Whispers

“Seriously, how did I get here?”

Our hero woke from a daze that they knew could only come from being drugged and possibly beaten. The kind of haze that makes you wonder what week it is let alone what time it is. All they remember at this point is that as they were walking to get an early lunch, they had this feeling of a hundred eyes on every part of them, and then they woke up.

As they assessed their surroundings, they realized they had somehow gotten back to their home. Instead of being safely ensconced in their bed, they were in an awkward position on the floor. Legs were going one way, arms and head the other, their torso twisted in such a way it’s a wonder how they didn’t wake sooner from the uncomfortableness. Slowly starting to rise, they felt the familiar pins and needles stinging from limbs waking up along side their brain. They pulled themselves to the couch and propped their back against the base, waiting until there was enough feeling to rise. Almost out of habit, they pulled their phone out of their pocket. Usually, this would just indicate some mindless scrolling on socials, but before they had a chance to unlock the screen, a realization crept over them that shook their very foundation. It happened to be the same day, but only 15 minutes had passed since they left the house. 

“HOW…??” was the thought that screamed inside their mind, their mouth unable to move. Their voice box unable to vibrate to make even the faintest sound. As their mind continued to wander, they tried replaying the events that led to this. “I logged into work at home early. I got caught up on a project and forgot to eat breakfast. By eleven, I was so hungry I decided to walk to the store to get the blood flowing a little and grab a bagel sandwich. I remember seeing my neighbor doing yard work. Even though they were looking at the leaves they were raking, I still felt like someone was watching me. I shook it off, put my headphones in, and made my way down the road. As I was about halfway there, the feeling returned stronger than before, this time like at least 10 people were looking at me. I remember walking faster and faster, almost to a half jog, then……nothing.” 

By this point, enough feeling had returned to stand up, albeit a little wobbly. Pacing around the living room, the brain fog started to lift a little more.   Hopeful this would lead to more revelations about what possibly could have happened, they decided to just sit back at the computer and see what work could be done, if any. The confusion was so strong that all appetite they may have had was long gone.  

As the day wound down, the brain fog turned slowly into an intense migraine that seemed to emanate from their right shoulder. After signing off, they closed their laptop a little harder than intended and the loud thwack triggered a wave of pain so intense, they had to squeeze their eyes closed as hard as they could in hopes to force it out. After a few seconds of abatement, a noise started to enter their mind. They could not tell where the sound was coming from, but it felt like a buzzing inside their skull. Tuning into this noise and focusing on it seemed to actually help distract from the migraine still raging. Finally, around 10 minutes later they were able to open their eyes. Still drained and confused, bed seemed like the logical conclusion to the day, the bagel would have to wait until tomorrow.

At three in the morning, they became aware of a dream they’d been having since passing out. They did not awake, did not stir, and did not try to fight it. All they could tell was they’d been laying in the same position for hours, but instead of in their bed, they were in a bright metallic looking room. It felt like a surgical suite. Although they were calm, they were confused. Realizing that this must be a dream and they were somehow lucid dreaming, they decided to check out of it and slip back into unconscious REM. But before they were able to they heard another buzzing in their skull that startled them back. But this time the buzzing was more intense, clearer. “We’re not finished yet….”

“Oh no! I overslept my alarm! What time is it? What day is it? Did I even remember to set the alarm?”  As our hero struggled to get up and dressed and logged in for the day, they started an extremely apologetic text to their boss. This had never happened before, but the boss was a hard ass that liked to scream at you for any little infraction. While typing up a novel of an excuse, our hero was stopped cold by the phrase that was once again ringing in their brain “we’re not finished yet”. Finished with what? Who said that to me? 

Our hero deleted everything and just sent a simple “I’m sick” to the boss, grabbed their stuff and ran out the door. Running where? they did not know. Running to whom, they hoped to figure out, but run they must. After about 10 minutes of sprinting down the street, making random turns, double backing, and running some more, they had to stop.  Everything was burning: their lungs, legs, brain. Taking a couple of minutes to recover and orient themselves, they realized they were in a part of the city they had never seen somehow. It couldn’t have been more than a mile from the house, and yet was wholly unfamiliar. Somehow, they had ended up in a large alley that somehow managed to house quite an intricate garden. Flowers, fruiting trees, rows of raised beds all in perfect order. Not a rotting piece of produce or half eaten leaf in sight. It was then the buzzing became more intense and clearer than it ever has. “We’ve been following you.  You don’t realize it yet but you are very important to the fate of everything.”  “What do you want from me?!?” our hero shouted back, finding the physical voice to respond to the ghostly message ruminating inside their head. “Please do not shout. We only want your wellbeing.” “Why should I believe you?” Our hero said in a hushed tone, somehow unable to speak louder than a whisper. “We’ve been watching you. You are destined for something greater. You have found the starting point. The place from which it will all begin. You can think of this as Eden, or paradise, or whatever helps you wrap your mind around it. Just know it starts here.”

Not knowing why, our hero felt calm. Calmer than they have in probably their whole lives. This of course caused its own set of new anxieties. “This is all too much” they thought. “How is any of this possible. And who am I to be so important? I should be freaking out so hard right now, and yet, I could take a nap in this garden. I just don’t understand.” “You don’t need to understand now.” A voice responded from nowhere. “Rest and all will be revealed in time. We’ve followed several others, but you are the one we’ve been searching for.”

 Without thought, or even free will, our hero lays down under one of the fruit trees in the garden. As their eyes close, all they hear is “Welcome to our hero. We’ve been watching and waiting for you….”