Shifted!

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Come Closer (Finale: The Flight Of The Bumblebee)

Before going through the events that took place during the last night of my stay, it is essential we get to know the puzzle-guy better. He was an average guy in terms of stature. He looked pretty normal and I've never seen him doing anything abnormal unless one considers solving puzzles to be extraordinary. The only problem with him was that he never talked. One day he walked in and sat on a chair in the reception room, playing with his fingers. For a long time they tried to somehow communicate with him but he kept staring in their eyes saying nothing and sitting there. They finally gave up and took him in. Ever since, he just sat in his room. Every day he walked to the lounge, sat behind the same table and solved the same puzzle over and over and over again. He randomly made eye contact with people, like when I walked in the lounge for the first time. This was more or less everything known about him.

I couldn't bare to sit in my room even for one more moment. I just couldn't take it anymore. Therefore, I grabbed a packet of smokes and stormed out. The lounge was a rectangular shaped space, located at the far end of the southern wing, stretched from the west side to the east, covering the width of the building. There was this chair in the lounge that was my favorite spot. It was located on the right side of the room and was facing eastward. The many moon rises I watched siting on that chair. There was a set of three windows on each of the opposite walls and on the southern wall there were many windows approximately the same size of the other ones, but they somehow felt a bit smaller. That night I sank in my favorite chair, staring at the blank outside the eastern windows. I had a couple of smokes before it started. Even to this day I could never make heads and tail of it but somehow I managed to make my peace with it.

The puzzle-guy walked in. It was sometime around 2:30 or 3:00 am. based on the location of the moon I say it was around 3:00. that moment I realized his name. I'm positive his name was Jeremy. I never asked him because I'm not the type of guy to ask redundant questions, and well, I knew the answer anyways. There was a jar sitting on one of the tables. Jeremy took it. He went to the water dispenser and filled almost two-third of it. Then he placed it on his table next to the completed puzzle. At that point for a very brief moment I wondered how many times that puzzle has been completed, destroyed and again made complete. But I didn't really care about the answer. He repositioned the jar many many times with an extraordinary obsession. It kind of reminded me of my first day there but his was less grave. He walked out, after feeling satisfied with the positioning and I lit another cigarette.

He came back of course, holding something in his hand. I couldn't really see anything but based on the gesture of his hand I can say it was an imaginary flower or something alike. He placed it in the jar and spent another good deal of time repositioning it. It was then when he first noticed my presence. He was just not satisfied with the arrangement so he grabbed the flower, walked toward me and gave it to me. Then I realized it was a Rose. A Black Rose I presume. I couldn't see it but I could clearly smell it and I never make mistakes about the smell of roses. It was such a generous offer that as a token of my appreciation I just respected his silence and replied with a faint smile.

He walked toward the window. The one in the middle of the eastern wall. I had a notion of how this scene is about to end. Yet, there was such a solace, such warmth, such tranquility and peace that I was positive, at that moment, there couldn't possibly be any bad outcome to any given act. So I remained seated and watched the show through.

He opened the window and stayed motionless for some moments only breathing the fresh air. I could use some of that too. I banished all the thoughts off my mind and joined him in inhaling the purity that was slowing filling the room. Then it happened. With such arranged and careful movements, he walked out of the window and I think I saw him flying. I could never tell what exactly happened that night and atop all, a flying human being never made any sense to me. Yet, the picture still remains. All I know is that he left that hideous place.

So I sat there, cause there was nothing I could go back to, other than that room. No that wasn't an option. And so I sat there, holding my rose, smelling it every now and then. Enjoying myself. And so I sat there, having some more smokes before the sunrise. It was one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen.

Then I got up. Went back to my room. There I left the rose with my roommate. I placed it next to her pillow. I packed my stuff. Kissed her forehead gently not to wake her. I still don't know why I did it but at that moment it made sense, so I'm fine with it. I walked out of the room and on my way I checked with Mathew. He was asleep so I just left him a note. I believe he never read it. Everyone else was also asleep so I wasn't really bothered on my way out. I stepped in the elevator, then into the alien corridor, out the main gate and walked my way through the garden to the drive way and I was gone.

The End

The Book Ov Revelation

I had an awful week. Agonizing pain and irritations and so on. And as per usual I preferred to stay away and not being seen in my darkest hours. This superficial illusion of strength I'm eager to propagate sometimes becomes sickening even to my own self. But beyond all these and beyond all the pain and problems I learned a number revelations and realizations which am willing to share. I'll make a list and try to keep in brief...

• Physical pain can actually lead to temporary sever depression.
• Shower is the best thing humankind ever invented.
• Even though I hate it, having Caviar for the breakfast always makes me feel good.
• Rocking chairs ROCK!
• Sometimes one really should keep ones distance from ones near ones.

Come Closer (Part II: The Setting Son)

Our first encounter didn't really turn out to be anything I ever thought. It took all my courage to turn that handle and walk in. And I was prepared for an extremely awkward greetings. But then I saw her. She was sleeping. And Yes, that was out first encounter. She was laying on a bed covered in white sheets and white pillow covers and white everything. She was also covered with a white blanket. I didn't really try to make any noise but one way or another, the nervous I was, I managed to make a good deal of noise dropping a few things on the way to my side of the room. She didn't wake up. Some hours later I realized she actually couldn't wake up, because of the very strong painkillers she was on.

It was rather discomforting. Yet, as I have mentioned before everything in the southern wing was colored white. A few times I tried to argue with the attendants that this color is not really a good choice for such a place but no-one really listened to me. I bet they didn't even care and I never knew why.

At one end of the room opposite to the door the wall was covered with a line of big windows which I considered a blessing as I really like to have the sunlight and a lot of it. At Her side of the room, the left side, there was her bed and there was also a closet. The same pattern worked on my end of the room except a door that opened to an attached bathroom and toilet. In the middle, next to the window covered wall, there was a table and a couple of chairs on each side of it. The table had a built-in drawer, in which you could find a number of common, and boring, board games such as the chess, the snakes and ladders and a couple of other games. Next to each of the beds was a small table that served a general purpose. That was more or less all about the room. Other than that there was only the lighting system which wasn't really interesting and nothing else, worth mentioning, was in the room.

I just dropped my belongings on one end of the bed and sat in the middle of it. Uh yes! I forgot to tell you anything about the stuff I carried in to accompany me during that period. I had rather a cheap and small mp3 player and a pair headphones of not such a great quality, a number of books amongst which I really cared for only two, some music CDs in case I ever find a computer to update my mp3 player's playlist and a number of other not-really-useful stuff that I deemed entertaining when I was packing my things. I sat on the bed, facing the other end of the room and stared at that thing laying on the other bed that everyone was so eager to call Human. Based on the movements of sun, I should say I was sitting there staring for about half and hour or so. Yes! When you don't really have anything to do and you are bored and you just don't belong, you start noticing everything. Even those things, everyone would surely take for granted in any normal situation, like the movements of the sun and the moon. After I stared for good deal of time, making sure nothing extraordinary is going to happen and no one is about to jump in middle of the room and start making faces and no alien is going to shine through the window panes, I rose and busied myself with placing my things in my closet. There were some fresh clothes, towels and stuff in the closet but that is not really important and is not worth mentioning. It took me another good deal of time to arrange my belongings. I had this unnatural obsession about positioning them in a correct order and nothing seemed to work out.

I have to admit what I was doing was simply and excuse to escape the many questions. They were running and screaming around in my skull. The many unanswered ones, I called them later. What the hell was I doing there? How in the hell's name did I decide, it's a good idea to commit such an stupid act? Was I really here “to be there” for her? Did I even felt strong enough about her to do such a thing? And many more unanswered ones...

The whole process of placing my belongings took so long that when finally one of the caretakers arrived telling me that the lunch is being served in sometime, I was really relieved to be able to let go of rearranging the positions of two CDs and do something else. He woke her up as well. We greeted with an improper good morning, as it was almost the lunch time, a short and a not-very-friendly hug. Then she was off to the restroom to freshen up and get ready for the lunch. 20 minutes later we both left for the lounge to have the meal.

As mentioned before the lounge was at the end of the corridor which ran all the way through the southern wing. When we arrived there, all the people have already started the lunch and thankfully no one really paid any attention the the new-comer! I kept my eyes down not to get caught in a direct eye to eye contact. There was just one thing that really seemed interesting. There was this guy sitting behind a table with his head bowed and not really paying any attention to his surroundings. He was solving a puzzle! It didn't really fit, but well, nothing made any sense in that place. He lifted up his head and looked me directly in the eye. Damn! I was caught! But no, he lowered his head again and busied himself with his thing.

Nothing else worth mentioning happened during that lunch time. Nor anything interesting happened during any of the next 21 lunch times I spent there. Nor during any other time.

If you ever bothered to re-picture the geography of the southern wing you might have noticed that my room, which was on the right side of the floor, had a beautiful view towards the west. The windows opened to another garden and a lake. It stretched down to the horizon, behind it one had a pleasant view of the sunset. That evening I went out to walk the halls and see what is going on. I never walked further than the adjacent room. The door of the room was open. This room was different. It only had one set of bed and closet and there wasn't any lame board-game table in it. Instead there was a wheelchair. Resting in it, there was a Thing. So happened that when I was busy looking at the wheelchair one of the caretakers passed by me. He started whispering in my ear: “He's name is Mathew. He is 23 and his brain doesn't really function anymore. We are taking care of him. I sit him every evening there so he can watch the sunset. I think he likes it.” I don't really know how it happened but I found myself asking how this fate befallen him. The reply was rather simple. He used to much drugs.

And this was how I met my very first friend whom I chose for myself and didn't really meet in a family gathering or in the school or some other boring situation like that. I spent most of my time there with him. I can't say we had a lot of fun. We didn't really do anything together. Most of times we just stared at eachother or watched the sunset. Like that caretaker said, I also think he liked watching it. In some rare occasions we sat with a group of people and again we didn't do anything. We just sat observing, listening and waiting for our time to come. At some point I even decided to shift my room and become his roommate but then I changed my mind. I decided not to intrude his privacy. I also thought in any friendship maintaining a certain distance is a contributing factor to the continuity of that friendship. So I never moved in.

And the time passed. There were two more rather curious characters as well. You have already been introduced to one of them. The puzzle guy. Whom I only visited a couple of more times during the lunch times sitting on the same table doing the same thing. And this other guy. He was such a pain in the ass. Whenever I encountered him, he was reciting a passage in Latin. I never got what he said and I never really cared. He was just walking on my nerves. There were some points I was ready to do anything just to make him stop, but I never did. And even now, I am positive, if he is still alive, he is still reciting that same passage.

Every single day was the same as the previous one. Starting with a good morning, a not-very-friendly hug with my roommate, having meals, hanging out with Mathew, seeing the passage guy and so on. And so it drew nearer and nearer to the time I was about to leave. I deeply hoped for a boring ending. As boring as how it kept on going. But it wasn't suppose to work that way. Little did I know, no one would ever get of out of that place the same as they walked in. And so finally came the last night of my stay.

To Be Continued...

This Picture

Of course she was my maid. That was exactly how we met in the very first place. I still remember that day. It was the second day after I moved into town. It was a small town, down the River Blossom's region. I called the services and asked for a maid the next morning exactly at 10, as planned before, she was there knocking at my door. I can't really say I fell for her at the first glance. She looked cute and sexy but it wasn't until I realized about her delicate taste in everything that I started to feel attracted to her. It started with me giving her huge tips. It felt wrong. Yet, as you might have noticed I'm a bit shy when it comes to hitting on my maids!

The huge tips, her regular comings and goings and me keeping an eye on her kept on going for some time. But then, in a rainy day in the peak of rainy season when it was pouring outside mercilessly, she came up to me. At that moment I was trying to pretend I'm busy playing the Mondscheinsonate on the piano. I really wasn't. Lets keep it on a hush-hush, but I just couldn't focus on anything when she was around. So, whenever I noticed she's watching me, I used to pretend I'm busy doing something. As I was saying; she came up to me and I had a feeling she finally realized something really fishy is going on. She said that I don't need to keep buying her company and that I could just tell her I like her. Apparently a long time before that incident she gave me a very obvious signal that she likes me. Stupid me! I was never good with signals. I used to always have problems learning boy scout's signals as well when I was a kid!

And this was how we started to date. For the first few months people talked, knowing my position and our previous relationship. We never cared. We were so happy when we were together. The least I know is that I was, I was very happy to be with her. Time passed. Everything was perfect. We used to spend a lot of time together, hanging out almost everyday. Back then I was a studio musician. I pulled some stings, and she became employed in a record company whose boss was a close friend of mine. She was very hardworking and dedicated. Oh! The number of rewards and achievements she made during that year! yet she never left her old job. Everyday exactly at 10 she came up at my door and cleaned the house. Many times I objected but she said she loves to do so because that was how we met. So eventually I just stopped and let her do her thing.

Time passed by and the next rainy season came pouring in our small town again. The rainy seasons are horrible in these parts. sometimes the rain starts and just don't stop! It doesn't really cause much problem, you know, like floods and all but the thunderstorms doesn't really sound pleasant to my ear! They hurt! And the lightnings, they are also a bit terrifying. Every year there are a couple of casualties because of them but the chances of getting hit by a lightning is so small that no one really cares about them.

It was more or less the end of the first month of the rainy season when it happened!I was sitting on my beloved chair reading through a new book, I just bought the day before. It wasn't something extraordinary but it was entertaining enough and for the time being I didn't have anything else to do. Then she came, exactly on time, again as the very usual. That was one of the things I liked very much about her. She was never late. There wasn't much to be done around the house so she finished early and went out to the back of the house to soak in the hot-tub for sometime before she leaves for work. I had to leave to work as well so I just got dressed and went back to kiss her goodbye. And there I saw her. Lying on the ground. With burns and bruises on her chest. Why of all things should she be struck? Why? I rushed back and called the emergencies but there wasn't anything they could do. She was already far gone.

The world kept on turning. it was as if nothing had happened. No one noticed. No one cared! I didn't care! And that just felt so damn wrong! Yet, what could I do? It was the way it was! I was the way I was! So I just moved on with my life. yet I felt so wrong, I made a small cemetery in my backyard. A tomb stone, stupidly lying: “Here Lays Our Beloved Adrianna […].” enclosed in a railing with a small entrance metal gate and flowers and so on. I dropped by randomly and grieved at her grave but it was simply to ease the guilt of not feeling anything.

There are many stories and myths in the region of the ghosts of people to appear at night in the house, if you keep their bodies in the premises. But seriously who in their right mind would ever believe such nonsense?

It was June 13th, around 2:30. Me and Claire were in the tub making out. I was getting bored, I mean come on, we've been there for 30 minutes already kissing eachother. Drastic measures called for drastic actions and so I got to the point and she followed me happily. It was in the middle of it, when out of nowhere I lifted my head up. And there next to the southern wall of the house in the darkness I saw an apparition. It was glowing pale green. It just stood there staring at us, doing nothing and there was no expression on its face. We stared at eachother for some minutes then it faded. I stood. Walked out of the tub and back into the house. I was all wet, dripping all over and most probably I was to mess up the whole house but who cared, tomorrow at ten my maid will come and she will clean up the mess I made. I just went and sat behind the piano. It was an old, second handed upright. I bought it in a very good deal. I sat behind it and the next thing I knew, I was playing the Mondscheinsonate.

A Dream Of Mirrors...

There are things which you just don't know. Then there are things which people don't want you to know. And then there are things that they just can't share. And those things hurt. Yet on top of all, it's my asshole that hurts oh so bad!

The years roll on. Winds still Blow. Snows still fall. Fires still burn. Nothing has changed. 

Yet, I have changed. 

Is That My Punishment?

And this is when you arrive at a fork on the road and you find yourself on your knees, begging; PLEASE! No More Choices!

De Comedy Ov De Brave New World

There are poisonous snakes with double tongues.

There are horny hedgehogs who do their wrongs.

There are deaf men and blind worms, they'll not be seen.

There is a government with a parliament of whores.

They are pawns and rooks for a Crimson King!

P.S. Artwork By: Sarah Danes Jarrett