A New Life
by Joshua Scribner © 2009
“Whoa, baby! Don't go yet!”
Harris turned to the lady gripping his arm. She was heavy, with long gray hair, and wore a cotton dress that looked like it belonged to another century.
Tied to her forehead was a green feather.
“What's happening?”
“Well, stud. You were waking up before I grabbed you.”
“Waking up?”
“Yes, genius. You're sleeping right now.”
“So this is a dream?”
She sighed. “Is the ground usually made of clouds, and is the sky usually red and sunless?”
“No.”
“Well then?”
“Well then, fine. I'm dreaming. But if I'm dreaming and I know I'm dreaming why don't I wake up?”
“Because I'm hanging onto you really hard, but we should hurry, because time is limited.”
Harris thought about his situation for a few seconds before speaking again.
“Well, it's a dream, so I guess I'm safe.”
She shrugged. “Whatever.”
She looked away from him and motioned with her free hand. Clouds on the ground began to stir.
“I'm going to show you three things you need to see.”
Two attractive women suddenly rose from the place where the clouds stirred.
“Hey. I know both of you. You work in my building.”
He stepped toward them. One of the women, Bernice, a blonde, hissed at him, revealing fangs like a snake.
He backed away. The other woman, Sheela, who had red hair, smiled and winked at him. She then held her arms out as if awaiting an embrace.
He considered whether to go to her. She was, after all, standing close to the fanged Bernice.
The old woman holding his arm made a motion and the two women disappeared.
“Do you get it, stud?”
“Get what?”
She sighed. “What your all-knowing subconscious is trying to tell you.”
“My subconscious is all-knowing?”
“Yes, Einstein. Everyone's is. Most people just don't know how to tap it.”
He thought for a little while.
“Well, both of those women are beautiful and smart. I've considered asking them out, but thought they'd both laugh in my face. Does it mean that Sheela might actually say yes?”
She smirked. “I know. It's shocking to me too, but not only will she say yes.”
“She'll be good to me?”
“Again, it's very stunning.”
She motioned with her free hand and the clouds stirred. This time an entire office came out of the clouds. It was huge, with expensive paintings on the wall and a desk Harris would need five or six of his cubicles to contain. There was a big clown behind the desk and a small clown on the other side.
“My upcoming interview. The one I thought was hopeless.”
“Bingo, superstar.”
He studied the scene again. “This is inside information. He's a big clown. I'm a small clown. If I crack a few jokes in the interview . . .”
“You'll seem like peas in a pod.”
She motioned with her hand, and the office scene disappeared. She motioned again.
“One last thing.”
The woman that came from the clouds was the most beautiful he'd ever seen in person. She was tall and thin and had an expression that could spin the bows of both clowns from the previous vision.
“I can have her?”
The woman on his arm laughed. “No. You couldn't even get close to her.” She laughed again, and he was more than a little embarrassed. She finally stopped and said, “Even if she were alive.”
“She's dead?”
“Yes, genius, because of the unaliveness. And during her life she worked very hard for that body, always watching what she ate, working out constantly. She was in much need of a long vacation.”
“How did she die?”
“Well, let's just say I got tired of being her.”
He looked at the old woman who didn't talk like an old woman. “Oh,” he said. “Sorry.”
“I'm not. It's not the first time I escaped an existence I no longer wanted. But we're running out of time, and I can feel you slipping away, so listen. I'm going to help you and you're going to help me. We can only communicate when we both happen to be at this level of consciousness at the same time. Awake, we won't understand each other. So I'll only be able to show you things in your subconscious from time to time.”
“Okay, but when do I help you.”
“Daily, but it won't be hard. I want you to ignore the medical advice. Forget about the diet and exercise.”
That was the last thing he heard her say, because his alarm clock intervened. Her grip vanished and so did everything else in the cloudy scene. He opened his eyes to his dark bedroom.
“Huh? What an odd dream.”
He got out of bed and walked out to get his morning coffee. He sat down at the table with it.
Token came up to him and begged with his doggie eyes.
“Yeah, I know what you want puppy. But the vet said no scraps ever and no puppy food until after your walk.”
The puppy waddled from the kitchen into the living room. He soon came back with something in his mouth. Harris had bought it from a persistent carnie woman who swore it would bring him good luck. He'd nearly forgotten he had it. He took the green feather from the puppy's mouth.
He laughed. “Okay. We'll go ahead and skip the walk, and I'll fry you up some bacon.”