Story: Oneiromancy, VI

(Part O , V , VII)


The scene: A back room at the Blue Monkey cafe.

The time: Six minutes and twenty seconds after the stately faint of waitress Helen Ostrander to the floor in the main cafe.

The cast: Helen (stirring), a nurse patron called Jeremy, and teacher Stanley Simonson.

The prose:

Jeremy sat nervously in the small room, as Jeremy wiped the blood away from the wound that the waitress had incurred while collapsing in the cafe proper. How he had managed to get into the back room he had no idea, but dimly he was aware of having offered to help the man move her away from the customers. Then he had sat down and stared blankly at the corner of the room. Jeremy had assumed and moved on.

The blood was cleaned away from the pretty eyes and the handsome mouth and Stanley came back down to the terrestrial world with a start.

"You know the lady?"

"No and yes. Yes and no. Just before she fainted we saw each other and something... happened."

Jeremy squinted and continued. "She took a bad bump. You don't look so good either."

Helen's eyes fluttered and she came back to the world of the conscious. The nurse man held her for a moment so she wouldn't get up until she was safe and the gently checked her eyes and pulse. Stanley went back to staring at the corner.

"What's that man doing here?" Asked the waitress, who could only see part of Stanley's profile from where she was. He glanced at her and her eyes widened. He still seemed so real compared to everything else. A big block of solidity in a watercolour world.

"This guy helped me bring you in here and then he hung around looking faint. I guess he didn't think you should be left alone with me." Jeremy winked.

"I... Ow!"

"Yes, I wouldn't talk very loud as you took a bit of a blow to the head. I want you to be careful for the rest of the day and if anything unusual at all happens please go get help." Jeremy collected himself up. "I would go see a doctor anyway just in case they want to give you stitches. They like to give people the Bride of Frankenstein look! And concussions scare us constantly."

"Ha ha. Okay, I'll listen to you, whoever you are. I'll go home too, just to be safe. After talking to this man outside." Jeremy and Stanley helped her up and then backed off as she scowled at them. They went outside, Jeremy made his farewells and then Helen and Stanley sat at the counter for a while.

Stanley broke finally. "I don't know what to say. Do you?"

"Not a clue."

"We may be thinking completely different things. Missing the point completely."

"You could be an obsessive waitress murderer, and I could be wondering why you look exactly like my Uncle Ernie."

"You have an Uncle Ernie?"

"I did, but he vanished one day while hunting teachers in the woods. You want to hear my idea?"

"Yes, I'm all ears."

"Unfortunately that's true, yes. Write down what you think is going on, in as much detail as you can. I'll do the same. If the accounts match then at least we'll be mutually insane."

"We compare notes tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow. I think I need to go sleep some more. It's been a disturbed week."

"Yes. Yes, it has. My name's Stanley. Simonson."

"Helen Ostrander. I'm sorry, I have to go and make an excuse for the boss and then go. Five o'clock here tomorrow evening?"

"Yes. I have to go too. Tomorrow, Miss Ostrander. Helen."

"This is weird. Very weird. Bye." Helen bustled her way - with an exaggerated dizzy sway - into the kitchen and Stanley wandered out. Nothing to do but write and wait until the next day. What kind of day would it be?

To be continued...