CHAPTER SEVEN

Kate had been at her core pose for what seemed like an eternity now. Literally. She felt time moving but at the same time felt it stop. Maybe it was her core straining that she felt the time stand still. That is what chi is all about. She thought to herself, loosening a bit on her abs. For a brief moment, she felt time speed up for a minute, but she figured that it was her neurological reaction to her muscles relaxing. The lactic acid buildup was becoming unbearable, and she wanted to let off some of it. She glanced all around her and saw that all the other pupils were equally straining, some sweating, and the kid close to the door was trembling. It was evident that the core pose was not his strongest suit. One more minute and his bones and remains would be the ones being shaken off his yoga mat. Kate wanted to laugh at him, but that would just put more strain on her abdomen, and as at her current position, there was only enough that her abs could hold. Furthermore, she was not doing any better, the only difference was that he was trembling and she wasn't. She looked up to the wall clock at the front of the room and saw that it was still 8.14 pm. They had been in class for barely fifteen minutes yet she felt like they had been there for ages. Kate then waited for the second hand to tick, but it never ticked. That was weird, one of the odd things she had encountered today. Or maybe her mind was playing games with her, like when she would intentionally wait for a sneeze to come, but it never came. Perhaps the clock was faulty; maybe the batteries were dead. Yeah, I am exhausted. Kate was tired. She looked around and saw no sight of Ivan and wished the session to end already. She closed her eyes for a moment and felt like she was somewhere else entirely.

"Katie! Katie!" She was being called repeatedly. "Kat…iieeee! Katiee!" The voice calling her seemed to be fading and equally exhausted. She tried opening her eyes but couldn't. It was pitch black. She tried groping in the darkness, but her whole body felt like lead. She was rendered immobile. The only moving things were her thoughts racing in her mind, trying to process what was happening around her.

Am I fainting?

Is this how death feels like?

Why can't I move?

Am I unconscious?

I am just tired, let me close my eyes, and I will snap out of it.  She thought to herself. It had worked every time she felt she was not in control of her body. In times when she was high. She had figured out that as long as she found peace in resting, Kate knew she was safe. Moreover, she had taken a psychology major in high school and was well aware of the power the brain has on other body parts. Right now, she just needed to apply that information in her situation.

Okay, here we go. It is no big deal—just fatigue. I am at KaraDojo. Nothing can happen to me there. I am safe. In three, two… one! She mentally reassured herself, keenly remembering her surrounding. Kate then shut her eyes or felt herself do something close to that. It was still dark, so she had no idea if she had closed them or not.  It had been intriguing, but the voice had faded completely, and it was just Kate and darkness wherever she was. She took one deep breath and voluntarily engaged her eyelids upwards. She opened her eyes but thought she was blind. Nothing. Still black. Kate tried moving her arms, but they felt stuck to her side. She was still immobile. The only difference that had occurred was her posture, or she felt like it had changed. She was now standing with her arms firmly on her side.

Very funny. She thought someone was playing tricks on her. She was intelligent enough to know when she was hallucinating and when she was sober. She knew she was sober. She had been sober for a week now. Ha-ha, hilarious!

Let us do this one more time. Kate breathed hard and clenched her fists, the other body organ other than her eyes that she seemed to be in control over. She closed her eyes once more and willed to be back at KaraDojo. She waited three seconds before she opened them again. She was still in darkness. Not entire darkness this time round. At the corner of her eye, there was what seemed to be a far-off light source. One that was not there at first but had somehow appeared. To her, that was something. Some messed up progress. Her racing thoughts calculated that at that rate, she would be cooped there for a while. She could not explain what was happening but decided to go with the flow either way.

Kate closed her eyes again and opened them abruptly. If she was in a never-ending loop of mind games, then she could not afford to waste time. She was too exhausted to start worrying about other stuff, like the reasons behind what had just happened. She saw her mat and felt her legs move. She could move her waist too. She was happy that she could feel the groans of other pupils in the all-familiar karate class. Those answers could be researched on another day, just not today. She still had her therapy session after class.

Instinct told her to check the time. It was 9.44 pm. Had it been an hour and a half?  She was late for therapy. Her day could not get any worse. She cursed at her mat and picked it up, leaving the class after ascertaining that Ivan was nowhere to be seen but could still be heard talking to someone on the phone at his office at the back of the room. From the sounds of it, he was agitated about something. Kate couldn't care less what that was. She needed to hurry to her mandatory therapy session.

She tried to run, but her whole body was aching. Oh Great! Hit after hit! What could possibly go wrong? She returned to the Dojo and hired a skateboard- that would be faster and engage her muscles less than running would.