The Red Lamp

The Red Lamp
The year was 2002, and the place was Idaho state university. I was walking to my business class and saw the most beautiful girl, Sheryl. I walked up to her and went on our first date. Three years later we were married. Two years later I had a daughter and a son. A year after they were born, my law firm I had started took off. I was living the 'American Dream.' That was, until the lamp showed up.

January 1st, 2012.

I woke up in my bed and turned over, "Morning." I said softly.
My wife groaned and groggily stated, "We have to get up now. I'm gonna be late for work." We got up together and got dressed. Or rather she did.
"Where are all my ties?" I questioned.
"What do you mean? I just put some in your drawer."
"Well there's none in here."
"There may be some in the laundry room downstairs."
I walked downstairs and turned the corner to the living room where my daughter, April was getting her stuff together for school. Then I saw it. Our lamp had turned red and now it's all I could focus on. It's glowing and blurry, but only the lamp. April, the tv stand, the paintings. None of them were blurry. What is going on?

I'm worried for my dad. He's staring at the corner of the room. He wont answer me even though I've called out countless times. Five minutes passed before my mom came down and woke him. Weird.

"Did you find them?" Echoed Sheryl.
Her words bounced off the walls and I couldn't take my eyes off the lamp. Its pixelated beauty had me in awe. When did this happen? Then, I felt a hand grab on to my new suit. It's Sheryl.
"Are you okay, Tom? You've been standing here for five minutes. Did you find your tie yet? Also, I made breakfast."
I turn to face her, I'm pale to the face. Should I tell her?
"I'm fine. Thanks for making breakfast. I don't think I'm gonna go to work today. I feel quite sick."
"But you have that meeting with Log Market! You can't miss that!" She exclaimed.
She was right. It's five million dollars and a partnership I could lose. I felt a sudden slap to my back. Turning around I faced the lamp, it was upside down. Now I know. "I'm too sick. Can you move the meeting?"
"Yeah, but get better soon. This is a huge deal."
I looked back at my wife, then the table where my breakfast lay, then to the lamp again. The upside down, blurry, and out of focus lamp eyeing me from the corner.
"Dad! Do you know where my other shoe is?" Yelled my son, Matthew.
I couldn't answer though, my vocal chords thinned as I tried to speak. I couldn't open my mouth, almost as if a force was holding it shut. I sat on the couch and the voices around me slowly faded into one. One voice. And now the lamp is on its side. What am I supposed to do about this?

I'm worried about my husband, Tom. He's been sitting on the couch for five days. He hasn't eaten, slept, talked, or made a noise at all. Every time I approach him a voice in my head tells me to leave it alone. What is 'it'? Is 'it' my husband? I noticed he's really focused on a spot in the corner where my mothers lamp used to sit. My kids recently broke it and I guess I forgot to tell him. Oops.

The lamp is turning around in circles. Flipping up and down and side to side and growing and growing until eventually all I can see is red. Blurry red. I haven't moved or spoken or eaten at all. Though I'm not hungry and I have nothing to say. This lamp is consuming me. All of me. My thoughts, my stomach, my throat, and everything is pixels, out of focus, and shining red.

Snap.

I'm laying on a concrete pathway. I feel terrible. Maybe a migraine? I sit up, but people are pushing me down. My vision is blurry. Where is the lamp? The red? The glowing? So many people are around me.
"APRIL? SHERYL? MATTHEW?" I call out.
I get pulled up on to a stretcher and get pushed into a van. Is that an ambulance? The sirens and blue and red lights. I'm now breathing through an oxygen mask with a long springy cord. I watched it bounce and dance.
"Where's my wife? My kids?"
"Who are you talkin' bout'? You just got hit by a huge football player. you've got a concussion! You aren't thinking straight." Says a voice with a heavy Texan accent, but who is it?
"Where'd they go? Where am I going?"
"We're bringing ya' to the hospital. You got a pretty bad cut on ya' arm."
Was everything a dream? Where are my kids? The lamp? The red? Then I realized. What if it was a dream? What if I'm back in 2002?
"Sir, what's today's date?
"January 1st, 2002."
It was all a dream. All those ten years of my life. No, no, no, no, no.

I'm worried for my son, Tom. He got knocked out by a football player near his university. Idaho state university. He was so proud when he got in and now he won't even look at me. He got a concussion but he hasn't been the same. He won't stop talking about April and Sheryl and Matthew. He hasn't spoken about anything else. He only ate a couple crackers and an apple everyday since he's been in the hospital. He won't say what's wrong but there's something up with him.

What happened? Why won't he tell me?