Eye Contact

A New Point of View

        This is a nice place, thought Anon, as he looked around the diner.

        "Welcome," a waitress said, noticing Anon. "How many?"

        "Just the one," Anon replied. His voice was raspy from not using it for so long.

        "Okay." The waitress nodded her head and led Anon to a smaller table. She placed a menu on the table, along with silverware wrapped in a napkin. "Alright. Your server should be here momentarily." She smiled.

        "Thank you," said Anon, his voice still raspy. He cleared his throat. "Thank you," he said again, his voice clear now. The waitress nodded and walked away.

        Anon slumped into a chair and sighed. He had been driving around aimlessly for an hour and stopped at the Great Day Diner for lunch, the first restaurant he saw. He rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted.

        He thought about the events of earlier today. He had the strangest experience of his life. He was never one for supernatural or paranormal or psychic stuff. But now, after what happened, he wasn't sure.

        He recalled the events of earlier that day. He was with his mother who was getting very heated during a conversation they were having. She was talking about his father who she despises. Anon had been avoiding eye contact the whole conversation. His mother's voice quickly evolved into yelling as she started talking about Anon himself. Anon gathered all of his courage, stood up, and looked his mother straight in the eyes. But before he had a chance to say anything, he felt the sensation of being pulled forward.

        Anon felt a cold, stone floor beneath him. He found himself laying face down in a dimly lit, stone hallway. The only light coming from candles placed at regular intervals along the stone wall. He began to panic. "Hello?! Is anyone there?! what's going on?!" His heart began to race and he climbed to his feet. He peered down the cold, stone brick hallway as it seemed to run into eternal darkness, eagerly waiting to swallow up anything it could and never let it see the light of day again. He had no idea how or why he was here, but one thing was for certain, he had to find a way out!

        He dashed forward, his breathing getting faster with every step. It was hard to see and it probably wasn't the best idea to be running in this lighting, but he kept it up. He closed his eyes tight and lowered his head as a few tears began to fall from his eyes. Why is this happening?! What is going on?! He opened his eyes and looked up just in time to stop himself, inches away, from running into a stone wall. If it weren't for the candles placed on the wall, he probably would not have seen it. His head flicked left and right and he saw another set of paths, one for each direction. He dropped to the ground and began to cry. He was in a labyrinth! He'd be lost here forever!

        Just then, he felt the floor beneath him disappear and he was violently thrown back into reality. He gasped for breath as he stumbled into the nearby couch. His mother was still there and looked slightly confused, but mostly pissed. Without saying a word, Anon darted out the door, got into his car, and started to drive. He had to go SOMEWHERE that wasn't that house.

        "Hello. My name is Alex and I'll be your server today." Anon jumped as the voice interrupted his memory. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." Anon looked up and saw that the voice belonged to a waitress. She had shorter, blonde hair and was wearing a uniform identical to the other waitresses. It included a skirt and a slightly tight top. The outfit was clearly designed to show off the female... qualities, at least a little bit. I didn't come here to look at the waitresses, Anon thought as he sighed.

        "It's fine," he assured her.

        "Can I start you off with a couple of drinks?" Alex shook her head. "I'm sorry, A drink?"

        Anon chuckled. "You don't get many parties of one, do you?" 

        "No, I'm afraid we don't," Alex said, laughing a little.

        "Just a water, please." Anon never drank soda unless it was a special occasion. And even then, he tried to avoid it.

        "Sure thing." Alex walked away leaving Anon to his thoughts for a moment. He decided to take a look at the menu he was given. After browsing through it, he settled on a sandwich with eggs, cheese and a breakfast sausage. The Good Morning Muffin, it was called. He set his menu down and Alex reappeared with a glass of water and a straw, which she set on the table. "Have you decided on your order?"

        "Yes." Anon looked at Alex's face closely and noticed a small scar on her left cheek. He looked at her eyes and was about to say his order when he felt the sensation of being pulled out of his chair. 

        Where am I? Anon thought. Oh no, I'm blind! He could see nothing but pure blackness! Then, suddenly, he could make out a beer bottle and heard the sound of glass breaking. A broken beer bottle was in someone's hand and he could hear incoherent yelling. It sounded like a male. The broken glass of the beer bottle was sharp and he could make out the figure of a man holding the broken bottle. He could make out another, feminine figure and he saw the man swing the bottle at the female. There was a loud, feminine cry and more glass breaking. The feminine crying began to change, turning into the cry of a baby. A soothing voice could be heard singing a lullaby and the baby's crying started to slow to a stop. Anon heard a feminine voice echo above him. "Don't worry, I won't let him hurt you." The voice was identical to Alex's!

        Anon felt the sensation of being thrown backwards and the next thing he knew, he was back in the diner. He stared at Alex's eyes, saying nothing.

        "Well, what'll it be?"

        Anon violently shook his head. "W... What?"

        "Your order. You said you were ready. I can come back if you need more time."

        "N... No. I... I'm ready."

        "So what'll it be?" Alex prepared to jot down Anon's order on a notepad.

        "I'll have the Good Morning Muffin, please."

        "Okay..." Alex jotted something down on the notepad. "Will that be all?"

        "Yes. Thank you."

        Alex smiled and took his menu. "Your food will be out momentarily." And with that, she walked away.

        Anon grunted out of frustration. It happened again! What is going on?! He sighed and put his head on the table. He was so confused.

        After what seemed like hours of waiting, Alex finally returned bearing a sandwich on a small plate. She placed it in front of Anon and smiled. "Enjoy!"

        Anon looked up at Alex. "Thank you!" He was so relieved to finally have some food to eat.

        "You're welcome." Alex walked away once more.

        Anon was still confused and had no idea what had happened two times now. But he could worry about all that later. Right now, it was time to eat!