MicroHorror

“It started with my wife. She works nights.”

“I know. I watch you.”

He hesitated to say more, not knowing what she wanted him to do.

“Continue,” she said.

“She called and yelled at me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter why, really. She just yells sometimes. Then I felt like smoking. So I walked to the gas station. The attendant yelled at me because my shoes were wet. I left with the little cigar, but it didn’t taste good. A car drove by and honked. Somebody shouted something and flipped me off. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even know them.”

“Then what happened?”

He didn’t understand. Didn’t she know all this already? Still, he continued. “I felt like I just needed something. I got on the computer and played poker, just to chat with the other players, maybe feel human again. But even they were rude. I felt hexed.”

“And then?”

“And then I took several Benadryls and chased them with three beers. I just wanted to be out of it.”

“Did it work?”

“Yes and no. Yes, I was out of it, but sleep was no escape. I dreamt of the day my dad told me I was stupid. I dreamt of the time we were at the restaurant and my mother told me I looked retarded when I ate. Then I woke up.”

“And then?”

“And then I heard you whispering. But this time I wasn’t afraid.”

“So do you understand?”

It took only a few seconds to piece it together. He knew what she had shown him. “I’ve heard you before at night, but I’ve always been too afraid. My fear drives you away.”

“Yes.”

“But this time I wasn’t afraid. I hated this world so much that anything unworldly was welcome.”

He lay there in awe for a few seconds, before speaking again. “I’ve been asking you to come and help me for so long, but I had to get to a state where I welcomed you before you could show. How did you do it? How did you make all those people be mean to me?”

She smiled. “The only one I affected was your wife. That got you to a dark plane. The rest fell into place.”

He thought for a few seconds. “So there really are different realities that we travel between.”

“Yes, and now that you’ve finally got me here, you just have to decide where to go next.”

So many memories stirred. “And what of vengeance?”

The disembodied voice laughed. “There are many places for that.”