So you think you’re having a bad day? Ok I get it you missed your train, that’s fine. But let me tell you about this morning…
Bzztt Bzztt Bzztt The alarm wales.
Huh? What? Damn just five more minutes, I thought to myself as I lay there, eyes closed refusing to acknowledge the world for a while longer. I am not a morning person, alright let’s see.. have to do the new rollout today assuming everything goes ok I should be back in time for the premiere. Deciding to get up I wiped the grime from my eyes and shuffled to the edge of the bed.
“Alright let’s do this… FUCK God damn it,” I exclaimed as the stabbing pain shot up from my foot as soon as I moved to stand. “Stupid fucking Legos, damn.” As I rubbed my foot I looked around and realized I wasn’t home. Well I was, just that I was and my parents place.
How did I get here? Shit… I’m so screwed , I thought to myself as I turned off the alarm Well I’m running late but my team can start without me. Alright where is my phone? I scrambled around my old bedroom searching for my phone, tossed up the sheets, checked under the bed but after a few minutes searching for it I gave up and decided it to call if from the landline downstairs.
I didn’t find my clothes in the room either, but my parents always kept extra bath robes around. I walked over to the bathroom as quietly as possible, a challenge in a house as old as this, but after years of sneaking down the hall growing up I was pleased to see I remembered where all the squeaky boards were. I reached the bathroom and turned on the lights checking behind the door in the same motion where the robes usually were. When the mirror caught my eye.
“Holy Shit…” my breath caught in my throat. My heart started pounding in my chest. Thump Thump Thump, it felt like hammer, I swear I could hear it racing. I stared speechless into the mirror staring at the boy looking back at me. I’m dreaming, this has to be a dream.
I couldn’t look away my eyes were glued to the face staring wide-eyed back. I reached up and touched my cheek, no scar, there’s no scar flashed through my head along with another million other things each clamoring to my forethoughts. I collapsed to the floor.
***
“Jimmy can you hear me? Jimmy are you ok?”
Suddenly the world snapped back into focus, I was laying on the bathroom floor. My skin felt clammy, my hands felt cold to the touch. My back and shoulder felts vaguely sore from where I hit when I fell down. “Hijo que paso?” My dad hard-ass that he was, was always the first by my side I remembered that.
“Holy shit Dad, DAD!” I lunged up at him throwing my arms around him squeezing him in the hardest bear hug I could manage. All other thoughts banished in the instant I saw him.
“Dad, Dad, oh my God Dad!” *Don’t let go, never let go, don’t wake up, let me have this for a little while. *
“Dad I’ve missed you, I’ve missed you so much” I cried. My head buried in his chest, tears freely falling soaking his shirt. “Its ok hijo I’m here now, I’m here” he replied stroking my head lovingly, holding me tight. “Que paso? Did you slip?” he asked.
Refusing to let go not caring that this had to be a dream, my dad was back, damn it my dad was back 30 years but my dad was back. He was alive. “I don’t know I felt light headed and must have passed out,” I replied.
“How’s your head?”
“Still feels weird”
“Ok just take it easy and I’ll take you to the clinic in a bit”
“Ok” I replied, wiping my face dry, “I love you papi”
“I love you too mijito.”
I looked around wondering when I would wake up, I walked around the house, got dressed in my old clothes feeling silly, ate breakfast, and still hadn’t woken up. On the way to the doctor I looked around the town tired, I could feel the sunlight hitting me through the window of the car, feeling myself nod off, I thought to myself. Goodbye dad I love you.
Twenty minutes later I woke up as we were pulling up to the clinic and it dawned on me, this isn’t a dream.
Based on this week’s writing prompts.
