The silence is so peaceful. The darkness, so idyllic. Here everything is simple. I was afraid of the dark before. Why? Ah yes, the unknown. But when there is the darkness, there is nothing else. No pressures, no expectations. Here in the vast nothing, with only my solitude beside me, I exist in a one-man utopia...
What the hell am I talking about?
I blink a few times and lift my head. The surface below me feels soft, like fabric. I notice a blanket draped over my body. And what's that shape over there? Is that a door? I look over my shoulder.
4:26 AM
Those glowing red symbols...that's the time. Man, I still have two hours. Wait...two hours for what? Well, for sleep, of course. I have to be at work at eight. How do I know that? Because this is my life, of course. Ugh, it's too early to get philosophical. Just try to get some more sleep.
"Are you okay, dear?"
I freeze. Who was that? Will you relax! It's only your wife. Oh yeah, of course...I, uh, forgot. "I'm fine...just really weird dreams tonight."
"Aw...well, try to go back to sleep, 'kay?"
"Yeah."
Yeah. Just try to go back to sleep. No problem. Just close my eyes and relax. Drift gently off to...pee. Damn it! I have to go to the bathroom. Do I really have to go that badly? Okay, if I don't go, I know I'm going to roll around half-asleep for the next two hours while I convince my body it can hold it 'till the alarm goes off. Yeah, this feels a lot more like reality.
Well, off to the bathroom with me. I stumble to the door and across the hall. The night light in the bathroom greets me as I empty my bladder. I really hope I don't dream for the rest of the night. I'm not sure I remember everything, but I know there was lots of strangeness while I was asleep. I gently tuck myself back in and drift off to...sleep.
...
"Honey, wake up...c'mon, babe, rise'n shine."
Oh jeez...did I sleep at all. Somebody turn off that damn alarm! Oh, wait...that's my job. Okay, up I get. I roll out of bed and walk around to the bedside table, eyes still closed, and swat the snooze button.
"All the way off," my wife reminds me. "It'll go off while you're in the shower and scare the hell out of me."
"Mmmnfrrn," I mumble, switching the alarm completely off.
Honestly, though, a shower sounds really nice about now. I give her a kiss and make my way to the bathroom. Man, my side is stiff. I'll have to stretch it out while I'm washing up.
Mornings are mundane. They have to be. We wake to semi-consciousness, and if things weren't absolutely normal and utterly routine, we'd be in a poor state to handle it. So, we walk zombified through our schedule. Hop in the shower. Dry off. Eat breakfast. Have coffee. Brush teeth. Get dressed. Hope you've regained enough self-awareness to drive yourself to work. Kiss wife. Leave house. If only once I got to work I could slip back into a half-comatose state and operate on this level of automation.
...
"Hey, man, how's it goin'?"
That's Tom. He sits in the cubicle next to mine. Nice guy. "I'm tired."
"Yeah, you look like crap."
"Gee, thanks."
"No prob. So, what happened? Linda keep you up all night? Rowr..."
I give him an unamused look. "No. Just had weird dreams... Actually, I think you might have been in one of them."
Tom laughs. "Hey, I like you, buddy, but keep that stuff to yourself."
I shake my head. "No, no. You were like a bartender or something."
"Yeah, I wish!" he snorts. "It'd be better than this place."
I nod enthusiastically in agreement.
"Hey, listen, that reminds me. Greer is probably going to come by looking for those edits later this morning. I overheard him bitching about them by the snack bar."
"Great..."
Greer is technically my boss in that he has the power to delegate assignments to me and complain to the higher ups when I don't do them to his liking. It's the higher ups, though, that I need to impress to get my ass out of this euphoria-inspiring cubicle siesta. Ah well, let's get to it.
"Hey, check it out," Tom grins, nodding towards, "the new girl."
Wow, she looks awfully familiar.
Tom pants, "Pretty hot, huh?"
I nod absently. Where have I seen that girl before? I watch her walk down the hall and into the copy room. I know I know her. I glance at my desk.
"I, uh...need to go make some copies," I mumble.
"Yeah, I bet you do," Tom chuckles. "Hey, make me some too, huh?"
I walk off, not even bothering to take some papers with me.
"Don't make me have to call Linda!" Tom warns my back.
Man, I look like an idiot. I should have grabbed something to take with me into the copy room. Now I'm standing here in the door, empty handed, just staring at this woman making copies. She's going to think I'm a stalker or something. No, no, it's okay. I'll just pretend to be getting some staples or something.
"Hi!" she says to me with a friendly smile.
"Staples!" I blurt out. Smooth... "I mean, hi. I'm, uh, looking for some staples."
She looks around briefly. "Hmm..." she says, "I'm kind of new around here. I'm not really sure where they keep them."
"Oh, there over here," I point to the supply cabinet. Brilliant. This is working just like it did in my head.
"Ah," she nods. "So, why did you ask me?"
I shake my head. "I'm sorry. It's been a bit of a rough morning." I step over to the cabinet. "Let me just get these and I'll be out of your way."
She giggles and puts out her hand. "Let me introduce myself. My name's-"
"Loretta."
Silence...when it's between two people, it has a way of making them feel uncomfortable. That or whatever was said before the silence is what makes it uncomfortable.
"How did you know my name?"
I take a deep breath. "Oh, well, I happened to overhear. By the snack bar this morning I overheard someone saying that new girl Loretta would be starting today. I just assumed it was you."
Nice...now that really was smooth.
"Oh," is all she can manage.
"I'm going to go ahead and get those staples now," I tell her.
"Okay," she says as she goes about her copying. "It was nice meeting you," she calls as I walk out the door.
I turn. "It was nice meeting you too."
Well, that was interesting. What's even more interesting is how I really did know her name. Now that I think about it, she may have been in one of my dreams last night, but...how could I possibly know? I must have seen her come in for an interview or something. Maybe I really did overhear it. There has to be a logical expla-
Who the hell is that? Some guy in a huge black robe is standing by my cubicle. Is this some kind of joke? He's dressed up like death, but it isn't my birthday. This is definitely near the top of my list of weird days.
"Hey, who are you?" I ask.
The robed figure turns. His hood is pulled to low for me to make out his face. Before I can say anything else, he turns and runs.
"Hey! Come back here!" I demand. When he doesn't, I chase after him.
Wait a minute...why am I doing this? I turn down the main corridor just in time to see the back of a black robe disappear around the next corner. Why would I chase this guy? I reach the end of the corridor as the door to the stairwell clicks shut. This doesn't make sense. I throw open the door and bound down steps several at a time, almost killing myself in the process. This is important for some reason. I bolt out into the ground floor lobby and see the figure dashing across the street outside. I have to find out who this guy is. I explode out the building entrance and run into the street. Where'd he go?
The sudden blast of a loud horn shatters the moment. I look just in time to see the semi trying to screech to a halt. Well, this sucks.
Pain!
Nothing.
...
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