Escape!!

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“You are too busy saving the world that you barely have time for family? If hero saving is more important, why did we have kids?”

“Not again Antonia…. We've been over this. The world needs a hero, and our children….”

“Have you.” Antonia quickly cuts in to complete Stefon's statement.

She continued in mockery laced with an undertone of anger, “yada yada yada and plenty of nonsense. It takes two to be parents, Stefon…. TWO!” She strained putting up the peace sign.

“So who takes care of the world then?” Stefon questioned.

“THE WORLD??? THE WORLD! STEFON. Ok, I know, someone needs to carter for the world, right? Ok, I'll do it, I'll cater for the world and you? TAKE CARE OF THE CHILDREN.”

Stefon chuckled lightly…. “You are joking, you are a mom, so you do your job! I'm off.”

Taking a deep breath and breathing out slowly as Stefon flew out of the roof damaging it, Antonia, picked up the toys littered everywhere and just as she was about to go make lunch, their new baby Stacy started crying.

“Uhh!!!!! I hate my life. Antonia screamed as she ran up the stairs to tend to Stacy.”

Later in the evening, Antonia was having some alone time and going over a vacation brochure. She was fantasizing about her life before motherhood, how Stefon will fly her off to different continents and galaxies for a vacation.

She remembered one of her late summers where they visited a parallel universe and how she ended up with the wrong Stefon but they were lucky to detect the switch quick and rectified it before it caused a problem.

Antonia fantasized how the air in the parallel universe smelled differently, how the sea tasted like sugar and not salt. She remembers the most exciting part for her which was floating in mid air instead of walking.

In a year, Antonia lost count of how many beaches she has visited and how many resorts she has slept in. She was really living the life with the love of her life, and she secretly wished she could just go back. As she was lost in fantasy, her first child Silvia who's 5 years old ruined the moment for her.

“Mom. I'm hungry,” Silvia cried out as she held her tummy, squeezing on it and wearing a frown.

“Oh God. I'd give anything to escape from this life,” Antonia cried out.

As she made dinner and sorted out Silvia with a snack, she wished passionately that things could be different. “Oh well, if wishes were horses….”

“Beggars would ride”, A voice that sounded just like an echo completed. Antonia was taken aback by the response as she looked around and saw no one.

“Sounded just like you, mommy.” Silvia, who can hear and identify voices galaxies away, said to her mom as she giggled in amusement.

“Yeah, it does sound like me,” Antonia muttered.

Not letting the strange occurrence bother her, she went on with dinner as she retired to bed afterward with her children. She has since learned not to wait up for Stefon, as he might probably be in another galaxy saving it from extinction.

Later that night something happened, it seemed like a dream but at the same time it was reality. While Antonia slept and dreamt of being in a world where she was back on her hero days saving the universe and the Milky Way alongside her husband Stefon, she was unknowingly creating a time reap.

By the time she opened her eyes, she has created a vortex in her room. In that vortex stood her very self, only difference is that she looked younger with a longer wavy hair. While Antonia's costume was blue, her other self had a red costume on. She got out of her bed and walked straight to herself.

“It feels just like a mirror, am I still dreaming?” Antonia wondered as she stared at herself while it stared back. She waved, and her other self waved back, she said hello and her other self simultaneously said hello. Just when they were about to lock hands, the baby monitor/alarm sounded as Stacy was awake and not having her night going well.

The whole vision disappeared, and her room returned to normal. She saw herself standing at the same position, and she was sure that it's definitely not a dream.

The baby monitor/alarm sounded even louder, and Antonia was forced to snap out of her thoughts and attend to Stacy.

By morning, Stefon was at the dinning table waiting for the rest of the family to join him.

“Hey darling good morning”, Stefon greeted Antonia as he pulled out a chair for her to sit and gave her a peck.

As they had breakfast, Stefon became concerned as Antonia hasn't said a word since she got to the dinning table.

“You are awfully quiet babe, did I do something wrong?” Stefon inquired.

“Mommy has been investigating how to escape her life daddy, from the sound of what I heard last night, I think she created a woooossshhhhh” Silvia reported to her father as she made signs with her hands signifying a big space.

“What's going on, Antonia?” Stefon questioned but got no reply and this made him really frustrated.

He continued, “I hope you did not create a rift in the space time continua last night? You do remember what happened the last time, right?”

“What happened the last time daddy,” Silvia inquired

“Nothing, sweetheart, your mom and I would just go in our little corner and have a chit-chat”. Stefon held Antonia by the hands and pulled her to their little room, which was built to keep in words from Silvia.

All this while, Antonia was quiet and just acted like a robot. Stefon sat her down in their little corner and massaged on her shoulders lightly and softly, they were both quite when all of a sudden Antonia burst out crying.

“I am loosing my mind Stefon, I am seeing things, hearing thing and conjuring things at the expense of everyone, I can't be a mom Stefon, I can't do this…. I want to be us again, I wish to be Storm, I would like to feel all that energy cross through my veins not babysit and make dinner, I would like to go on vacations, I would like to experience other life forms, I just want life to go back to the way they were. I can't continue like this, else life will be lost”.

Antonia was restricted from using her powers by the guardian of the galaxy when she got pregnant. Silvia's pregnancy had stressed her out in such a way that she unintentionally created a rift in the space time continua that almost led to the loss of an entire planet. Since that happened, she gave up her hero days to dedicate to motherhood full-time.

As Stefon rubbed and massaged on Antonia's shoulders, calming her down, he remembered all Antonia's cry for help and immediately started feeling guilty. He apologized to her and promised her a surprise to make it up to her. Without spilling too many beans, he asked Antonia to pack up with the children for a vacation.

“Where are we going?” Antonia inquired as she sniffed and made her way out of their little corner.

“Don't worry, you'll see,” Stefon said, smiling.

This is my response to the Dreemport August Challenge Week2: Vacation To A Parallel Universe.

Till We Read Again

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