A short story in response to Write Anything’s Fiction Friday Challenge…
“I have a dream,” he started. “It’s one of those real trippy dreams, you know? Flying elephants and buildings crumbling and all that crazy stuff from the movie Inception.”
He inhaled another long drag from his cigarette, his hand visibly shaking. The bags under his eyes spoke of how he spent most of the previous night awake.
“But all this crazy stuff is happening — I don’t remember the specifics. They all just blur in my head. But I remember you,” he stated with enough emphasis on the word “you” to mean it as an accusation.
“You were there. You weren’t freaked out by all of the craziness. You just took it all in stride.”
He began speaking faster, his distress apparent.
“I felt like my face was melting off and my teeth were being pulled out and every bone in my body was crumbling… But you. You were fine with all of it.”
His stare told me how desperately he needed answers, but I couldn’t be too forthcoming. That wasn’t the point of this exam. Perhaps he would figure it out. Perhaps not.
If not, we’d meet again tomorrow here at this same spot where we’ve met for the past 42 days. He’ll remember he volunteered for our tests eventually… Or not…
Another spine-chilling direction this one phrase has been taken. It’s so interesting to see where each individual’s creativity will take them with the same starting point.