holiday home in Italy. With my job and crypto portfolio, it should only take a couple of years.” He snickers. “I pity the losers scraping by, working lowly office jobs. I’d rather die than spend my whole life saving for a cheap apartment or some tiny house.”
He slips into the driver’s seat, runs his hand over the sleek steering wheel, savoring the luxury, before starting the engine and heading home. His mind wanders. He thinks about the house in Italy, his wife, the secretary he’s been sleeping with for years, and his kids, presenting the perfect family on the outside. Robin knows he’s winning at life. After all, who could say otherwise? In Robin’s world, the only thing that matters is Robin.
His life is smooth, untouchable. There’s nothing he’d change.
Except... maybe he should’ve fastened his seatbelt. And maybe he should’ve kept his eyes on the road, rather than on the perfect life in his mind. If he had, maybe he would’ve seen the kid on the e-scooter sooner.
Tires screech
CRASH
Two men lie motionless in the street. Bloodied. Broken. His BMW, the pinnacle of his success, sits smashed and crumpled. One man had flown through the windshield and slammed headfirst into a traffic light. The other, crushed under the car’s weight.
The kid, who’d stolen his brother’s scooter, freezes for a moment, wide-eyed. He stares at the wreckage, then darts a look around. “Oh shit... better get out of here... nothing happened here.” Without a hint of remorse or guilt, he speeds away until he’s out of sight.
All that remains is a wrecked BMW and two very bloody corpses, or so it seems. On closer look, the entire world has frozen. Raindrops hover, still in mid-air, as if the whole world has paused.
Suddenly, the sky splits into a vast, chaotic dimension. Countless stars and planets float in the sky, glowing with a dazzling light at the center. The light travels through the crack in reality until it reaches the two men on the street, enveloping them. But it turns out those cracks didn’t just open in Germany.
India, Delhi: A confident woman in her early thirties, wearing military pants and a vest, hugs another woman who watches her with a worried look.
“Don’t worry, Avni. You and the other girls told me everything. This will be a walk in the park. I’ll see you soon, and I promise you’ll be surprised by what I bring back.”
Without fear, she turns toward a surreal crack that’s appeared in front of her, holding a small white envelope glowing with deep purple fluctuations.
“I don’t care about the cost or what I have to do. I’ll return, and I won’t come back empty-handed!” She jumps through the crack without hesitation, leaving her friend behind with a worried expression.
“Roja... don’t be arrogant. This isn’t a game!” she prays.
South Africa, a small town near Cape Town: A tall man is on his morning run to work, watching the night sky fade as the sun rises. “Just another day. You can do it, not for you, but for your family!”
After a grueling 12-hour shift at the factory, he’s about to leave when his strict foreman stops him.
“You can’t leave just yet, Thato. We need you to grab the spare supplies from the upper deck where we started the floor repair a year ago. Bring them to the western warehouse.”
“You mean the part of the deck that’s about to collapse?”
The foreman’s voice rises. “Enough with the backtalk! Do it, or don’t bother coming back tomorrow!”
Thinking about his family, Thato complies. He reaches the upper deck and picks up the equipment, but suddenly, the unstable floor gives way. He falls, accelerating toward the ground scattered with sharp metal scraps. His last thoughts aren’t for himself but for his family. But somehow, his fall stops as a white light envelops him, and a crack in reality appears before his eyes, shattering everything around him.
Greece, Thessaloniki: A young woman in her late twenties, working as an archaeologist, reaches for a book at the top of a tall shelf, her foot slipping on the rusty ladder step. She loses balance, and just as her head is about to strike the ground, a bright light appears, cutting off any sound of impact. All she hears is a strange crack, like glass shattering.
Indonesia, Jakarta: A woman in her early twenties lies on her deathbed, too poor for life-saving medicine. She decides to let go, closing her eyes, only to see a bright light. “Heaven?” she thinks as she catches sight of a crack in reality, and a peaceful smile crosses her face as her thoughts come to an end.
Scotland, Isle of Skye: A man lies at the foot of a cliff, his head bleeding from a fall, next to a broken harness. As he slips into unconsciousness, he sees the same bright light and a crack in reality, bringing a sliver of hope to his fading vision.
USA, Florida: Hurricane season hits hard every year, claiming lives. This year is no different. Yet for some of the storm’s victims, something strange happens. As the ISS orbits over the USA, Barry “Butch” Wilmore glances down, thinking of the devastating season below. "It looks so calm from up here,” he mutters, before noticing something unusual—a burst of light from the southeastern coast, sending three beams across the horizon.
Rubbing his eyes, he asks Houston if any sensors picked up something, but there’s no response. “Must have been seeing things,” he muses.
Ten lights travel through time and space… but where will they land? That’s yet to be decided.