Reality: the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.
Given that definition of the word you wouldn't think that reality could be a relative term, but it is. Things aren't always what they seem.
My name is Uriah Pedrad and I have learned that lesson the hard way. You might wonder why I am telling you this story, and the answer is simple. I am telling you this because I don't have much time left.
It all started a couple weeks ago, or at least that's how long I think it has been. I was standing next to the odd sculpture in the Bureau's front lobby, near the security checkpoint. I was thinking about the good old days; the days before the war, before we found out the truth about our city. I was thinking about Marlene and Lynn.
About the evening after stage two of initiation, when we snuck into the training room and I shot a muffin off of the head of the girl I liked. I look toward the security check point and I see Tris with that Matthew guy. She looks upset, I raise a hand to wave but she doesn't wave back. I am about to turn my attention back to the sculpture and me memories when there is a loud explosion and heat and then everything goes black.
The next thing I remember is when I began regaining consciousness. My eye lids were far too heavy to open at first so I just lay there listening. I could hear the sound of people talking in hushed tones and the gentle beep of a heart rate monitor. After a while I was able to open my eyes just a crack, enough to see that I was in a hospital room.
"Uriah?"
I heard her voice but I figured I was just hallucinating at first; she's gone so there is no way she could be talking to me right now. When the person who said my name comes into focus though, I can't deny what I am seeing.
"M-" I swallow hard, my throat feels incredibly dry, like I have been lost and without water for days. When I finally can say her name it comes out as little more than a breathy whisper, "Marlene?"
She smiles at me softly and I can tell that she has been crying, "Yeah, it's me Uri."
That can't be possible, Marlene died at the hands of Jeanine Matthews back in the city. I suddenly feel very overwhelmed and very tired; I quickly slip back into unconsciousness.
When I wake up again I am alone in the hospital room. I sigh, concluding that my visit from Marlene must have been a dream or a hallucination from whatever injuries I suffered during the explosion. I try to sit myself up but find it very difficult. I slump back down onto the mattress and stare up at the ceiling. The door opens and at first I don't have the energy to move to see who it is, but then I hear her voice again.
"Oh good," I lift my head up and I see her set a her things down on the counter before she comes to stand next to me, "I was hoping you would be up again."
"W-what happened?" I manage to ask.
"You don't remember?" She asks as she softly touches my cheek, "You got hurt, you were helping Zeke and Four with something upstairs in the pyre, you fell and hit your head pretty hard." Her smile fades, "That was a couple of days ago, and the doctors were worried that you might not wake up." I must look as confused as I feel because she smiles at me again, "Don't worry about it, the doctor said that it might take you a while to remember the accident."
"This can't be real," I say softly.
"What?" She asks softly, "Why do you say that?"
I frown, she seems real enough, but the memory of the events surrounding her death is so vivid. I force myself to sit up even though my head hurts and the task is difficult, "Because you died."
She chuckles, "You must have had some really realistic dreams while you were out." She studies me for a moment, "I promise you I'm real," She adds before leaning down and kissing me softly.
Over the next few days I recover slowly. My friends all come to visit me and my family is here a lot too. Mom is here almost all the time and Zeke has wheeled Shauna in every day so the two of them can sit and talk to me.
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Today I am finally being released, I have enough strength to walk and, aside from some weird spasms in my hands and arms that no one can seem to explain, the doctor's say I'm going to be completely fine. I walk down to the cafeteria with Marlene and Lynn. When we get there we sit with Four, Tris, Zeke, and Shauna.
Four and Zeke are talking about the rising tension outside of the compound ever since we left Candor and how they are surprised that Jeanine hasn't made a move yet. I am listening to them talk when I have one of the weird spasms in my hand and I hear Tris' friend Christina's voice but I can't quite make out what she is saying. I turn around and scan the cafeteria; I find her sitting a couple tables away. She catches me staring and I quickly look away.
After lunch I decide to go home and take a nap, I may be better but I still get tired really easily. While I am lying in bed and the apartment is completely silent, I can almost make out the sounds of a heart monitor and other hospital noises. I shake it off and chalk hearing things up to my head injury.
A couple days later I am patrolling the complex late at night with Zeke when I swear that I can hear Four's voice. "Did you hear that?" I ask my brother.
"Hear what?" He asks, stifling a yawn.
I look around one more time before answering, "I heard Four talking, didn't you?"
Zeke looks at me like I have a second head for a moment before he smacks me on the back, "I think you're losing it little brother." I laugh it off for my brother's benefit, but I am beginning to believe that myself.
The next night I am walking through the pit with Marlene when I can't help myself, I stop walking and grab her hand so that she will stay too, "If I were going insane, would you tell me?"
She laughs that melodious laugh that I have always loved about her, "I would be the first person to tell you to stop acting like a nut." I nod and we keep walking, but something is still bugging me.
I finally realize why the world hasn't seemed quite right ever since I woke up a few days later. I am alone in my family's apartment when I hear voices again. This time I don't recognize the voices, but I can hear them much more clearly.
Most of the conversation means very little to me, but I pick up the words unplug and coma. It is then that it all begins to make sense.
So that brings you up to date. I have lived the last two days of my life knowing that everything and everyone around me is a lie. A false reality invented by my brain because the truth was too horrible. Marlene really is gone. The real me is unconscious in a hospital room inside the bureau that secretly runs the city that I grew up in.
At first I was terrified, and angry that I was about to die with no way of stopping it or letting them know that I'm still here. However, in the last couple of days I have realized how tired I am and have focused on making some last memories with the people I care about, even if none of us are real.
I am currently sitting on the end of the bed, listening to the distant muffled conversation. Recently I have started hearing the voices of my mother and brother, someone must have gone into the city to get them so they could say goodbye. The end must be getting close.
I can hear someone crying, and both of my hands feel really warm like someone is squeezing them. I would have thought this would be hard, but now that the time is here I am just so tired. I feel an ache spread through my chest and I start to feel light headed. I spread out across the foot of my bed and close my eyes.
"I love you Uriah," I hear my mother say softly and then the warm feeling leaves one of my hands. After a little while my head starts to feel fuzzy and when I try to open my eyes I can't.
My name is Uriah Pedrad. I'm sixteen and I am divergent. The simulations couldn't fool my brain but my brain fooled me into believing that everything was going to be okay. I am about to die, and oddly enough I'm okay with that.
I smile; one last moment chance to be Dauntless, to be brave to the very end even if no one knows it except for me. I take one last deep breath and the pain radiates through me before everything starts to fade away and I let the darkness take me.
So what did you think? Let me know in a review!
This story was partially/roughly based on "I've come to terms with the fact that everything I know is a dream" from reddit by tiyafwons. You can also listen to Cry read it on youtube because his voice is amazing, and I don't know about you, but that man could read me the phone book and I would be happy. That story isn't mine and I don't own Uriah or the Divergent world.