https://youtu.be/wePDBiF2PlM
Opening his eyes from sleep to find a completely unexpected scene in front of him, Saddiq Bey’s first inclination was to close his eyes again. Perhaps when he opened them for a second time, he would be back in his bed like he expected, and he could pass off the brief glimpse into that unearthly realm as a fleeting conjuration of his half-asleep mind.
No such luck. When he looked again, it was all the same as the first time. He was lying on a very solid marble floor, and there was sunlight shining down on him, made diffuse by a layer of clouds. The light felt “off”, somehow. Saddiq was struck with an inexplicable certainty that the sun above him was not the sun that shone on the Earth. He got to his feet and continued to survey his surroundings, but there wasn’t much more to see. There were tall stone walls on either side of him, occasionally broken up by arched cathedral-esque windows, but on the other two sides, the marble floor seemed to extend forever. In the distance he could see a semicircular fountain against the wall, but that was it. There were no other people.
Saddiq started walking, but it soon became apparent that his footsteps weren’t going to bring him to a destination that was meaningfully different from where he currently stood. If this was his subconscious trying to tell him something important via a dream, he wished his subconscious would be more direct about it. But was he actually dreaming? Saddiq wasn’t entirely sure. Certainly he had never experienced a dream as calm and inert as this one. It was actually quite relaxing, and as he continued to walk, he became more and more convinced that this place was a vast improvement over the unceasing stresses of his “real” life.
Some time passed. How much, he wasn’t sure. His feet kept him moving forward, towards nothing of any great import, as his mind slipped into a peaceful reverie. However, that reverie was broken by the sound of footsteps approaching him from behind. He turned around in confusion, having forgotten that there could be any living being other than him.
“Welcome,” said the man who was standing across from him.
Saddiq took the white robe that was being handed to him and put it on. “Welcome to where?”
“The Hall of the Thirty Point Scorers,” replied the man. “You can guess what the requirements for entry are.”
“Scoring thirty points,” Saddiq murmured to himself. He looked around at the hall with newfound reverence. All the greats of the NBA had, at one point or another, beheld this place in all its grandness. But, for some reason, he felt like there was something more. Something beyond. Another realm, another dimension perhaps, that was calling out to him.
Suddenly, the Hall of the Thirty Point Scorers started to distort and fade out, as if coming through on a poor-quality television antenna. The other man didn’t seem entirely surprised. “Oh, they’re taking you away already.”
“I never learned your name,” Saddiq said, wanting to know as much as possible about this place before he was forced to leave.
The man’s voice was distorted as well. He seemed to say “Carlos Delfino”, or something like that, as everything faded to black.
—
Saddiq kept his eyes closed this time. He could hear seagulls squawking and the gentle crashing of waves. There was sand underneath him. A breeze blew ocean mist into his face, tickling his cheeks.
A hand was taking his own. In a practiced motion, Saddiq allowed himself to be brought to his feet, and he opened his eyes.
A naked, bearded man was smiling at him. Saddiq looked down to realize that his robe had vanished and he, too, was naked.
“Welcome to The Neverending Nudist Beach of The Rookie Thirty Point Scorers,” said the man. “My name is Alec Peters, and I promise to leave you to your solitude soon enough.”
Saddiq looked around. To his left was a perfectly blue ocean. To his right, a sandy beach which slowly rose into shrub-topped sand dunes. Along the beach, there was an occasional palm tree swaying in the wind. There was no sign of anybody else, and no sign of an end to the beach.
“You said nudist, right? Are there women here?”
The man laughed. “Everybody asks that. No, there are no women here until one signs an NBA contract and scores thirty points or more in her rookie year. The All-Seeing Watchers would be quite upset with me if any interlopers trespassed on The Neverending Nudist Beach.”
“Darn,” said Saddiq. He would have liked to see some fine naked women, but he supposed he would get along just fine by himself. It had been a while since he had spent some time on a nice beach.
“Oh! I almost forgot your complimentary daiquiri,” Alec said, handing Saddiq a tropical-looking drink. “The drink is neverending too.”
Saddiq took a large sip and then closely examined the glass, nothing that the level of liquid had not gone down. He looked back up, only to find that Alec had disappeared.
That was fine. Saddiq had everything he needed.