They stood in front of the wall, staring at the opening. The dark hole in the wall seemed to beckon to them, drawing their attention and piquing their curiosity as to what could be inside.
“Go on. I dare you to reach inside.”
Jake looked at Thomas, shifting his gaze from the void for a moment then shook his head.
“No way, man. There could be spiders or snakes in there.”
“Oh so you’re chicken then?”
“I don’t see you reaching in there. So who exactly is chicken?”
Looking out my window, the world looks like a sea of clouds. Not that surprising when one is flying at 30,000 feet, but it does not reduce that sense of wonder at seeing the clear sky above and the clouds below, ignited into brilliant hues as the sun reaches the horizon. Some folks just take it for granted, sit in their seats, reading a book or watching a movie, and ignore the Grand Show just outside their window.
To be sure, the Grand Show is more than just seeing the clouds from the side that had never been seen a hundred some odd years ago. It is seeing the world for what it truly is, for what it is truly meant to be. Most folks cannot, or will not, accept the reality you witness when you catch your first glimpse of the Grand Show. Their unconscious mind takes over, making them turn their heads, to avoid seeing any more of what they cannot accept. Others embrace it too fully, becoming overwhelmed by the truth and spend their days as madmen and lunatics, forever making incomprehensible claims. There are very few who manage to witness the Grand Show without losing a grip on what the majority call the “Real World”. These are the ones who keep the rest of humanity safe.
Denton closed his front door, turned, took two steps down his walkway, and froze in his tracks.
They were back.
The grey squirrel in the middle of his front walk, not five feet away from him, looked up into his eyes. It’s beady gaze burning into his brain.
“More nuts! More nuts now!”
The sound bounced around in his skull like marbles in an empty can rolling downhill.
Denton screamed and threw his arms up, launching his briefcase into the air and onto the roof of his neighbor’s house. In a blur he turned and ran back to his front door, frantically trying to find the correct key on the ring.
“Hmm, that’s odd.”
John looked at Dr. Parsis and raised an eyebrow inquiringly. Dr. Parsis did not notice and continued moving his stethoscope to various areas of John’s back.
“Um, what’s odd, Doc?”, John mumbled around the thermometer in his mouth.
“I can’t seem to locate your heartbeat.”
“That doesn’t sound good. You sure you’re listening in the right spot?”
Dr. Parsis stepped back and gave John a quick ‘are you freaking kidding me‘ look before retrieving the thermometer. As he checked it, the look on Dr. Parsis’ face made John nervous.
We lay there together, tall grass and red poppies surrounding us, looking up at the clouds and electrically blue sky, neither saying anything. It was enough to be in each others’ company, to know the other was within an arm’s reach. The smell of the field, of the country air, of her perfume, all dancing around my senses. It had been a long time since we had last done this and I was unsure as to why. I turned my head to ask her.
And I remembered.
As I lay there looking at her, at the translucence of her being, it all came flooding back to me.