Thursday, April 14, 2016

The Unwelcome Nightlight



Sophia only dared call a few friends to hang out, drink beers, and watch a movie. When  they plugged in the phone to order a pizza, Swayze was there on the line shouting as soon as Sophia picked up. 

She hung up and the phone rang immediately. She picked up and hung up, and the phone rang right away. This happened twice more and she unplugged the phone again. Swayze was so offended he found someone to drive him to her apartment.

This was no small feat, as the two had so many mutual friends even before they started dating. The only friends willing to do such a thing were dudes that knew they'd get their ass kicked and have no one to talk to but each other for a few weeks. Dudes like that didn't mind. Such things blew over, and everyone knew Sophia was moving away.

Swayze was a little guy, and the only people he could find to help were little guys as well, but there were several of them, so time was needed to get the situation under control. Things were broken, including a framed picture of Sophia's grandmother that had been displayed at her funeral. Swayze was also put through a glass table before he could be wrestled out the door. He was cut up pretty bad, but was on enough drugs that he didn't seem to mind. The table was getting thrown out anyway. 

After he left, a neighbor announced the police were on their way. Sophia took a tally of the destruction, and consoled herself by thinking of everything else she'd need to throw away to make this move and have a career and be free of Swayze.

Sophia knew it was crazy, but she believed Swayze was in her back yard photographing her house for possible points of entry. Even with the blankets pulled over her head, Sophia could see the unmistakable razor-blue light of a camera flash on the frontier where sheet met bed. According to legend, a person can't tell time when they dream, so Sophia repeatedly checked the clock and watched the numbers counting down. Supposedly, turning on the light was another sure-fire method of determining if you are in the Dreamlands. Sophia could not imagine what Swayze would do if he knew she was awake.

The flashes stopped at 1:30 with no catharsis. Sophia expected the windows to explode, or the house to catch fire. She clutched the blankets at her nose, staring at the window. She did not check the clock. Sophia was already convincing herself this was a dream.

Continued Monday

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