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Nightmareby Ross Belot |
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Tap. Tap. Tap. Nick woke up from a deep sleep. He rolled over in his bed, the sheets wrapped around his body. Extricating himself he got up and padded over to the window. Rose was still in a deep sleep, he could hear her breathing. A stiff breeze was blowing through the open window. The bright moonlight that flashed across the floor was like a wild kaleidoscope, shining through the white lace curtains that swirled in the wind. The wind whispered through the nearby trees and the leaves rustled back as if alive. There it was again. Tap. Tap. Tap. Nick rubbed his eyes and bent to stick his head out the window. Looking down, he stifled a scream. The top of a head floated below the window ledge, just below his second floor bedroom window, fifteen feet off the ground. The head was attached to a body and its hand was outstretched so that its fingers could play out a rhythm on the sill. Even from this angle it looked familiar, a bald pate with a Friar Tuck fringe. “ Hey, what the hell is this?” The fingers stopped. The head glided up toward the open space of the window. Nick jumped back into his bedroom, hitting his own head on the bottom of the open window. The moon slid behind some clouds and all was in shadow. An outline of a face appeared in the opening. He could see the man was dressed in a dark suit, a blood red tie visible in the shadows at his throat. “ Good evening, Nick. I hope you don’t mind the interruption. I need to talk to you,” a gravely voice rumbled from outside. The clouds moved past the moon and Nick got a clear view of the intruder. His boss, the rotund Ralph Smoker, was floating in front of his window at… he looked at his watch…three in the morning. “ What kind of trick is this Ralph? What are you doing here?” “ I was hoping you would invite me in and I’ll explain everything” Nick looked out at the impossible apparition. The hair stood up on his neck. This was crazy. A small voice told him to be careful, very careful. Memories of vampire movies flashed across his mind…never invite them in without risking your immortal soul. “ No… I don’t think so.” “ Really, just invite me and I’ll fill you in” “ No… I don’t think so Ralph. This is either a really stupid dream or something very weird is going on. In either case you can stay out there. How are you doing that anyway?” Ralph opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a voice from behind. “ Have you got it done yet Smoker? How long are you going to take?” A second body slid up into view. John Oakes, the Senior VP, floated in front of the window, pushing aside Nick’s boss. Ralph moved off like an astronaut floating in space. A tall gaunt man, his face glowed white in the moonlight, his scarlet tie flapping up behind him in the strengthening wind, his grey hair waving like seaweed under water. “ What’s wrong with you Nick. Invite us in to your home. Now.” “ With all due respect Mr. Oakes, its not what’s wrong with me. What’s wrong with you? People don’t float in mid air and call on me in the middle of the night. I don’t get it. Like I told Ralph either this is a dream or I’ve gone nuts. Either way you can stay out there.” “ We have an emergency at work. The Bangor Beans presentation for tomorrow is in trouble. We need to come into your room right now.” Mr. Oakes glared at him. Nick just shook his head. “ You don’t seem to be on the train Nick. It is very disappointing,” Ralph’s basso voice came muffled from behind Mr. Oakes. “ Yes indeed. We have such high hopes for you. Competition among our staff is very stiff. We need team players.” Mr. Oakes stared intently at him the whole time he said this, his eyes looked like dark holes. With that the two men floated up and away. Nick stuck his head out the window again but the men were gone. He must be dreaming. Maybe if he went back to bed he would find himself waking up from this weirdness. He climbed back under the sheets and closed his eyes. He heard the annoying beeping of his alarm set for 6 a.m. Rose rolled over and hit the snooze button. He got out of bed quickly, his car pool buddy Jim Emerson would be here in twenty minutes so he had no time to waste. Twenty-five minutes later he climbed into Jim’s black Honda Civic. They had been car-pooling together for over five years. They both worked at Alucard Advertising and got along very well, making each other laugh. “ Nick, how’s it going? Great morning. Radio says traffic is good; we should scoot before it gets real heavy. Hey, did you open that thing last night?” Jim was referring to the black bag with the laptop that Nick had just thrown into the back seat. “ Nope, same as always. I have the best intentions when I bring it home but then never can make myself open it. Last night I was about to and Rose wanted to go for a walk. You know that was a far better use of the time. Work can wait for work.” “ Yeah, well. I wish I could say the same thing. Ever since they gave me those junior account executives to supervise I never have enough time. Ralph suggested I get dialup access for e-mail and it’s an incredible time saver. Lets you spend more time with your family because you can be at home instead of putting the extra time in at work.” A faint bell chimed in Nick’s head. What was it? He had a dream last night but couldn’t remember it, just wisps left, kind of a feeling. “ Somebody mentioned you had been sending e-mails out after 9 p.m. last weekend. I wondered how you were doing that.” “ Yeah well they gave me the laptop and with the dialup I can work while Susie puts the kids to bed and then kiss them goodnight. Then while Susie watches TV I can be in the same room doing my e-mail.” “ Sound great.” Nick didn’t really think so. He thought it sounded sick. He remembered when Jim used to tell him how much fun it was to read bedtime stories with the kids or how Jim and Susie used to enjoy their evenings together after the kids went to bed. Ever since they had started relying on Jim to manage the junior people at work and had given him that bigger office Jim seemed to have changed. “ Yeah, really is. I feel real lucky the company cares enough to give me the right tools so I can be home with my family. Lots of companies would expect you to just come in. Hey, that reminds me I have to work late the rest of the week. The big Bangor Beans account is in trouble and the team and me have to burn the midnight oil. So if you wait around if you have work to do or…” “ No that’s fine. I can drive myself. Hey, how about those Leafs…” He heard the same soft chime again. Something about Bangor Beans. No he just couldn’t get it. They settled into their usual drive-to-work banter. Tap. Tap. Tap. Nick was awakened again that night. Tap. Tap. Tap. Nick got up and walked toward the open window. The dream from last night was now clear in his mind. He was not surprised to see Ralph floating in front of him. “ Ralph, what are you doing? We went through this last night. Take off will you, and let me sleep.” “ Nick, my boy. You really don’t understand what is going on. This is all for your career. Invite me in to talk to you about it.” “ Ralph, I’m closing this window and going back to bed. If you have something to talk to me about, talk to me at the office. I know this must be a dream but I’m getting really annoyed.” “ Nick, let us in. It’s important. You know you can trust me,” a different voice chimed in. Jim, his car pool partner, had appeared from behind Ralph. “ Jim, you too! This is getting dumber and dumber. Okay what’s this about?” “ It’s all on your laptop in the corner. Invite us in and we’ll show you, Nick.” Nick could see Ralph’s white teeth gleaming in the moonlight, his red tie blowing straight back. “ Okay, okay. I give. Come in. Let’s get this figured out.” He looked up as the two men floated in and saw a tear rolling down Jim’s face. A few months later the rustling leaves lay dead on the ground and a frigid wind blew hard bending the barren trees. Nick was sitting on the couch in the family room. He looked up from his laptop and realized that Rose must have already gone up to bed. Letterman was just ending. “ Guess I better get up to bed but it’s hard to sleep with the work still running around in my head.” Nick was frustrated he hadn’t got more done. He would have to do better tomorrow night. He went upstairs, got ready for bed and slid in beside Rose. He fell asleep in minutes. An hour later. Tap. Tap. Tap. A head poked out of a window. “ Hey, what’s going on?” “ Hello, Snyder. Let me in and I’ll explain. Its about your career.” Nick floated up in front of the new guy at the office… |
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| ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ross E. Belot has lived in Hamilton, Ontario most of his life; attending Parkside High School and then McMaster University. He and his wife have four children who have mostly grown up; one on each coast, one in the Rockies and one in their basement. He writes short stories and poetry. This story is not meant to resemble the large multi-national that Ross works for in any way shape or fashion or any of its managers who send e-mails out at 2 am. Really, it is purely coincidental. Really. | |