2008 © Kyle Brogan – This work may not be copied or printed without express written permission of the author.
…Wait, what time is it, Charley? …Charley? Ah, there you are, my friend. It’s good to see you again, too. Do you have the time? …Ah, good, then. Yes, of course I’ll take a seat. I’ve got a bit of time as it is.
Am I asleep or am I awake, Charley? As tired as I am, I can never really seem to decide anymore. Ever since I learned the secret – that is, ever since I was told the secret, I’ve never really known which of my actions were Here, or which were there. Even now, as I tell you this story, it’s hard to decide if I’m in your world, or if you’re in mine. Despite the fact that we’re Here, not there.
Oh, I’m sorry, am I boring you, Charley? I assure you that isn’t my intention. I just seem to have a natural flair for babbling about absolutely nothing in particular. It’s a talent, really. One of those nonsensically amazing skills that one acquires as he makes his way through the forays and follies of life. But perhaps, Charley, you’re wondering why I’ve called you here? Yes, I guess that would be the best topic of conversation, wouldn’t it? Alright, here goes:
I wish to ask you – where am I? No, Charley, no, not in the physical sense. Well, perhaps in the physical sense – I’m not really sure. You see, it’s been this way ever since I learned of the secret.
What? What do you mean you don’t know the secret? Here you are, Charley, sitting Here, looking at me face to face and you don’t know what the secret is? Are you joking with me? Surely you’re simply jesting – of course you know the secret. You wouldn’t be Here otherwise. That is, unless I’m there instead of Here, which would make it conceivably possible for you to be There and not know the secret of Here. Preposterous! …Oh dear, I’m sorry, Charley. I just can’t seem to stop yawning.
Hmm… What to do, what to do. Alright, then, do me a favor and raise your arm. Go ahead, Charley, raise it. Now point to the ceiling. Now, jump! Did you jump, Charley? Are you sure that was a jump? You didn’t go nearly as high as I would have. I guess that means that I’m there, then. I’m not actually Here, but instead this here is There. But I must tell you that Here is such a wonderful place, especially when you know that you’re there.
What do you mean? My, my, look who’s had the little curiosity bug pay them a visit, hmm? I don’t know if I can tell you, really. After all, how is someone from There supposed to understand the inner workings and deepest aspects of Here? Look, stop prodding me, especially if you want me to tell you. I mean it, Charley.
Oh, if you must know, you nosy buggar, it was Mr. Tweenson who told me of it first. You remember that old chap, don’t you? He handed me a little watch, he called it a Dream Clicker, and asked me to wear it overnight, closing my eyes at exactly the moment when the watch counted down to zeros. When I asked him what for, he said it was his little experiment, and just to wear it on my left wrist that night. Well, of course I did, Charley – Tweenson has been my neighbor for the past twelve years, why shouldn’t I trust the man? Oh, right. Well, in any case, I wore the watch that night, and no sooner had I closed my eyes and my head hit the pillow that I was Here.
I’ve known others to visit Here, but whenever they arrive, none of them truly seem to realize it. Even when I walk right up to them to tell them, or even ask them if they happen to know old Tweenson, they don’t seem to have any clue as to what I’m talking about, and they don’t really understand that I’m even talking to them. They seem to consider it nothing but a dream, Charley, nothing but a made-up fantasy. They let themselves be guided by an anonymous hand, moving this way and that in the mystical dream world of Here.
Well, of course I do. I know exactly when I’m there. It means that I’m in Here, not here. It means that I’ve arrived, and I can always tell, which is partly why I’m a bit confused sitting here with you today. …You see, I can’t even seem to jump right. My reach is usually at least fifteen feet higher when I’m in Here. Maybe it’s just because I’m so tired. …Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve been yawning quite a lot the past few days, I need to get some sleep, but I’m kind of afraid of it.
No, the jumping is nothing like that. It’s simply a matter of knowing. Surely you’ve been there before, haven’t you? Here? It’s part of the network, my friend. It’s all part of the network! You me, Tweenson, all of us!
I don’t think you’re quite understanding, Charley. Let me put it to you another way – When you close your eyes at night, what do you see? Well, of course. It’s going to change every night, some say depending on diet, others on the activities of the day. But every so often, you have that one night every blue moon or so that allows you visit Here.
Haven’t you ever been falling? Of course, we all have. It’s one of the prevalent dangers of appearing in Here. You never quite know where you’re going to end up. Sometimes you arrive with you feet planted, and other times you’re up in the clouds, and find yourself heading towards the ground at mach 12. But let me ask you this – Have you ever actually hit? Of course not. It’s not in the nature of Here to let you feel that until you’ve had plenty of time in There, which is here.
Tweenson’s watch is nothing more than a Sync, you understand. A Sync – Synchronizer. According to him, the fastest and quickest way to get to Here was simply to jump through the window at the proper moment. Yes, sir, windows. Not the pane and glass variety, you understand, but the metaphysical type, what you might call the figurative kind. Every evening there are only just a few, and there They wait, for you to hop through.
They, Them! You know Them, from Here! I’m sure you’ve seen Them, but you might not have recognized them as such. They’re a bit shy about their appearance, and so usually They have a tendency to not look like themselves. They often wear disguises, you see. What? Oh, of course you have. Like I said before, every time you close your eyes at night.
Well, I don’t know what They’ll look like to you, I can’t see through your eyes. When I go to Here, Charley, that is to say, there, they often look like Stinson, my brother. Stinson and I used to have such a time when we were young, and sometimes, when I’m in Here, I’ll see him there. It’s a wonderful time, at least I thought, until I realized it was Them who was pulling old Stinson’s strings.
Every time I’m there, they seem genuinely interested in my watch. Tweenson told me that I should keep it with me, or I’d lose track. He told me that I should always remember when I’m either here or there, so that I would be able to remember which was which. I guess that’s why I was a little muddled when you asked me what I was talking about. Stinson would ask me that sometimes. …Oh, it’s nothing. Just a little tired, is all. But keep me talking, Charley. It helps to keep me awake.
Now where was I? The past few weeks, though, I’ve started to see Katrina there, but that’s how I know They get off on being exceptionally cruel. …What do you mean, ‘what do I mean?’ …Well, with you, Charley, I’ve become accustomed. You’ve told me time and time again that I’m welcome to visit here anytime I like, and whenever I’m around Here I make it a point to stop in on you at your home here. But with Katrina, it’s a whole different mood.
But every time I visit Here, she’s there, Katrina, and she always begs me to stay. I know that I could, but then I couldn’t come back There, and what kind of person would I be to leave my responsibilities? …Well, sure, Charley, but I only come to visit just for the night. I always make sure to come on back here, to There, in the morning. I’ve got people who count on me to be There in the morning.
Oh, of course you’ve met my wife before. What kind of friend would I be if I hadn’t introduced you? Yes, sir, Katrina was the one. Definitely the one for me. She could make a thunderstorm turn tail. As she rose in the morning, the sun would finally take it as permission to rise! That she was gone so quickly is a crime that I think the world should be punished for a hundred times over! Well, I guess, quickly is relative, isn’t it? 62 years it’s been, now. 62! But my Timex here’s still ticking, and I’m still here to see it. (She bought this for me, you know, on my fifty-third birthday.)
What? …No, Charley, I can’t sleep yet. I have to wait until the clock marks eight. My watch. I’ve missed it every day, for the past four days, and I know that I if I miss it, and instead fall asleep here, perhaps I won’t wake up this time. Now where was I? …Oh yes, the Sync.
The thing is, that little Dream Ticker is the one thing that Katrina seemed so very interested in. She always wanted to hold it, to touch it, against which Mr. Tweenson had vehemently opposed. He always told me not to ever take off the Sync, otherwise, he had no idea what would happen.
But, I knew that I had to keep time, so of course, I brought my little spare watch along. That way, I could always know at about what time the window was at, so that I could close my eyes at exactly the right moment. Katrina always buggared me about not leaving, and she always teased me about selfishly not sharing that little Dream Ticker…
She was adamant about it, Charley. She just wouldn’t leave it alone! Every time I came to Here to visit, I of course, stopped in to see Katrina. And there she was, as lovely as ever, and after the pleasantry chit-chat, she would ask me about the little second blue watch on my wrist. (You know, the one that she hadn’t given to me.) …Oh, excuse me once again. …No, just a yawn, I apologize, Charley, just tired is all.
I think it was about the tenth or thirteenth visit when I finally relented. I can’t seem to keep track anymore. There we were, sitting there in the little gingerbread cottage, and she asked me if I still loved her. …She’s my wife, Charley, of course I do! But she continued to ask about my little second watch, the little funny-looking piece with a glowing blue face.
It was a moment of sure blissful stupidity, Charley. I remember reaching to my wrist, unclasping the strap, and then dangling it in front of her face, a boyish, love struck grin on my face. “This one?” I’d said absent-mindedly. Immediately she snatched it from my grasp, with a grin as wide as a Cheshire cat.
I sat back in shock, Charley. My Katrina was not a greedy woman, but she seemed fixated on that little device. And then, in a voice unlike anything that I had ever heard uttered from a woman’s throat, a scratchy, deep, inhuman voice, she bellowed to me:
“Thank you, sweetheart. Thank you for this stitch in time.”
It was one of Them, Charley. It removed its disguise, the disguise of my Katrina that it had been wearing like a cloak for the past two weeks. It was a hideous creature, with sunken sockets instead of eyes, and a greenish glow that seemed to emanate around its skull. Its skin was ashen gray, with cream white, bulging veins that looked to be filled with pure cholesterol. It laughed at me, a gurgling, hideous laugh. I don’t understand how it could have hidden that voice for so very long!
It left me there, and ran away, faster than anything I’ve ever seen move. I watched as the blue glow continued to run, and then, in a flash of blue light, it was gone. The creature, whomever it was, disappeared. I could only assume it used the Sync to go to There.
…I’m just so tired, Charley, and I know that I can’t sleep. I even know that the only reason you’re here is to get me to fall into slumber, for you know as well as They, that I simply don’t belong Here. The funny thing is, I keep on wanting to believe that perhaps this time, when I close my eyes, I’ll finally be back in There, instead of Here. Such is why I asked you from the beginning. Where am I, Charley?
But still, I know, you’re just another one of Them. …Oh, you can’t imagine that I’ve been fooled this long, can you? I know that every night I’ll fall into slumber, but every night I keep expecting that I’m going to wake up There, instead of Here. But then, when I finally open my eyes again, there you are, steady as ever, waiting to hear my tale yet again.
…But still, Charley, I have to wonder… Why do you keep me in Here? I know you’ve heard this story countless times, and I’m sure that there’s nothing left for you to learn from it. Your kind took my Sync, and I have nothing left. Why can’t I just go back?
…What do you mean that’s not your decision? Your friend, my wife, Katrina, she has the Dream Ticker, doesn’t she? Just let me go back! I told you, there’s people who depend on me! Or, at least, let me die, Charley. …Again, not your decision, you say.
…Is this the way that we’re to spend eternity, Charley? …Again, not your decision. …Well, then what decisions do you make!?
…I’m sorry, Charley. You know me, I’m tired and I get a little irritable. …Yes, I know it’s your job, Charley. And a difficult job it must be, especially with no real breaks. …Well, at least you let me talk.
…Wait! What time is it now? Oh, dear! I have just a few more minutes!
…Alright, perhaps I can rest a while, then, Charley…
…No! I better not! …Fine, Just a couple… more… minutes.
…Alright, then, Charley, if you insist…
…But just…for…a moment…
…Charley?
…
…See you in the morning…
