Nonsense - a Short Story

Nonsense - A Short Story - Part II - Recently Edited

Part III

    James threw his hands in the air and touched the wall behind his bed as he awoke the next morning.  It was a relief to wake up, for much of yesterday he never thought the day would end.

    He rubbed his eyes with his hands and looked at his clock, it read "12:00 PM".  He looked on the end table beside his clock and found his phone with his answering machine blinking, "53 messages".  He didn't care.  He was happy to be awake and was even more relieved to be out of the oddness of yesterday.

    Little did the man realize, what once was odd would remain forever.  He forced his relaxed body out of bed and went to the washroom to clean up, staring at himself in the mirror, nothing odd about anything which allowed him the luxury to smile briefly and enjoy the moment.

   He washed his face carefully with fresh clean water and soap, rinsing the blood, crusted to his brow off, then moved himself to the living room where he sat down and watched the ocean.

    It was at this time that he figured he must listen to the messages, when he reached over to press "play" on the answering machine the phone suddenly rang, and inside his brain awoke.  'WORK!' it yelled.

    He picked up the phone a little weary.

    "Hello," a voice James recognized came through.

    "Hi sir, sorry I'm ---" James tried to explain himself to his boss, but his boss cut him off.

    "What in gods name happened to you yesterday?  You were acting very peculiar, between you talking to your car and breaking it, getting mad at your secretary, and flipping out at the courtroom.  James what has gotten into you?"

    "I'm sorry sir, it will never happen again."

    "It most definitely will not.  I spoke with the judge today, he was beyond flabergasted at your behaviour yesterday, he was irate.  He never wants to see or hear your name again!"

    James was hurt but then he thought for a little more and remembered how everyone else was acting odd not him, and he suddenly got angry, "Me!" he yelled, "it was him who started stripping in the courtroom."

    "James!" his boss roared, "how dare you!  I never want to see you in this office again, you are fired," and with that he slammed the phone.

    He sat there with the phone to his ear for a few minutes until it sank in.  He was truly fired.

    Slowly he got up and went to the kitchen where he put some toast in the toaster.  He watched it pop up minutes later, he simply stared at it blankly.

    Inside, James was beginning to be sick of that same, repetitive, tasteless, lifestyle.  He stared at the toast for a few moments in disgust, as though it were a cockroach needing to be squashed.  Picking it up with two fingers he sniffed it, acting like he had never seen a piece of toast before; after a small bit he threw it out the open window in front of him for the birds to eat.

    He thought to himself, 'What is happening to me?' no answer came.

    Sitting on the couch, his stomach rumbling and Jennifer rolling between each thought.  He knew that he had to make it work with her; he simply had too.  But how? he thought, am I really that odd?  Then 'rubbish,' the other part of his brain took in, 'of course your not odd, everything else is odd'.  And then he began to think harder, 'how could everything else be odd, it doesn't add up, it simply doesn't.'

    He thought to himself for about ten minutes until he finally passed out on his couch, an image of Jennifer was the last thing he remembered.