House Party

We find ourselves at a party. The party is a little weird. Not kinky, just a little weird. A party somewhere between a high school gathering, where everyone gets drunk and talks about life they have no experience in, and an adult party, where everyone gets drunk and talks about life they have no experience in, but with snacks. There are not a lot of people. Not enough to fill a house, but too many to sit around a table and eat.

We see a man standing in the corner. Not in a creepy way, more in an awkward, observational way. He is no man of mystery. All I'm saying is that this man is clearly new to the group. He has a drink in his hand, and every now and then he finds a group and makes his way over to it. He worms his way in, listens to the conversation, and then the group dissolves, leaving him standing alone again.

He is not the reason the group splits apart. It just happens. Someone goes to get a drink, someone leaves for the bathroom, and before you know it, the group has scattered. The man stands there with his red cup, looking around for his people.

And then she walks in.

From his point of view, she is the only thing he sees. The noise in the room becomes background music, and he struggles to focus. From her point of view, she has just arrived at the party and is looking for the birthday girl. To her, he does not exist.

The man tries his best to let his eyes wander anywhere else in the room, but they are drawn to her. He is the deer and she is the headlights.

Like all rational people, the man starts building worlds.

In one, he approaches her. She laughs, he laughs, and they start something.

In another, she is mean, and he dies of embarrassment.

In some worlds, she does the approaching.

After all the world-building, the man finds himself still standing alone. The party is coming to an end and the woman, well, she has already left.

The one world he never built came to pass.