Unplugged

On a cold Monday morning, the streets of Unplugged were as busy as usual. Cars blared their impatient horns as they weaved their way and craftily maneuvered the crazy traffic. Humans had grimaces dancing on their faces; on some it looked like thin threads of dread had been expertly woven on their facial lines, and on others, it was sheer horror and fright.

The fear of Mondays was palpable!

After what seemed like an eternity in hell, Frank emerged from his air-conditioned car, sweating. His heart was racing as fast as his car had done a few minutes ago after he had dropped off his kids at school. The atmosphere was very peaceful and though he could smell the flowers as they emitted their sweet aroma, there was this ominous feeling he just couldn’t ignore.

“It’s been donkey years since I felt this way. I am not a negative-minded person, so I am not sure where these fearful thoughts are coming from”, he muttered to himself as he carefully walked to his company’s high rise building. Just as he was about to open the main entrance’s door, a cup of coffee came tumbling and spilled all over his crisp white shirt.

Dazed, a rushing wave of anger mixed with frustration flooded Frank’s mind. Still staring at his soiled shirt, he was about to give the culprit a piece of his mind when he looked up and saw Kate – his colleague - in a more confused state than he was. In synchrony, both of them burst into heavy laughter as she tried to make amends by wiping his shirt with her face towel which she always had handy.

“You are so lucky it was you who did this, or else it would have been World War 3 today”, Frank spoke in hushed tones, as though he was still aware of an impending danger.

“Oh, I am sorry Frank, I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t see you coming. Let me make it up to you, I’ll pay for the laundry.” Kate said with a somber tone.

“Not to worry, today is your lucky day. I actually have a spare shirt in my car. You know me, always ready for the rainy day”. And with that, he dashed to his car to grab another crisp white shirt.

Off to the men’s washroom he went, to quickly change his shirt so he could still have enough time to swipe in for work.

Now seated at his desk, Frank began to replay the day’s events leading up to five minutes ago. With a weird smirk, he shrugged his shoulders. “Now it all makes sense. My psychic mind must have probably foreseen Kate spilling coffee on me, potentially ruining my top management executive meeting slated for later today. Phew! I’m glad I had this extra shirt handy”.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was the first to get to the meeting slated for 4pm that day. Glancing at his watch, it was 3:55pm.

“This is strange. Bob and Brad are always the first to get to meetings”.

Giving no second thought to this oddity, he took a seat in his favorite spot – next to the CEO’s seat.

Tick tock, went the clock.

A deafening silence could be heard from miles away.

Suddenly, Frank jumped up from his chair, roused from his much-needed nap by the meowing of a cat. All eyes were on him, he could feel the pangs of judgement clawing away at his soul as he stared back. He tried to mutter some words but all he could do was whisper. The room seemed to swirl around him and he felt so light as though he was floating in a celestial realm. Trying again to speak, he noticed that the images before him; in tandem with the decibels emerging from his mouth, were fading away slowly,

“What is going on here?” he yelled.

The response was a loud echo, followed by a resounding deafening silence.

The cat just sat on the conference room’s table, staring blankly at him.

Still dazed, he looked around and saw an empty space. Furniture and people, all gone. “Thi.. thi...thi…this must be a prank”, he said with a half-hearted smile interspersed with stuttering words. Running as fast as his legs could carry him, he dashed into Kate’s office and found the room completely empty.

“This has got to be a dream!”

Fear, apprehension and uncertainty reverberated throughout the office space as he dashed in and out of every office in the building, with the strange cat following him close from behind.

Now on the ground floor, Frank realized, to his utter dismay, that the whole building was empty. He knew this was no prank as no one could have pulled off such a feat in that short amount of time.

Glancing at his watch, he almost jumped out of his own skin. “3:55pm?!?! What the hell is going on here? Is someone messing with my mind? This had better be a bad dream”. Tears were already streaming down his face as his mind raced like Formula 1 cars. By this time, he had become deaf to the cat’s persistent cries as it kept following him around.

Walking towards the main exit, he feared the worst. His heartbeat had become so loud that it could be heard even from afar.

Everywhere was empty! There were no humans, no moving cars, no animals, and no movement whatsoever. Frank was left alone in Unplugged city with this strange cat.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Driving home was a huge contrast to what he had earlier experienced in the morning, such that he began to feel sick in his stomach. When he could no longer hold it in, he puked on the innocent cat sitting in the passenger’s seat; and didn’t notice that the cat did not even flinch one muscle. It just sat still with a blank stare, focused on the road. The car kept moving in a zig-zag motion, mirroring his current train of thoughts.

By the time he got home, impatience had gotten a better of him as he literally jumped out of the car before it came to a halt, only to find out that the main door to his home was wide open.

“I hope my family is safe.” He whispered to himself.

The trees and flowers seemed to confirm his greatest fear as they were non-responsive to the wind anymore.

The house was tidy, even better than Frank and his family had left it in the morning. Everything was in its usual place and the living room had an unusual fragrance. This scenario calmed Frank’s nerves as he tiptoed towards the master bedroom. “Michelle must be home, she is the only one who can keep our home this tidy”, he said as he approached the room.

Alas, no one was there! The intercom was hanging out from the receiver, showing that someone must have been using it before being abruptly interrupted. Rushing over to the children’s room, he found the same scene, an empty room with the intercom hanging out from its receiver.

Fearing the worst, Frank dashed in and out of every room, the bathroom, the kitchen and even the laundry room. Everywhere was empty.

Losing his mind, he slumped and passed out.

After what seemed like eternity, he felt something slimy, making upward movements on his face. Slightly opening his eyes, he saw the cat’s face right in front of his. This jolted him from his slumber and back to life. He checked his watch again and it read what he feared the most – 3:55pm.

Suddenly, the phone rang.

His heart skipped three beats.

He rushed over to the home phone to take the call but stopped when he got there. Fear of the unknown and apprehension gripped him. Surprisingly, the phone kept on ringing for what seemed like the next two minutes as Frank fidgeted, torn between two worlds.

Summoning all the courage he could muster, he picked up the phone.

There was an eerie silence on the other end.

“He-he-he-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-o”, Frank stuttered.

“Look behind you”, came a feminine voice on the other end of the line.

Not knowing what to think, he took a quick glance at an image behind him and saw a lady. Transfixed, they both kept staring at each other for what seemed like ages before she cleared her throat.

“Thank you for changing me back to a human. I was that cat that followed you all the way from work to your house.” She paused and continued staring at him, as though waiting for a reaction from him.

“Wait. What? You were what? How did… who did… when am I…?” Frank could not string a sentence together. His brain seemed to have shrunk and was unable to grasp the depth of these happenings.

“Yes, I was the cat. I was out running in the woods when I suddenly felt something funny running through my body. It felt like a surge of electricity at first, and then a tickling sensation. In a twinkle of an eye, I became smaller and hairier. I tried to speak but could only muster a meow sound.”

By this time, Frank’s mouth was hanging open just like he had met his door.

“I couldn’t see what I looked like so I kept walking until I got to a building. Through its doors, I could see myself and was shocked at what I saw – a cat! I broke down but couldn’t cry, yet inside me, I was wailing. It was when I walked into the building and then up the stairs, that was when I saw you sleeping alone in the conference room of what I believe is your workplace.”

By this time, Frank had heard enough. “Errmmmm… how about your family? Do you have any family member you could call to be sure they are ok? It seems everyone has gone missing.”

“I stay alone in this city, but I could use your phone to call them as I lost mine after the metamorphosis.” She replied.

“Ok, go ahead.” Frank obliged.

“By the way, the name is Lindsey”, she said.

“I am Frank. This is an awkward way of meeting, but yea. Go ahead and make the call.”

Before their eyes, immediately she picked up the phone, everything around them became blurry and then vanished into thin air. Now they were in an empty house.

Dumbfounded, they stared at each other again for some seconds.

“What the heck is going on? I just want to wake up from this bad dream!” Frank was already in tears.

Lindsey broke down and wept like a baby. “Now I can’t even call my family to know if they are well and safe. This is a hellish nightmare.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They must have sat there for hours, but when Frank checked his wristwatch – which surprisingly didn’t disappear with the other items – it was still 3:55pm! Sadly, nightfall also never came. The planet seemed to have stood still. What had become of the human race?

The silence in Unplugged city was scary. Nothing could be seen moving. Everything was at a painful standstill, and to make matters worse; Lindsey and Frank didn’t feel hungry, yet they both had an unimaginable craving for food.

Talk about psychological torture.

Just when all hope seemed lost, Lindsey saw something like lightning in the sky. She motioned to Frank and pointed at it. Frank went to the window and got the shock of his life.

Each time there was lightning, he saw humans, animals and his city as it used to be. But when the lightning ceased, everything returned to the scary movie that had become his life.

The next lightning bolt casted a gigantic figure in the sky. With a hearty laughter that probably reverberated across the city, the figure held up something that looked like an electrical plug in its hand; and proceeded to show Frank and Lindsey – who by now had joined him at the window – the answer to the greatest puzzle they had ever seen.

Each time the figure plugged it into a socket, the city returned to normal, and when the reverse action was performed, the scary situation resurfaced.

Humanity was at the mercy of this creature.

Will this scary situation be perpetuated indefinitely?

Will the city of “Unplugged” ever become plugged again?