SPARKS

4. ESCAPING REALITY

Jack was sitting at the bar of his successful restaurant, one of the best in San Francisco, when the little bastard got up on the only empty table in the place. He was the first one to spot the rat. It stood still for a moment and then dashed to the small plate with butter. A young girl sitting at the next table saw it and let out an ear bursting scream. Women gasped, men cursed, children screamed and everyone stared at the rat having its dinner. A waiter threw a tray at it and missed. The rat leaped off the table and bolted to the big pot of flowers in the corner and disappeared behind it. Three families walked out immediately and the rest of the patrons followed suit. Jack apologized to those who were willing to listen and as soon as the place emptied out, he closed the restaurant down for the night.

Driving home about four hours earlier than usual Jack wondered how much the incident was going to hurt his business. He reminded himself  of his house, his cars, and prime real estate. Knowing that it wouldn’t destroy him made him feel better. On his way he picked up roses and red wine and hoped to surprise his wife Amy. He entered his house quietly and heard her moan. The voice came from the bedroom and he hoped it was a naughty flick on the television. Deep down he knew it wasn’t. He took a few steps and when he got to the center of the living room, he could see into the bedroom through the half open door: Amy, with another man and a woman, was engaged in an act that makes some people shiver with ecstasy. He screamed her name in rage and ended the wild party in the bedroom and their marriage.

A couple of hours later Jack sat at a bar which was empty except two women sitting to his right and the bartender. He sipped on red wine and stared at the painting behind the bar. Jack tried to strike a conversation with the women but they seemed occupied and uninterested. The painting was of a suburban house on a shiny full moon night. In it, the front door of the house was open and a man was walking through the garden to his car parked on the street. Even though most of the man’s body was hidden behind the bushes and only his face was visible, Jack knew the man had committed a horrible crime and was carrying a loaded gun in his right hand.

The more he looked at the painting, the worst he felt. On seeing the empty wine glass in front of him, he got anxious. The bartender was busy with her i-phone and he felt ignored. The high pitched laughter of the women to his right made him clench his jaw with anger. It was hard to breathe. He moved his hand to his waist where the cold metal of the gun made him feel better. A minute later he walked out of the bar with the gun in his hand and his white shirt sprayed with red. 

Jack sat sweating in the reality escape room as the operator took off the metallic helmet from his head.

“Hot trip?” asked the operator.

“It was a nightmare. Bad trip,” said Jack meekly.

“What? Impossible. The machine makes one live out fantasies and escape reality. The waves simulate the part of the brain which stores memories that makes one feel ecstatic. Nobody I know has ever had a bad trip.”

“Well I just did.”

“Look man, I don’t care. You can’t talk your self out of paying me.”

“I’ll pay you but I ain’t coming back,” said Jack.

“Maybe it’s for your good. You’ve been using it way more than the recommended twice a week,”

“Whatever, see you later.”

Jack drove straight home and found Amy watching television. He took her out to dinner, bought her a jewelry set and made passionate love to her that night. The next afternoon, working at his restaurant, a bizarre thought entered his mind. He dismissed it immediately but within a few minutes it was all he could think about. He walked up to the big pot of flowers sitting in the corner by the entrance to the restaurant. Careful not to scratch the wooden floor, he slowly pushed the flower pot away to the side. On seeing it first, his lips went dry, hands and feet went numb and he felt dizzy. He then felt a rage building inside his chest and spreading out to the rest of his body. Before Jack could do anything, the rat turned around and disappeared in the little hole in the wall.

THE END