Nightmare Novel

It was quarter to nine when I decided to turn off the system and go to bed. I had to be all ready for the big day and I did have something that seemed like a plan at least to me after all it was my first job interview with the legendary 'THE ONE' the following day and I am not kind enough to welcome any hurdles. Just in case luck turns against me I've got to have my sword ready for battle and so I tried my best with everything that occured to mind. I got my resume file checked - in detail, my outfit ready; I didn't have much of a say as my mum picked it up for me. She believes red symbolises good luck and much more spiritual energy; perfect for an important day as it was. It's the 1st of spring and as a habitual practice I change the time zone on my clock to 10:20pm; an hour ahead just to save some lucky daylight and make the most of it. My alarm was set for 4:00am and I prayed everything would turn out well. Oops I missed the most breathtaking story of this tic-tok clock. It has been my dream clock since kindergarten and I finally received it as a present from the university on passing with a distinction. I had everything about the clock scripted, except it's date of arrival. Maybe I just got lucky about the clock but the interview will prove truly how lucky I am. Lying on my single bed I took my last deep breaths praying I get the job of Senior Accountant. It's all been a struggle till this moment. Anyway, it's not just I who am struggling; everyone does at their prime. I feel myself becoming a prey to Mr. Sleep's piano keys; my sophomore neighbor must be rehearsing for the varsity talent competition; I reassure myself while falling unconscious. 

My brain indicates ' it must be time. Why hasn't the alarm rung? You've been sleeping a lot baeb let's try to figure out what's the time!' I open my eyes like a snail. It was really dark so my eyes took a while to adjust to the surrounding. I search my bedside for the tick-tock clock and I find nothing, my phone's missing too. In less than a minute I feel pressure under my back. I try to sit up and the back of my neck hurts badly. It wasn't my bed neither was it my room. 

I stand up trying to figure out what exactly this place is. I might be dreaming so I pinch myself and welcome additional pain on my left arm. I take a few steps forward and aim at a button expecting it to be the switch and it worked. The flash of light almost blinded me. My eyes took a while to adjust to the brightness again. It was a tiny cabin with few books on meteorology and various others I couldn't categorize. The desk was with papers scattered around and sticky notes crushed. Where am I? What am I doing here? Wasn't I supposed to attend the interview? What's going on? Where's mummy and daddy? Various questions concerned me and I had no answer at all. I opened the metal door to get out of the cabin and find some worthy answers. There was a chain of metal doors like the one behind me. I walk out of the corridor and notice a few strange humans. Suddenly someone hugs me from behind 'I'm glad you're okay; Mia! You didn't have to do it. You didn't have to risk your life for me. Please do not scare me again. I'm glad you woke up.' I felt a connection with the person hugging me but I moved away from him and turned around to notice the person. 

'Who are you?' I question him and he just gives me a blank stare but moving his lips to form the words with a shocked voice.

 'Are you for real, Mia?' he asks me and I just nod.

'Mia! You don't… you don't remember him?' Asks a lady while approaching me. She must be older.

'You remember me, don't you?' she asks again.' and I just blink not knowing what to say.

'Come on say something. We're getting really concerned!' says someone from the group dining on a toast. 

'Wh...where am I and who are you people? I'm sorry I am Mia but I don't know any of you guys.' It took me a while to realize that they all wore the same texture of clothing and they all wore a headband; a really broad one with wires popping from certain ends. I notice, I wore the very same texture of pants and t-shirt like the rest. I place my hand on my head and notice the headband too. 

'What's all this? I have to go back. I have an interview to attend. Could you please help me' I ask hopefully. I turn around and realise we weren't anywhere near. We were far beyond. Beyond Earth!It looked like a spaceship. 

'The interview with 'THE ONE' asks the lady from before.

'How do you know about it?'

'Well that's something we brought to life together. It's just another day living the character we created.' she says.

'Follow me! She grabs my hand and takes me to the cabin, I woke up. She points out at the papers on the desk; the ones I noticed earlier. I jumbled through them and noticed everything was written down there. From the clock to season it was all the same. She leaves me alone in the cabin to settle. I open the drawer by the bedside and see a picture there. The crew and I were in it. It was my copy I suppose as I had written everyone's names in it. The guy who hugged me earlier was Michael Forn (boyfriend) it said. The lady was Lorelei and I had quoted her as 'counsellor'. The others were specified too but I couldn't remember writing any of it. I turn the photo around and read 'Hey Mia, just in case something unfortunate happens and you lose your memory again' It was dated to the year 2030. Am I in the future? Lose memory again? Did I lose my memory earlier too? I get out of the cabin and hear Forn explaining the situation to another person. He looks like the superior here. 

'Mia, come sit here.' said the old man. ' I'm Anderson the organiser here. As you realized we're in a spaceship and we're trying to find a new place for us to live. Your mentor is Michael Forh. You have been really dedicated to your job as an analyst. The others here are also performing certain tasks. This is the second time you lost your memory and this might all be because of the experiments you perform. There is no hope if we CANDIDATES lose our memory. As we have not stepped on earth for 392 days which is more than a year our neurons react differently due to the presence of artificial gravity on the spaceship. This might be the reason you lost your memory the previous time too you denied it all thinking it was a dream and tried attempting suicide analysing that's its the only way out but  Lorelei helped you recover and you began writing down the story. Lorelei is the psychologist here. She helps us all be sane at times of difficulty. The story you think is your past; We don't know if that is really your past as we aren't supposed to do a background check on the other candidates. It's the policy of the ZSHIFT COMPANY.'  I heard it all patiently and half of the person described seemed so unlike me. Moreover it was so weird to hear about my activities from another person. But still I had a few questions and carried on.

'What were you sorry about? I asked Forn. I was a little doubtful if I was really dating my mentor or if it was one-sided.

'We collected a matter from MXP249W856 to analyse and our theories matched well at the beginning. I know it's my fault. I had a little too much confidence on the theory although you were uncertain. Everything went well and so I wanted to experiment the last part by myself that day but you tried to stop me as  you had found a flaw. I denied. So Mia, you tried the experiment by yourself and became a prey to an explosion. You were unconscious for two whole weeks and you even lost your memory to top it all. I'm so sorry Mia! I should have listened.' Said Forn with a disappointed voice.

'How about the story, did we make it all up?' I asked Lorelei who was trying to calm me with her smile and it definitely worked.

'That's the question you must ask yourself. I was just an observer. You are the true writer. I don't know much but you are a great human; I must say.' she says with a cheeky tone. 

'Well what's all this about?' I point at the headband trying my best not to pull it off; accidentally of course.

'Oh that. That's for an emergency situation. The ZSHIFT COMPANY gifted it to us, Candidates. We call it 'The Connector'. They will direct us individually through it if necessary.' said Larry. Oh yeah, I read his name from his coat. He had it printed in bold. 

Forn grabs my hand and takes me to the other side of the hall and when we were far enough to not be noticed he hugs me tighter and starts to weep. I stayed still. 

'Mia. I'm so glad you're alright. You don't know what thoughts occurred to me. I must tell you we have been dating for 2 months now. We were in a secret relationship all this while. We didn't want to get a lot of attention from the other candidates.' 

'Is candidate the name of our crew or something?' I question him.

'that's right. It is our crew's name. You liked it a lot. I know this is all very weird. You must be surprised but just remember I love you Mia!' I didn't know what to do so I pulled him close and kissed his cheek. I didn't want to make very fast moves as I didn't know what exactly I felt for him. All I knew was what I was told to be true. I left him with a smile and wink and went back to the place where everyone was gathered. They all seem occupied with their own tasks so I decided to go to my cabin and see if I can recollect something. I was almost there. Each cabin had the name of the occupant written on it. I finally read mine. Mia… Mia I hear Lorelei calling me and turn around. She smiles and hands me a box. 

'This is the best I could find to wrap the box. I'm glad you're fine, Mia.' I take it with a thanks and unbox it. It was a clock no it was THE CLOCK. The one my type. The tick-tock clock! It took me longer than a moment to steady myself.  

Suddenly the metal around us shook. Lorelei was shocked.

 'It can't be happening now. Not again!'  She said and ran to the gathering area but I couldn't. I was too shocked to move.

 I caught hold of the door knob for support but the door unlocked and I wasn't ready for any impact. I landed on my butt after losing total control but I still held the clock with my other palm. I tucked back the hair on my face behind my ears and noticed the room. It was the room I dreamt about. The room I wrote about. It was really my own room. I just knew it was mine. I am back to earth! I realized. I checked for the date 02/04/2019 ( Tuesday) read my phone. I was back to the day it all began. Back to the start. This wasn't a dream, I was just recollecting my reality there. The tick-tock clock goes on. I get up and get ready for the interview. Was it really the future? How did the clock get there? Did something bad happen? I hope not. I hope everyone's fine; I'm fine! 

I entered the wide gates of THE ONE excited to see what this place has in store for me. CANDIDATE NO: 012 ARLIE MIA read the curly hair lady. She must be an African-American I guessed from her appearance and pronunciation and raised my hand 'Here' I said. She smiled and gestured to enter the interview hall. As we walked along I read her ID ' Lorelei Zone' it was. It was her, from the spaceship. She smiled before letting me in. 'Good luck' she said and I smiled back. I walk into the hall and notice Michael Forh seated beside the interviewers. He smiles warmly as I take my seat. The tables had turned around, this time I was a stranger to him. Almost everything went perfect. I got my dream job but he was a happily married man so I maintained my distance. I respect his relationship for the present. As my dream belonged to the future I preached patience. Indeed sorrow takes over me at times but love is all about wanting the other person's happiness to last longer than yours; right! Wait I don't even know if we will really be dating in future or even if I really like him. Heaven's help me!' The claps from the publishers overlap and makes it a beautiful ending. 'Wonderful work Arlie! The best-seller indeed. Let's sign the contract.' said the XiCity Publishers I've been struggling to sign up with.

 I hear someone calling my name at a distance. Arlie... Arlie….Ar come on wake up I hear. I open my eyes and notice Liz pulling away my sheets. 

'What is it?' I ask her.

 'Got a story in mind? We've just got another day and it's our freaking last chance' she says. Wait, What? It was all a dream? The future, the past, all of it? For Heaven's sake! 

'I've got it!' I hop on to pick my laptop. I'm unaware if it was all just a dream or nightmare but I'm definitely gonna turn it into an amazing reality. 

'Come on. Let's do this! says Liz as I begin writing my beautiful nightmare.

 'You changed the hours? Oh yeah. It's spring. My bad.' says Liz palming one side of her head noticing the clock.

'You fool.' I say laughing.

I looked at the tick-tock clock. It was 4:00am again. I wonder if it truly is a portal. Let me introduce myths to support my thought. There's this belief around here; that clocks cannot be a part of dreams. If you had a dream with a clock in it; it wasn't a dream; it really happened. I might be unrealistic for a 21st century civilian but as you might have realized; I had the same clock and the same season throughout. Is something like this even possible? I end my nightmare novel with Liz speechless on the storyline.