“Hi”
There seemed to be no rush in turning around to see who this stranger was who greeted themselves in such a sweet tone, it was as if I already knew them. Slowly I began to turn my head around, my neck lightly cracking as I did so for I had been sitting in the same position for hours now.
When my eyes fell upon her I had a feeling of knowledge, I knew her.
But how?
Hesitating to speak I wondered who she was at first, thought about the questions I should ask but to begin with introducing myself came above the other options.
“Hi”, she spoke once more, a broad, cheerful smile spread across her lips and the words left her mouth.
“Hi, ah, sorry do I know you”, inwardly slapping myself in the face my previous thoughts of how to handle the situation were completely gone, “I’m Jacob by the way”
“I know who you are silly, well you’d hope I would after a year of dating”, she giggled, confusion flushed over me and took over my actions.
I jumped up from where I was seated comfortably on a picnic rug in the park to face her with a heavy stance, “What did you just say?”
She frowned, slightly tilting her head to one side with the same smirk lying across her face, “I said…”
“No, no, no, no…” Cutting her off for I had heard exactly what she said, the fear of hearing this stranger saying it again made me snap.
“Who are you?!” I spoke with haste, the words seeming angry and harsh as I could see it in her face when she realized what I had just asked.
“What do you mean ‘Who are you?’ I’m your fiancé for Christ sake!” her confused frown now was quite an angry one; her eyes glowed with the frustrations she held inside.
Sitting up abruptly, my chest heaved up and down with the sudden shortness of breath.
Oh, it was just a dream Jacob, calm down. I said to myself, taking in my surroundings as I re focused on what just happened. I had no idea who that girl was in my dream but even now I seemed so sure that I knew her. Her features looked so familiar, so recognizable, as if I had known this girl all my life, yet I had no idea who she was. There was just that something about her.
I would love to continue on about my first world problems to you, a complete stranger but, maybe I should tell you a little something about me first.
Well, let’s start with the basics. I live in an oversized house for just myself and my cat Mikayla, I am currently working as a bar tender at the local bar in Toronto which is only a couple miles from where I live. I am trying to be a writer, as you can see things aren’t exactly working out for me, but I’m not going to give up, it’s what I want to do, not work in some crummy bar down the road. As much as I know that writing isn’t my strong point I keep telling myself that if I get enough practice I will eventually be quite good at it, kind of like sports. Speaking of sports, in high school I got a trophy for football, on the plaque it read, ‘Jacob Lettifer, Best Water Boy 2008’…If you want to talk about something not being my strong point, there you go.
Growing up I wanted to be a doctor, or something my parents could look back on and say “Wow, that’s my son”, now when they visit I take my cat for walks down the street with them, when she runs over to pee on some poor lady’s chair leg outside of a café they take a few steps in the opposite direction and turn around for one last look and say, “Wow… that’s our son…”
I could ramble on all day about my problems to you but why would you care, your just another person, trying to fit in just like me, maybe you just fit in a little easier than I do.
I’m not a virgin.
I’m not socially awkward.
I’m not a nerd.
People just think I’m…
Different.
I guess that’s okay I mean, is being different really so bad? You stand out of the crowd, you make an impression and you’re remembered easier for your altered personality. You take all this into consideration yet people still look at you as if you were some kind of animal, some other species, and I’m not going to lie, it hurts.
I’m not one to lock myself away in my room for all eternity and never come out to speak to anyone, not like I have anyone to speak to other than my cat but anyway, I’ve had plenty of girlfriends, plenty of people come to visit me, NOT just my parents, I just don’t see why my Facebook friends list consists of 20 people, 16 of which are family.
Moving on.
I swung the sheets off of my warm body, revealing the boxers I’d had on for 5 days now and man did I need to learn the definition of hygiene. I dragged my legs to the side of the bed and let them hang down the side before shuffling my butt forward, making them come into sudden contact with the cold, hard wood floors. I couldn’t help but shiver; the chill running up my spine, my shoulders quake rapidly side to side to shake off the feeling. The thought of the girl that was in my dream came flooding back as I stood up, her face flashed in front of my eyes making me jump. I closed my eyes hastily raising my hands to violently rub my eyes.
I gathered myself, stretching my arms above my head I yawned before walking towards the bathroom door. Sliding the grand white door across I entered, another chill hitting me when my bare feet touched the freezing, tiled flooring. Once again rubbing my face in my hands there was so much that was flooding my mind, I could hardly think straight, and it was all her fault. Whoever she was she was obviously important enough to take over my thoughts and distract me from everything. But I still couldn’t put my finger on just what it was that drew me to her.
I turned the stainless steel tap to let the cold water flow. Running my hands under it for a few seconds I cupped them together and filled them with water, hesitating at first I leant over the basin and splashed it over my face, letting the water drip off my chin at first I quickly rubbed my face with my hands, pushing my eyes slightly to get more pressure so I would be able to open them without water getting in them. Opening my eyes I pulled my head up stiffly to look at my bloodshot eyes with huge nags underneath them. This girl, the one in my dreams, she was taking over me, stripping me off sleep, of my train of thought, of my piece of mind, there was only one way I thought I could get away from it all, by using a creative muse just to try to forget, and that muse, was write about it.
