Futile Trials

Cold Coffee

You seem to want to associate the aroma of coffee with this dream, for whatever reason... Finding the morning a bit chilly, you slip inside to the thick, moist scent of cafe and order yourself a revitalizing beverage before escaping the crowd and resuming your search. A flash of the alleyway by the parking lot out back lures you around. As you quietly make your way back past the cars, a sense of deja vu because heavy.

So heavy, you have to stop and take a look around. You feel like something is missing. Unusual, considering everything is here.

Everything except... Nah, you can't place it. Maybe there was a cat in your dream that's not here now. 

"You're a keen one, aren't you?"

The voice is close; breathing down your neck. But when you whip around, there is no one present. It's just you and this alley full of broken glass. 

"Come closer."

There is no one there. The brick wall is speaking to you. You swear it. 

Well, why not move a little closer? Best to move closer and find you're delusional than walk away and be haunted by the question for the rest of your life... isn't it?

You take one skeptical step closer to the rusty red bricks. 

"Closer."

You are literally five inches from the wall. You could touch the wall with your face if you tried. 

Hesitantly, you humor yourself, and put your toes to the rough bricks.

"Alright, happy?" You mumble, looking up and down the wall.

"No." You can feel the breath of the voice on your face, and suddenly the wall feels very distant. There's a set of eyes cast in the brick. More red than the brick, coarser than the brick. Startled, you reel, take a step back, and then there are hands on you.

The eyes' hands. They snatch you up and yank you toward the wall.

You brace for impact. Bracing... bracing... bracing....

The wall never hits. Slowly, you open your eyes.... to nothingness.

Skip to "Quest Start"