I don’t know how long I’ve been running… hours, maybe? My feet hurt, the sun is blazing into me, and I’m sweating harder than a hooker in church. The sand underneath me practically burned the bottom of my feet for how long it felt like I was running. I really don’t like the sand; it’s coarse and rough and irritating and gets everywhere. I slow down to a walk and finally stop in my tracks. I put my hands on my hips and look down, panting and wheezing, trying to catch my breath. Fuck me, I thought all those mornings waking up in basic running for hours at a time would get me in shape and up my endurance, but I’m still a slow sack of meat. I gotta find a way out of here, man. This place fucking blows. My mind wanders; who or what the fuck was that back there? Why does he look like me? I shake my head and finally gain enough breath to keep going. I look around just to see the same views I’ve seen for hours. Just an endless beach and palm trees lining the horizon. Fuck me… gotta keep going. - - - “WHAT THE FUCK?!” My eyes grow wide as I stumble backward and fall on my ass onto the sand. I look up at the person who resembles me. He smiles smugly and chuckles to himself. “Oh boy yeah, here we go, the panic. You need some time?” This…This is some type of joke… This isn’t real… Nonononono, there ain’t no way there are two of me. Am I hallucinating? Yeah… yeah yeah yeah, that’s it. I’m hallucinating. These fucking meteor dodgers got me tied up in some bunker right now, dosing me with carfe or some shit to get information out of me. I won’t let them get squat. I just gotta find a way outta here, and I can take them by surprise. “Earth to Anon? Hello? Schizo rambling again? Are you really trying to find a rational explanation for this? Come on, man.” I stare daggers at him for a few seconds, ready to surprise the fucker with a few jabs to the face and book it. I throw the first punch from the right and… …Miss? My face turns from unbridled hate into surprise as he simply steps to the side. Lucky move. I try to elbow him from my side to throw him off, but he simply moves again, quickly too. Suddenly, I feel myself falling face-first into the sand. Ow. How did he…? I grunt in pain and frustration as I slowly turn over and sit on my ass. I slowly look up at the fake fuck in front of me. He just smiles and shakes his head at me while lighting another cigarette as he steps in front of me. I feel my body heat up with anger as I watch him joke around. “You really thought you could fight me? Dude, I’m literally you; I know all your moves and your thoughts. This isn’t something you can win. Just stop.” Piece of shit, I gotta do something. Without thinking, I swipe my leg under him to trip him over. But instead of seeing him trip or fall over instead… He fizzles a part of himself. His legs disappear in….a disintegrating fashion like he’s made of shredded paper or…well, sand. A split second later, and he’s solid again. I raise my eyebrows and stand up in shock. What the fuck is…? Without waiting another second to hear this “phantom” speak, I book it down the beach. Not even sparing a glance behind me. I gotta get away from here. - - - That’s it. I can’t do this shit anymore. The damn sun is STILL in the same position it was before, hasn't moved an inch, and I’ve been running down the beach for what seems like hours again to see if I could find a boat or a structure of some sort to get me out of here. This ain’t any regular island. I stop running again and catch my breath, hands on my knees, sweat beads dripping off my bald head. I can’t keep doing this. Sooner or later, I’ll pass out and die of dehydration. This shit is insane. I finally started getting my thoughts in order. What was all of that? How the hell are there two me’s? Is this really limbo? Am I being messed with? How the hell did he make his body fizzle like that? Suddenly, I hear a noise coming from the trees. Instinctively, I raise my hands into position of the foreign noise that isn’t splashing water. I slowly approach the treeline in a semi-crouched stance, ready to attack whatever jumps out at me. I step into the thick forest, slowly making my way toward the sound, walking over roots, around tight trees and bushes while looking in every direction, as if waiting for that weird version of me to pop out of nowhere. As I get closer to the sound, I slowly start to recognize it. The clinking of glass cups… Oh, thank fuck people, some sort of normalcy, PLEASE. I go into a full sprint and out into an open clearing from the trees. I look up in front of me and see a… bar stand of some sort of all things. There is no name on it, but a few bar stools line the bar with a line of liquors against the bar wall, with a bartender occupying the bar itself. His back turned to me, crouching, looking for something behind the bar. What the hell is a bar doing in the middle of a forest? I slowly make my way up to the bar and call out to the bartender. “Uh… Excuse me?” As soon as he looks at me, I see it’s me. AGAIN. Though this time, he’s dressed differently. And is much less bulky. Dressed in my classic high school attire of jeans, a plain t-shirt, and a green jacket. Sleeves rolled up as he wipes down a whiskey glass. “What can I get ya, Anon?”