text: As the sun streams through the window, I struggle to stay within the comfortable confines of my dream. I fight to stay; gripping at any last fragments of closure. But, despite my efforts, my eyes are forced open. I heave my body out of bed. I find myself on autopilot meandering to grab some coffee out of the kitchen. The steaming mug reminds me of winter at my family’s cabin. When I was young, my mom bought these matching mugs for me and my siblings. I would bring it to the cabin every year. We had to skip this year though. My eyes drift to the grey skies and water droplets falling outside. This month marks the anniversary. The anniversary of endless repetition. Now that I think about it, what day is it? My brain struggles to remember the last day I went to work, but I’m blank. I rush to my phone, it’s dead. My calendar, a year old and completely useless anyway. Am I going crazy? Finally, it hits me, the news. I flick on the tv. Saturday. Can it really be Saturday? All I can do is sit. Staring at the wall, dumbfounded. The light drizzle outside turns into an angry downpour soaking the world around me, turning it into one grey blob. I need to get out of the house. My teal rain coat hugs me snuggly. My boots, a little too big, slip on easily. As I reach for the doorknob I hesitate, pause, and shove off the uncertainty. I need to get out of this prison. The earthy air surprisingly smells better than any candle, or bottle of air freshener that kept me company through this past year. It was real. “Precious pine” and “April Tulips” can’t even compare. They were designed to draw you in and somehow trick your brain that you were in some perfect backyard paradise. The entire world around me is one color, boring. A small shrub shaking is the only thing out of place in this monotone city. I kneel down, peering into the branches. Two glowing green eyes meet mine. The small creature slowly creeps out of hiding. We stare at each other for a while. Its eyes hypnotize me holding my gaze captive. When I finally break free the midnight black kitten is only a few inches away from me. I reach down and give the alluring child a few strokes. A small roll of paper attached to its collar catches my eye. I carefully remove the small note. In scribbled cursive it reads “Need something real? Something new? Take a chance! 5:00 pm Greenway’s Antiques.” Odd. The note felt so personal, so real. Agh that word again, real. I have to give who ever wrote that note props, they almost had me convinced. Thunder starts to rumble in the distance. Time to head back. I look down to stroke the kitten once more, but it was gone. Odd. Later that night as I begin to settle into the covers the image of the note continues to replay in my mind. “Something new.” Finally, I doze off. But, before long, a faint scratching begins to leak into my slumber. I toss trying to keep myself asleep. It’s probably just a tree branch rubbing on the window. Still the annoyance continues. Well, looks like I’m not getting any sleep tonight. I wander to the kitchen, tea sounds good. I scoop a few spoonfuls of tea leaves and drop them into the steeper. Light green clouds emerge into the hot water, swirling and dancing in the cup. The scratching continues. As my tea steeps I decide to go investigate the cause. I peer through the dark window. Two green eyes. Is it? No, it can’t be. It’s probably just another stray. I try to shoo the feline intruder away. It just stares back at me defiance and serenity in it’s eyes. I pull the curtains closed. Whatever. I sip at my tea until I finally start to feel the affects of drowsiness setting in, and I curl up in the covers. I awake again, just like yesterday with the sun streaming through the curtains. I wander to the window curious to see if the kitten was still there. It’s gone. The kitten probably followed me because it thought I would feed it, it would be silly to believe anything else. It’s Sunday and I have work tomorrow, so I should probably get some groceries. As I shut the door behind me I can’t help but peek see if the kitten is in the window. It’s not. Of course it’s not it was just a fluke. Outside, the sky is still grey and the rain is drizzling again. I hop into my car careful not to track mud in. The car quietly hums as I make my way to the supermarket. I’m about half way there when I start hearing the worst sound you can possibly hear from your car, sputtering. I pull over, and lift the hood. Odd, there is no smoke, no smell of burning rubber, no leak. I get back in the car and the simple drizzle, like yesterday turns into a heavy down pour. Thunder rumbles, and I can see the faintest bolt of lightning in the distance. I try to restart the car, it sputters. I try again, and again, nothing good. I guess I’ll have to call a towing service, but who knows how long that will take. I call the local towing service, EmergenC, and the ringing seemingly never ending, stops when someone picks up. “This is EmergenC towing, how can I help you?” An annoyed voice asks. “Hi, can I get my car towed? I’m on 87th avenue.” I reply. “Sure, that’ll be $250 plus tax.” The voice says. “Okay, thanks” I reply. “Someone should be there within two to three hours.” She retorts. “All right.” I sigh before hanging up the call. Great, my car breaks down, then I’m robbed, and on top of all that I ‘m stranded. I look around, I need to find somewhere dry and warm to wait for the tow truck. One tiny store catches my eye. How ironic, Greenway antiques. The only store around is somehow a mysterious antique shop. I make my way to the entrance. Somehow the shabby place, looks surprisingly warm. I peer in the front windo I had finally gotten my car towed to a local auto-shop, I looked at the sunglasses reflecting the light from the lamp in my room. They oddly reminded me of the kitten. Come to think of it, both of them were glossy black, mysterious, alluring. I drifted off to sleep again, the kitten and the sunglasses holding my mind captive. Monday. I awoke this time with no dreams. I was slightly disappointed. Those dreams were pretty much the only interesting things in my life. The sun was out today. I caught myself getting lost in the blue skies and drifting clouds for a moment. But I have work today so I proceed with my routine. As a secretary there’s not really much going on in my day. Picking up phones and writing down messages doesn’t exactly save lives. The only thing risky about my job is using a stapler. As I walk out the door dressed in the same boring clothes as always, a thought comes into my head. I need some individuality. I quickly snatch my sunglasses off my dresser. Much better. With these glasses on I feel surprisingly confident. But that confidence is cleared away and replaced with shock as a person walks by. As if by magic, light blue, glowing words seem to appear in front of the man. “I’m going to be so late!” Hovers over him. I take off the glasses. The words disappear. “Excuse me sir., did you say something?” I ask in horror. “No...” He replies, probably thinking I’m crazy. The man walks away confused. What is going on?! Now, a mother with her child passes. “I hope he doesn’t have any cavities.” Appears above the mother. “I hate the dentist.” Floats above the little boy’s head. My jaw drops in disbelief. I look out to the crowd of people with thousands of glowing thoughts, worries, and inner dialogue appearing above them. I blink my eyes a few times, somehow trying to figure out what is happening. I catch a quick glimpse of the time. 9:25?! I’m running late to work! This- whatever this is will have to wait. I hurry onto the bus, and really wish I had my car. With all the people on there, I became dizzy with all the floating thoughts, and had to take the sunglasses off. Outside the buzzing city blurred around me until we came to an abrupt stop, and I nearly ran out of that smelly, muggy cage. I sat at my desk trying to think of possible explanations to why or how seeing people‘s thoughts through cheap sunglasses from an antique shop could even be possible. In the corner of my eye I spot one of the business men from accounting walking by, and out of curiosity I slip on my sunglasses. “Great, now I have to have it brought here, that stupid secretary can’t even brew a pot of coffee.” Appears above the man’s head. I quickly slip off my sunglasses as he makes his way to the desk. “Can you pick up a drip coffee from Al’s for me?” He asks with a fake smile on his face. He knows I‘m not supposed to be used for picking up food orders, and he thinks that a smile is going to change things. I don’t think so. “Well, I’m sorry sir if my coffee is unsatisfactory for your taste but sadly, my company time doesn’t entail picking up orders.” I reply. “Alright.” He says shocked before walking away. Maybe things are looking up.