Opposite Outland

A Peculiar Wake-up Call

You wake up with a start; your alarm clock’s shrill sounds, usually annoying, today inexplicably translating into the cooing sounds of a bird. Rubbing your eyes, you stare at the ceiling, only to realize it’s the floor. Confused, you glance around; you are hanging from the bed, not lying on it.

Your cat, Whiskers, saunters in. Expecting the gentle purr, you are met with a startling bark. Is Whiskers impersonating your neighbor’s dog? Shaking your head, you decide to start your day with a nice hot cup of coffee.

On reaching the kitchen, you find a pineapple where the coffee jar usually rests. Why will you have coffee in the kitchen? You chuckle at your silly forgetfulness. Obviously, coffee jars hang in the bathroom! Tiptoeing your way to your upside-down bathroom, you indeed find your coffee jar hanging next to your inverted bathtub.

After a session of brewing your coffee with toothpaste, you pour your absurd hot beverage in a cup. One sip is enough to tell you that it is the perfect peppermint blend. You savored the taste of toothpaste infused coffee.

A glance at the newspaper floating by overhead (because why wouldn’t it float?) ironically shows everything normal in this world of anti-gravity. The headline reads, ‘Annual Upside-down Race Event Happening Tomorrow!’.

You sigh, arming yourself with a wrong-side-up umbrella to retrieve the newspaper, wondering, ‘What’s next? Chocolate flavored vegetables?’ As if on cue, your breakfast tray floats by, heaping with chocolate-coated broccoli.