Birthday Dreams

Today marks another trip around the sun for me – it’s my birthday! I’m being treated to a whole day out by my two daughters, Marie and Leigh. With me being a night owl – and of course, my two girls got that from me, too – we decided it would be more exciting if we slept in a little and went out for celebrations at night. Our first stop, Starbucks. I had an iced vanilla latte which I indulgently guzzled down, but that’s okay; it was delicious, and it’s OK to splurge a little on the night of your birthday.

           As we drove through the brightly lit town, I noticed an odd-looking convenience store – it had the stereotypical sliding glass doors of any convenience store, and of course, walls reaching around, but there was no roof. It was an outdoor convenience store, and it looked massive. “Oh, how weird!” I exclaimed, “How long have I been living here, I’ve never seen that place before!”

           “It’s probably new,” Marie said, to which Leigh added, “Yeah, I’m sure they’re trying new stuff around here all the time anyway. Should we check it out?”

           I practically jumped in my seat – it might be a little silly of me, but I thought this place looked really exciting. “Um, yes!” I exclaimed. “Besides, I really have to use the bathroom after my coffee.” My daughters laughed they dittoed.

           We pulled into the parking lot and rushed inside. I’m looking all around for any sign of the bathroom, but they don't appear to have one. I moved to the checkout counter and saw a young man wearing a red vest, which had a nametag that said, “HELLO, MY NAME IS: Dorian,” the name written on the tag was scratchy and oddly lined as if this store clerk had only just learned how to write. I shamed myself for that thought, as I figured he may have some sort of condition that affected his handwriting, as I observed his pale skin and sullen eyes. Though Dorian’s appearance was somewhat off-putting, he gave me a warm smile that felt trustworthy and inviting. “Hello, miss,” He said in a deep voice that belied his otherwise small and unassuming appearance and demeanor. “Hi,” I said warmly to him, “I was just wondering if you had a bathroom here?”

           Dorian nodded slowly, the warm smile slowly becoming discomforting as it never moved nor shifted on his face. “Of course,” he answered, “Owen can take you there.” He looked past my shoulder and nodded. I turned around and jumped back with a yelp. Behind me stood a large man, nearly seven feet tall it seemed. He was wearing a typical security guard uniform, but what truly stood out from him was that I could not see his face; in stark contrast to his neatly pressed uniform, on his head, he wore a dark hood with a deer skull obscuring any facial features, and antlers to top it all off. I raised a hand to my chest as I gasped, “Oh, I did not expect that – you scared the crap outta me!” The tall security guard said nothing, only bowing his head at me. “I think I’m starting to see the theme of this place!” I said with a grin to both the security guard and to Dorian behind me. Dorian returned my grin and gave a nod of his head which paralleled with his coworker’s earlier gesture. “We hope you enjoy all that we offer to you, Cat.”

           “How did you know my name?” I asked curiously.

           “Oh, you just look like a cat – I have a way about these things, you know. Isn’t that right, Owen?” I looked back to the security guard who remained silent, and this time didn’t even offer his curt bow. He took a step back and held out his arm as if to say, “Right this way.”

           “He'll show you to the trucker's area – they have a bathroom down there,” Dorian announced before leaving. I looked back to the large, disguised security guard. He hadn’t moved and stood unnaturally still. “Owen, right?” I asked. He nodded. “Just hold on one sec for me 'kay?” I asked though I didn’t wait for a response. I power walked over to Leigh who was inspecting a display case of different hats not far from where I spoke with Dorian and Owen. “How cool is this guy?” I asked her. She moved to see Owen over my shoulder. She shrugged and gave a smile. “Yeah, he’s pretty cool,” she agreed. I could tell from her tone that, for some reason, she wasn’t seeing what I was seeing. I turned back to Owen who remained in the same exact position I last saw him in, his arm held out like a knockoff ghost of Christmas future, his masked deer skull face gazing in our direction. The fact that Leigh didn’t seem to agree that this was out-of-this-world levels of cool had me believe that she was playing it down as some sort of joke to me – I had no time to play into it as I really, really had to go now. “Right,” I continued, “well he’s going to help me find a bathroom. I’ll see you guys in a bit!”

           Leigh returned my sentiment as I went back to Owen, saying, “Lead the way, thank you!”

           Of all the things that Owen would lead me to in this store, the least I would’ve expected was an elevator. “Wow....an elevator in a convenience store?” I asked Owen. Even more curious about this elevator somehow, was not only that it belonged to a convenience store but that it belonged to an outdoor convenience store. Though, again, I really have to pee so I don't really think much of it, and follow the man into the elevator – and down we go.

It only takes us down one floor, supposedly to the basement level. It's not like there were many different floor options - now that would be odd!

Anyway, the doors open, and before me is what appears to be a very brightly lit area that resembles a Lowe’s type of gas station and truck stop. So, exactly what I was expecting since this security guard told the cashier he would take me to the 'trucker's area'. We walk out into the area and as we do I see more and more people, many of whom are saying ‘hi’ to this guy I'm with; he seems to certainly be a familiar face down here.

Up ahead I see a few self-service areas for soda and gas station types of foods. There's also an ordering area for what looks like fast food options and a person standing behind that counter waiting on a few customers. The security guard points back beyond them to an area that has a restroom sign above it. I thank him and walk in that direction while he stays behind with someone who has just walked up to him. I only barely noticed that this newcomer was chatting up a storm at Owen, though the security guard only stood motionless, looking at and speaking to no one.

As I'm heading to the bathroom, I am becoming aware that things appear to be getting very strange. There are more and more people, and more shop fronts are appearing as if they are simply springing into existence. I realize that I can see the night sky here and there between some trees and that's when I start to feel scared. What's going on here? Where am I? I want to text Leigh so I reach for my phone, but I cannot find it. Damn; I must have left it in the car.

I'm outside of the bathroom.

So I go inside, and even in here is set up so very weirdly. There are about eight stalls, though their walls are really short and I can see every person in there. There's someone on every toilet seat. To the right is what appears to be a family of four – including the dad – playing a board game. Good heavens, this is crazy! I leave and start heading back toward where the elevator is. I don’t have to go that bad, after all.

 I see up ahead to my left a jewelry counter and a clerk standing behind it. I go to her and tell her that there is a man in the women's restroom and that he and his family are in there playing a board game.

She finds this unacceptable, of course, and says she will get security to take care of it. But in the meantime, there is another restroom in the movie theater, as she points off to the right. I notice that there is now a lot of night sky and even more people, and they all look strange. Dark somehow. The place has such a crowd now that it feels similar to Disneyland, or maybe New Orleans at Mardi Gras. It's spooky as hell, to say the least – and I just want out. I turn back toward the direction of the elevator and realize that the terrain has changed so much that there no longer is an elevator or an area that resembles where the elevator was.

I just want to go home, but how? I can't even at this point any longer see how to get back to the convenience store let alone how to get home. Everywhere I look there are just these weird people – people who all seemed to have sprouted curled horns from their foreheads, and their skin had changed to different hues of purple and red.

Bright lights. Bright neon lights are everywhere I look, all along this outdoor shopping mall kind of street.

I'm walking along scared, no longer even aware I still have to pee, but my stomach is sick, and I want to get away from here. Are Leigh and Marie wondering where I am? Has a clone me gone to them pretending to be me and having gone pee is now upstairs browsing the goods with my daughters? Why would I even be thinking this? How did it come to this?

I spot a man that looks different than the rest, yet he is no less scary. He looks kind of like a human Slappy, from the old Goosebumps kids’ series, grey suit and red bow tie, and all. He's looking at me, and even though it's a clearly human face, it's also that damn dummy face with a toothy wooden smile, as if flesh and wood overlap each other in this one spot of reality. Without knowing how, I am suddenly standing in front of him and he has a pack of cards in his hands.

“Pick the right card,” he snickers to me, “it can be a get-out-of-hell-free card! All you will need to do is find Owen, give him the card, and then you’re Scot-Free! Ha-ha!”

He splays the cards out like a magician and winks. “Choose wisely,” he whispers to me. I reach down, pull a card, and turn it over. It's completely black.

The moment I flipped the card over, a clammy shiver ran down my spine. The card felt like it was alive, pulsating under my fingertips with a strange energy that seemed to echo the chaotic atmosphere around me. The Slappy-like man’s smile widened, revealing an unsettling row of impeccably white teeth, as though the card had just told him a hilarious joke.

"Ahh, the all-seeing card!" he declared theatrically, his voice sliding into a sing-song cadence that made my skin crawl. "It shows you what you cannot bear to see. You may not like what it reveals, but it will guide you nonetheless."

I felt a stirring of dread in my stomach, and before I had the chance to protest or even ask what that meant, a wave of darkness enveloped me. My surroundings blurred, and I was pushed into a swirling vortex of shadows interspersed with flashes of the bizarre scenes beyond.

Vision returned, and I found myself standing in front of a massive screen that loomed like a tapestry of nightmares. An unsettling montage began to play: blurry images of Leigh and Marie shopping, gleefully chatting, not a worry in the world. But as their laughter echoed, this darkness curled around them, creeping in and out of focus. In the next frame, I saw a garish scene—a faceless version of myself, outwardly mirroring my actions, but with a sinister aura around it. It waved at me, and I felt an involuntary chill of recognition.

“See? It’s happening!” the Slappy-like man hissed with delight. “Your doubles are at play, and they’re not alone! They’ve found new friends—friends who don’t recall where they’ve left you!” His laughter cascaded through the space, taking on a mocking quality that made my heart pound against my chest.

“Get me out of here! I don't want any part of this!” I shouted defiantly, though my voice trembled against the oppressive vibrancy of this terrifying nightmare.

The screen flickered and blackened, transforming into a door; it shimmered invitingly, but I sensed the treachery behind it. A chorus of voices swirled with flavorless whispers beckoning me: “Step through... it’s an escape. It’s a way home…”

As maddeningly treacherous the door before me seemed, the idea of being trapped in this weird hellscape sent me weaving back, the card still clutched tightly in my palm. I could feel its power resonating; maybe I could summon the security guard. The memory of the man – Owen – who had pointed me toward the restroom flashed back. With newfound determination, I turned and began to sprint through the bizarre market. It was more chaotic than ever, with every twist the throbbing pulse of entertainment was draped in horror, all while hundreds of shadowed, horned figures echoed my every step – they were chasing me.

“Where is the security guard?!” I hollered, my voice barely rising above the clamor of eerie laughter that echoed off the walls like a taunt.

I spotted a flicker of silver catching the neon lights—there was a glimmer of a security badge pinned to the chest of a shadowy figure in the distance. I bolted toward that figure, heart racing. As I drew closer, the figure shifted, revealing the familiar yet haunting deer skull mask. Yet something felt off; where dark sockets concealed his eyes, there now glinted the same pulsating shadows that draped the rest of the surroundings.

"Hey!" I shouted, waving frantically, "I need help!"

He turned toward me, his voice a surreal calm. “You’ve got the card, haven’t you?” he asked. His voice floated out of his mouth like a blurry echo, twisting through the air with disconcerting fabrications. I nodded, holding the card out to him.

“Good,” he said, stepping closer. “But did you really think you could just leave? This is where you face your fears. This? It’s a construct of your making,” He gestured to the swirling darkness and the vibrant chaos around us. A dim green light was slowly growing from within the vibrant shadows, the horned figures emerging from yet avoiding it, as if making room for it. “What… What is that light?” my voice trembled. Owen answered with an out-of-character shudder, “The figure in the corners of our minds, Mr. Green waits patiently — a specter carrying the weight of choices unmade, calling us to confront the darkness within."

My heart sank. A hundred frantic thoughts raced in tandem — my daughters, now lured away, and the crushing sensation that they had forgotten all about me. Biting my lip to hold back the tears, I squeezed the card again, desperate for it to hold a latent truth. I looked back down, and through prayers of faith, the shadows over the card faded, and it became clear. I prayed and pleaded to the image that was now displayed over the face of the card.

“Show me the way—the way that leads back to them!” I cried. “Help me find what I’ve lost!”

Owen’s deer head looked down at me, and with an air of reluctance, he waved his hand. With a sudden lurch of power from the card, the ground beneath me rumbled, and a blinding light engulfed everything.

When the light receded, I found myself staring down the aisle of the convenience store once more, heart racing. I saw I was standing in front of a display of tarot cards, their card backs resembling those of the cards the Slappy-Man held. Though the one I held in my hand was different from the others as I looked at its face, and beheld a drawing of a cross in a field of lush vegetation. I muttered a silent thank you, tears rolling down my cheeks, as I rushed toward the exit. I ran so fast that anyone present must have thought me insane, but I didn’t care – lungs burning, I burst outside into the cool night air, gasping for breath.

Leigh and Marie were standing by the car, laughter bubbling from their lips, blissfully unaware of the shadow nightmare I had just escaped – the flicker of the other world now fading like wisps of smoke.

“Where have you been?” Marie asked, an air of worry to her, and her brow creasing as she caught sight of me. “We started to think you’d been kidnapped or something!”

“Yeah,” Leigh agreed,” If you didn’t respond to my text in the next five minutes, we agreed to call the cops.”

Shaking the surreal images of the night from my head, I offered a weak smile. “I just… got lost in there. Got really lost.”

They made no note of my cryptic tone, oblivious to the weight of the dreamscape I had just traversed. But I knew one thing: I wouldn’t take another trip into that madness willingly again. My grip tightened around the keys as the darkness lingered in the peripheries of my mind, ever watchful.