A day in a life.

The strangest thing just happened to me today: on the way to work I came across an old newspaper posting my picture and mentioning that I had been reported as a missing person. The newspaper is four months old, and reading the article, it says my wife had been all this time looking for me, apparently, I left for work and never came back, nobody knows where I have been. There is also a detailed description of the clothes I was wearing the day I allegedly disappeared, a detailed description of my physique, my age, everything relevant in finding a person. I thought it was a joke in bad taste, but who would do something like that? Putting my picture in a newspaper, to what end?

I take the newspaper with me. I enter the subway and keep on eying other news. The newspaper seems to be real, maybe someone changed only that page to mess with me. Anyways, I do not like that kind of jokes, I want to find out who did this.

I arrive in the office, all my coworkers seem normal, each one of them using their respective computer in their small cubicles. I greet them and sit on my desk and start to look around, perhaps the joker is waiting for me to snap or freak out. I can see that nobody is looking at me or whispering about me or laughing at me, not even James, who is not in the office today. I am not going to think about this anymore, the joke is on you my friend, whoever did this.

A while has passed, and I think of doing something stupid: googling myself. I do it, I put my full name on google and to my surprise, several news of missing person reports appeared with my name on them! Now I start to freak out, they all stated that I went missing four months ago. I even find a police investigation report online with a list of all the people who were interviewed about my disappearance, and I begin to sweat: all of my coworkers, some neighbors, my friends, my family - I cannot believe this –

I am checking website after website, and I discover a video, it is my wife being interviewed by a local tv channel. I hesitate in watching it, but I click the play button anyways. She is crying, she has my picture in her hand, she is scared that something bad had happened to me. She says her phone number and repeats it, the phone number appears on the screen, in order to provide any information about my whereabouts. I cannot take this anymore.

I jump from my seat and address my coworkers. “This is not funny!” I yell and they all keep working. Nobody even raises their heads. “Hey!” I continue. “Go to hell, all of you!”

I leave burning in rage. I want to insult them; I want to beat whoever is responsible for this. I take my cell phone to call Lisa. She is not picking up. I send her a text; I want her to call me as soon as she can.

I take the bus to return home, I will wait for Lisa there. Suddenly, I think about going to the police, maybe I must sue someone for this. That is ridiculous. It would turn out to be just a prank. But I am so terribly upset. Why would Lisa do that to me? What did I do to deserve it?

I get off the bus and I start walking towards my house. I do not even know what time it is. Perhaps, I would have to wait for Lisa several hours. I am almost home. I see my house on the other side of the street and I cross. I do not look around. A red car is coming close to me. It is too late for him to stop; it is too late for me to run. It hits me.

The strangest thing just happened to me today: on the way to work I came across an old newspaper with my picture on it since I had been reported as a missing person. But who would do something like that? Putting my picture in a newspaper, what for?

I do not feel like taking the subway today, I take the bus instead to go to work. I arrive in the office; my coworkers are acting as usual. I am sure one of them is responsible for the little prank in the newspaper, but I am not going to think about that anymore.

… I do something stupid: I google myself. A video appears, it is Lisa being interviewed by a local tv channel. She is desperate, she is holding a picture of me. Her phone number appears on the screen. She begs people to call her if they have some information about my location.

I am freaking out. I yell at my coworkers. This is not funny, this is not a joke to me, but why would Lisa get involved in this? I thought she loved me. I love her so much.

I leave my office, I call Lisa, I need her to explain herself. I take the bus to return home, I will wait for her there.

I get off the bus. I have a bad feeling. I see my house and I am about to cross the street. I remember a car hitting me. - Wait, what? -

I stay. I do not cross. I see a red car approaching. I stay. I see it. I feel like I have lived this before. I realized I have the newspaper still in my hand. I check it out again. It has today’s date; my picture is in the front page. It says after four months missing, they have found my body. What? Does it state that I am dead? This is going too far!

I look up, the red car is coming towards me. It hits me.

The strangest thing just happened to me today. I get to work. James is looking at me from his desk, he uses to stare at me a lot. He is weird. I ignore him as always.

The day goes by like a sigh. I am returning home. I am about to cross the street to get to my house. A red car is getting closer. It hits me. I am inside the car. I cannot stand, I am dizzy, and my ribs are broken. I am tied up. I am still able to recognize James driving. I am in a dirty basement. He is showing me newspapers, my name and picture are in them. He had showed me many newspapers.

If I could get back to the beginning. If I could only cross the street, if I only get to see you again, Lisa, I need to tell you where I am, where I have been. I love you so much.