A Story About Maybe Going to a Parallel World(?)

[1] I’m going to tell a story about maybe going to a parallel world(?). I think you’ve probably heard similar stories many times before, and honestly, it’s pretty thin on content and the story is short, so I’ll only write the rest if there’s a request.

• [2] Sounds exciting!

[3] It happened about a week ago. It was right in the middle of exam period, and I was studying for tests until about 3 AM. (By the way, I’m a 3rd-year junior high student). After I finished studying and got into my futon, I was dozing off for a bit when I felt a sensation like someone was pulling my hand.

[4] Ah, I forgot to change my name. Sorry. You see, I’ve been experiencing sleep paralysis frequently for about 3 years now, and when I have sleep paralysis, I always see hallucinations or hear auditory hallucinations (People who experience sleep paralysis probably understand). Feeling like my legs are being pulled or seeing a woman standing nearby is pretty commonplace for me, so at first, I wasn’t too bothered, thinking, ‘Ah, just another hallucination.’ But, the pulling gradually got stronger, and I started to think, ‘This is bad, I’m definitely being taken to the afterlife or something,’ and resisted, but I couldn’t overcome the pulling force…

[5] I felt a sensation of leaving my body, and then I saw various scenes. Like a room that was entirely bright red, or one that was monochrome. And then, when I realized it, I was in my own living room. On the living room table were my textbooks and notebook that I was sure I’d put away, plus my smartphone (The same smartphone I use in this world). I tried using the phone and looked at pixiv, but it was the same as here. What caught my attention was that the connection was 6G, not 4G. After that, I went to the toilet.

[6] In my house’s toilet, there’s a photo from my Shichi-Go-San displayed, and that hadn’t changed from this world. What was slightly different was, in this world, I’m in the photo with my older sister, but in that world’s photo, I was with a girl who had a face exactly like mine. We were wearing matching outfits in different colors, pink and light blue. Although our faces were the same, I intuitively knew which one was me. Unlike the ‘me’ in this world, the ‘me’ in that photo had a scar on her left cheek. The toilet’s interior and stuff were mostly the same.

Shichi-Go-San: A traditional Japanese event. It’s a custom where children of specific ages (mainly 3, 5, and 7) visit shrines etc. to celebrate their growth and pray for their health.

• [9] >>1 You came back again?

[14] >>9 Rather than having come back, it feels more like I don’t know if it was a dream I had while half-asleep, or if I really went there. It seems more likely that I was dreaming than that I actually went and came back.

• [17] >>14 Since you were experiencing sleep paralysis, maybe you were having a lucid dream or something?

[19] >>17 I thought that might be it too, but when I thought about it, I didn’t have that feeling of being restrained? or heavy, like in sleep paralysis, and I could move my body normally.

• [12] Where’s the rest of the story?

[15] Here’s the continuation. After coming out of the toilet, I suddenly remembered I had exams the next day, and while thinking it would be bad if I couldn’t get back, just in case I ended up having to go to school in this world, I decided to check various things about the school and looked at the calendar. And what surprised me was that in the spot for the month, it said ‘Month 27’. Next to the calendar was a corkboard (this was the same as in my world), and pinned to it were a timetable and a one-month schedule.

[16] On the timetable, it said Monday was ‘Boys’ School Day’ and Tuesday was ‘Girls’ School Day’, so it seemed like in that world’s school, attendance days were decided on a cycle of boys -> girls. By the way, the school I attend in the real world is an all-girls school, so I wondered if I attended a different school in this world, but my school bag was the same one as for my school in this real world. I think maybe in that world, the school I currently attend isn’t an all-girls school but co-ed. Also, the timetable said ‘3rd Year High School – Girls’ School Day’, so I think that world is probably 3 years ahead, a world 3 years in the future.

[18] After that, still unable to return, I looked around the living room for a while. The things there and their positions were slightly different, but it was mostly the same as this world. The room my dad is usually in also had its light on and was bright, but somehow I felt scared and couldn’t go in. I didn’t want my dad to be a different person from the one in this world… I actually wanted to look around my own room and other places too, but I was too scared to do that either. Somehow, I was scared of encountering the ‘me’ from that world, so I stayed in the living room the whole time. Then suddenly, poof, I woke up. You know how in anime, there are scenes where the protagonist wakes up with a gasp, like ‘Hah!’? It was like that. I think I was probably asleep for about 10 minutes. I had absolutely no sensation of having been asleep; it truly felt like I had ‘been there’. While I was there, I even tried jumping up and down and spinning around, convincing myself, ‘I’m not waking up, so this isn’t a dream, it’s real!’

[20] I don’t know if it was a dream I had while half-asleep or if I really went there, but that’s my experience. I’ll take questions if you have any.

[22] By the way, I looked up lucid dreaming, and apparently, it’s a dream where the person is aware they are dreaming. Since I thought it was completely real and not a dream, it might be a different kind of dream.

• [24] >>22 That sounds like a typical out-of-body experience (OBE). Whether you went to a parallel world through that, or if it was just a phenomenon in your brain, who knows.

[26] >>24 An out-of-body experience…? That’s a possibility too, isn’t it. I’ll look into it a bit.

• [29] Interesting story.

[31] >>29 Thank you. It’s a strange story, isn’t it.

• [30] I believe you.

[32] >>30 Thank you for the kind comment. Honestly, I mostly think it was probably a dream. But when I think, ‘Maybe it was a parallel world!?’, it does get kind of exciting, doesn’t it?

• [34] Maybe your future self wants to return to the past.

[36] >>34 ? What do you mean? The Shichi-Go-San photo… in this world, I’m in it with my older sister, but in that world, I’m with a girl who looks just like me. Meaning, in that world, we’re twins? So I think that from childhood, the ‘me’ here and the ‘me’ there have walked different life paths…

• [[39]] >>36 That might be true in this world, but isn’t it different in that world?
• [35] A dream, huh. Dream or reality, who knows, but would you want to go again? I’d love to visit a world like that.

[37] >>35 I do think I’d like to go again. I’d like to visit the places I couldn’t go this time. But unfortunately, I’ve only been able to go that one time…

• [38] >>37 If you got into danger, had an accident and got injured, or in the worst case, died in that world, what would happen to the ‘you’ in the original world?

[40] >>38 Maybe your existence would just be nullified or something???? I don’t know the details, though…

• [42] >>40 Your family, friends, everyone you know… would it happen to all of them too? That sounds kind of lonely.
• [41] If you want to know more, why not check out threads related to time leaps? Sometimes there are people knowledgeable about that sort of thing there.
• [44] I feel like I should have died many times, but I’m still alive. It feels like every time I die, I move to a different world where I’m alive. I think there are countless worlds, and maybe it’s the same for everyone.
• [46] This seems more likely to be an OBE rather than another world, doesn’t it.