The next day was Saturday. When I
woke up, Mary had already gone to her mother’s. I walked into the kitchen, and
saw that she left me a list of things she wanted me to pick up in town. Every
Saturday she leaves me a list because she knows I would be bored out of my mind
being inside all day. The list had all the usual things. Milk, bread, oil
change, etc. I was about to put the note in my pocket when I noticed an
addition to the list, a puppy. I laughed and shook my head.
“Looks like I’m going to be making a
trip to the pet store today”, I said to myself.
In town, the streets were more
crowded than usual. It had taken me a couple of hours to go to all the different
stores and put everything in the car. I was just about to leave the candle
store, and head to the pet store when I saw a little girl on top of the hill
behind the store. She was staring right at me. She seemed like she was lost, so
I started to make my way through the suddenly empty parking lot and over to her.
“Hello. Are you lost sweetie”, I asked
her once I was close enough. The little girl was maybe six or seven years old. She
wore a red rain coat with matching boots. In her hand was a brown raggedy teddy
bear that was missing and eye. Her brown hair curled as it flowed down her
shoulders. “My name is John Winston. What’s yours?”
“It’s me Carla”, She replied. Her voice
was so sweet. It took me a moment to realize how she answered.
“I’m sorry. Do I know you?”
“Please wake up.” I tilted my head in
confusion.
“Come with me. We’ll find your
parents. How does that sound?”
“Please. I need you to wake up.” A sudden
clash of lightning sounded. I looked up at the sky as it started to pour rain. When
I looked back the little girl, she was gone. I looked around to see if she had
just ran off, but she was nowhere in sight. The rain started to lighten, and I turned
and started toward my car. It stopped raining, and the parking lot was full
again by the time I was back. My encounter with the girl put me on edge a
little bit, but I didn’t let it get to me. I just turned and walked toward the
pet shop a couple of blocks over.
As I walked through the streets,
people pushed and pulled past each other. It was near impossible to get five feet
without having at least three people come close to tripping over each other’s
feet. I had the pet shop in sight when someone slammed their shoulder into
mine, causing me to fall over like a tree in the woods.
“Oh, I’m so sorry sir”, the man
rushed. He grabbed my hand, and pulled me to my feet. I was just starting to
brush off my jacket when the man put his hand on my shoulder, and whispered in
my ear, “This isn’t real.”
“Okay sir, whatever you say.” He was
sharply dressed. That would have never made me guess that he was one of the conspiracy
nutters. I just waved the situation away, and forgot about it. I wouldn’t have given it a second thought if
another person, a woman this time, didn’t bump into me and whisper, “Come back
to us.” Then a little boy had “Open your eyes” written on his balloon. I heard
and saw phrases like this everywhere. I could feel a hammer pounding a hundred
times a minute in my chest. My head spun with confusion. I shut my eyes tight,
and covered my ears with my hands.
“STOP IT”, I yelled not to anyone (or
anything) specific. Then I started to run, and I didn’t stop until I was at my
door. Once I was through the door, I slammed it behind me and leaned my back
against it. I took a minute to catch my breath.
“How did the car work today sweet
heart”, called Mary from the kitchen. A groan grew from my throat.
“I’m sorry Mary, I left it in the
parking lot in front of your favorite candle store.” Then I realized that I didn’t
even know what that store was called. In fact I didn’t know what any of the
stores were called.
“No you didn’t. You drove it home,
John. It’s in the garage.” Mary appeared at the top of the stairs.
“No it’s not. It’s in the parking
lot.” I reached out for the garage door. “See!” Mary had a concerned look on
her face, but she wasn’t looking through the garage door. She was looking at
me. I looked into the garage. The car was there. The exact car I was driving
was there. I hurried next to it, put my hand on it, and quickly took it back.
It was real.
To Be Continued
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