The Fridge Talks/Wires Crossed

 This story was written based on the following exchange on January 20, 2022:

 This story is set in the universe of the Californian Utopia. California, as an independent nation, is officially recognized as the Plurinational Republic of California. It spearheaded the development of magnetic weaponry, exoskeletons, and subatomic matter manipulation during the "Global War." The Global War, better known as the Greatest War or World War, among many other names, took place from 1972-1990. A climate catastrophe that accelerated in the 60s intensified the tensions of the Cold War. Aetherium is a wonder energy source/element, discovered by humanity as a result of an alien invasion from 1915-1920, during the Third Fifty Years War from 1901-1951. Its use causes it to break down into lead and carbon, polluting the atmosphere greater and faster than regular fossil fuels.

This story was written from Jan 21-Feb 25, 2022.

Whensday November 28th, 11990

 The war has been won and the world is finally uniting. It’s winter break and for the first time, it has snowed on Oil Hill. Those aetherium machines or whatever the fuck are reversing the damage they’ve done to the climate. There’s so much good going on it’s hard to catch up. All I know is that we don’t have to live in hell anymore. Not a single human being has to go through all of that.

 Anyways. I opened my window and small flakes are pelting my window as the sun shines. It feels uncanny to see weather like this, and my balls are freezing off so I ran back up into my closet and slipped into a double sweater. There’s half and half in the fridge, maybe tea ramen is begging to be made today. I turn on my stove and as the induction starts I gather my ingredients. Green onions, onions, corn, glowberries into the pan, then I drown them in soy sauce and the ramen seasoning packet. At the same time, I boil the ramen in tea and turn on the radio talk show.
 I’m slurping strings on the couch when I decide to grab a drink from the fridge. I get out of my blankets to turn on the TV, then stride to my fridge. I start thinking about what else I could be doing right now and how bored I actually am at the moment. Then I swung the fridge door open. Her irises were as dark as the void, like mine, staring back at me like I was at her.
 "What the fuck are you doing in my fridge?”
 I squint.
 “What the fuck are you doing in my fridge?” I retorted. I notice we both decide to check each other’s surroundings. She’s holding her own fridge door open, and this view I’m getting fits the inside of my fridge.

 “Jackary is still alive.”
 “Okay, we’re clearly not on the same page, so tell me. What’s going on in your world because we are definitely not on the same planet.”
 “I was going to say likewise.”
 I shook my head and took a chicken sandwich from the shelf and started devouring it, forgetting about my bowl of ramen.
 “What’s the pulp for?” I inquired.
 “Hm?”
 “The newspapers. Your windows.” I spun my finger around in the general direction.
 “For the air raids. From, uh. Colombia.”
 “Also nonexistent nation on my end.”
 “Ah,” she laid on the floor, “You know. It’s actually been a good long while since I’ve talked to someone.”
 “Tell me about it.”
 “Well. The last time I heard from my family was about 3 weeks ago. My last contact with any human was not a few days ago before the Cubans dropped magnesium on us. Brick houses are flameproof bitch.”
 “So the Global War is still going for you?”
 “Yep, 20 years and counting.”
 “Tough. The war ended this summer.”
 “Lucky. How’s recovery going?”
 “Swell. There’s these aetherium machines at the poles refreezing the caps.”
 “Hmm. Aetherium's been banned since the war started. Couldn’t do us any more good.”

 -glancing at my cable box which displays its 4:17 A.M. The greenish glow sharpens the image in my eyes as I realize the girl in my fridge is laying on the couch opposite to me.
 “Dude. I opened the door to the secret room in my closet and it wasn’t there. There was some fucking guy there and he was somewhere else. Like alternate universe or something. I know I’m not making this up and this may seem like I’m high. Believe me, I’m not. Been clean since 87, and you know this. He says he lives in Columbia, basically a mirror of Oregon. Also mentioned you by name.”
 I didn’t have the time to take in what Tim was telling me because I was still trying to process the fact that only now did the girl in my fridge consider that the portal was like a doorway we could walk through. A million ideas and thoughts raced in my mind and for a few seconds, I was dead silent.
 “██████ you there?”
 “Huh? Oh, yeah yeah. Sorry. Hey, you wouldn’t believe this, but something similar happened to me today. Girl in my fridge also mentioned you by name.”
 “Dude. What the fuck? I don’t know what to do man. I’ve got construction down by the docks next week. Last restoration project I’ll have to do this month. I need to go to sleep, but I’m too hyper to sleep. What do I do man?” Tim said. I could feel the chill of the cold air reach my bones. Girl in the fridge was sleeping deeper than I could have imagined, not bothered by this relatively loud phone call.
 “Alright breathe in Well. Deep and hold it for a few seconds, let it go slowly. Then do it again,” I instructed. I heard his ragged breathing slow and steady, “now close your eyes. And keep them shut.”
 “You make it sound like there’s a creature I shouldn’t be seeing is nearby.”
 “Don’t say shit like that at an hour like this,” I scolded. This motherfucker is going to frighten himself awake with his imagination.
 “Too late. He’s got…long claws, glowing eyes-”
 “Dude, if you’re not going to do what I tell you to, you’re fucked.”
 I heard a sigh, and I sighed myself, “I’m sorry.”
 “It’s fine man. Mental fucking world we live in. Fortunately, I am starting to feel drowsy. I’ll catch you on the flip.” I sighed again for good measure.
 Another million thoughts and ideas raced through my head.
 “Alright then, sounds like a plan. Good morning.”
 Beep. I dropped the phone on my chest and the girl in the fridge budged her eyes open. She was listening, probably.
 “Timwell?” she whispered. I stared back and made a realization.
 “Yeah it was Tim. Funny little thing, we didn’t ever give each other our names.”
 “Oh shit. What?”
 “Mhmm. Weird isn’t it?” We both stared off into silence. There’s a tray of food I don’t recognize, but vaguely familiar. Food from the South? La Cola doesn’t have blue meat fish though…
 “██████. My name is ██████,” she says a bit louder. Getting more comfortable with the one-on-one again, I suppose.
 “██████. You thought about walking through the fridge?”
 “Yep. Dumbfounded that the both of us didn’t think of that,” ██████ says, shaking her head. I stifle a yawn and stretch, 4, 9, that’s about 7 hours, give or take. I got enough sleep, hopefully, ██████ did as well, because I’m more than ready to continue our conversation from yesterday.

Saturday, June 17th, 11995

 The time displayed on my cable box is 2:03, I am laid out on my couch, or was as I’ve just rolled onto the floor. ██████ is laid out on the couch opposite to me. I slowly got up, walking as silently as I could but I heard a rustling from the couch. Fuck.
 “What’s up?” she whispers, rubbing the gunk out of her eyes.
 “Rolled on the floor. You’re always a light sleeper so I couldn’t get away with this.”
 “You’re forgetting our lives are connected,” she adds. Bruh. Memories surface. The fridge, the accident, the years that have passed. I glance at the lawnmower in the corner, river grass sticking out from under. I sigh and think about it all.
 “How could I have?” I facepalm and open the fridge. Instead of my usual fridge, I was greeted with the portal to ██████’s house, a view from the fridge and it was wide open. Her place had been broken into a few times but everything was mostly there. A few boxes of food were gone, some guns but everything was almost there. From the shattered and caked-up window, I could hear a siren blaring an all-clear signal in Spanish. ██████ eagerly tiptoes her way to the fridge to see and I move to the side. I look back at her and she meets me in the middle, her eyes are looking at me but the gears are spinning. San Antonio is safe, and her life is waiting here to return to. But she’s here right now.
 “I think I have to go,” she finally says after a long uncomfortable silence. An itch crawls up my throat. Please. Don’t. But I knew just as much that it was fucked to try and keep her here. She didn’t belong in this world, reality, universe, whatever you’d call it. I would tether her to the fabric of this reality, but it’s not possible. She takes one step in, the next foot in. And she was through. I was half expecting the portal to close shut, but instead, it started shrinking at a snail’s pace. We both panic.
 “Fuck I don’t think I can get back through.”
 “No, no, shit!” And with that, we both sank to the floor. I can’t tell if any of us cried. I looked back up again.
 “Hey. Remember, you need to take your schizo meds,” I say half-heartedly. The image is above my vegetable drawers.
 “Shut the fuck up ██████, oh my God,” she laughs out, “What are we going to do about this?”
 I couldn’t see what she was gesturing at. I shook my head, “nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just take the memories with us and hope maybe this place will open again.”
 “When was the last time this opened?” she asks. I look up at the calendar. Fuck me, she’s onto something here.
 “I don’t know yet but I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” I say. She shoots an annoyed look.
 “Don’t give me that, we’re going to figure it out. NOW.” ██████ has crawled and filled the frame with her face.
 “We’ve both got time.”
 “We’re living in two completely different worlds,” she responds. I hear talking from outside the window. The rumble of a vehicle. I look back at my cable box. 2:05. I look back at the frame, she is backing up so I can see her and so I scoot across the floor to reciprocate.
 “That should count for more time,” I come up with.
 “But your world is moving faster.”

1712 words excerpted from original 2946.