My boy and I were in a gymnasium attending a concert. Wooden bleachers stacked with people stuck out on all sides. Darkness blanketed the concert-goers save for the spotlights upon the band, which we happened to be sitting right next to. They were quite good. Suddenly, but almost expectedly, the members called us up onto the stage. The bright white glare of the spotlight shrouded us and intensified as we climbed the stairs. Once atop, my boy was handed the bass guitar, which he played amazingly well. When he gave the instrument back, they sliced off his hand. The crowd gasped, but he did not cry out in pain. The members turned to me, smiled, joked, then poisoned my teeth.
"I'm not going to sit here and watch you people do such awful things to these poor kids! All for attention! You should be ashamed! You're supposed to be a professional band and you are relying upon sideshow violence!" an older lady stood up and exclaimed. She and the opposite side of the gymnasium angrily stormed out. There was silence, then there were murmurers, then everybody else left, including my boy holding his stub and me holding my mouth. We exited into the cool morning air.
"How's your hand?"
"Umm... not there.
"Would you check this out for me?" I held my mouth open for him. "What does it look like?"
"Eeh, you don't want to know"
I gingerly touched the sore spot. The tooth wiggled. I tried hard not to move it. I tried not to panic. Then, it fell out.
"Fuck! Dammit! Now what do I do?" as I stood there holding my bloodied tooth. There was more weirdness in my mouth. "Fuck!" I squeaked, "No! What the...." I panicked. They were falling out in clumps. I was spitting mouthfuls of precious teeth into my cupped hands.
I ran. I had to get to a dentist. The dentist could fix this. He could put them back. Even though I felt like I was sprinting in the wrong direction, I ran and ran. Up a dirt road and into the woods, I ran. In what seemed like eternity in seconds, I arrived.
The office was located in a small white house with peeling paint and a sunken porch. He greeted me at the door with a smile. I explained my situation and gave him the brimming handful of my teeth. He lead me to the operating chair in the back of the teeny house.
"I'm giving you anesthesia, and while it is setting in, I must show you some pictures." I was getting drowsy. He proudly handed me a photo album, which I flipped through, confused. "This is my collection," he said as he pointed at naked bodies, brains and human organs displayed in glass jars.
"No," I murmured, blinking slowly, anesthesia taking effect. "No, you won't. You can't. I won't let you!" And with all my will, I leapt out of the brown death chair and ran.
I ran through the woods with branches scratching my face. I ran through fields. I ran and ran. The entire time, he was hovering behind me, smiling wickedly. Suddenly, I was home, where I grew up. I ran screaming through the yard, barreled down the front path and flagged down a passing truck, wishing for safety from the madman.
The truck was old, perhaps from the '70s and painted in many colours, mainly a matte blue. I jumped in, breathless. The interior was incredibly dirty, covered in grime and tools. It stunk like gas. There didn't seem to be anywhere to sit, as there was no seat and the floor was covered in crap.
The filthy driver greeted me with a toothless grin and a glassy stare. "I will eat you alive!!!" he screeched at me, stomping on the gas.
'Will this ever end?' I thought to myself while calmly opening the creaky passenger door and exiting unharmed. Back to running.
I ran back to my house. Up the driveway I went. It was summertime in my backyard. The grass was green and neatly mowed and the sun shined oh-so-nicely. There, smack in the middle of the yard, was a grey Suburban type vehicle with every one of its many doors wide open. I hurried to it, climbed in the open cargo door and hastily began climbing seat after seat to the front, closing each doors on the way. As I reached the front seat, I not only noticed there was no steering wheel, no key and no windshield, but I also realized that I left the furthest passenger door wide open.
"Ummm..." I said to myself, confused. 'Shit,' I thought, 'Now what?' "Umm... Vehicle On!" It started right up. "Close and Lock Doors!" The back door slammed shut and the following click assured my safety. Finally, I felt the heavy weight of fear lifted from my chest. "Take me out of here," I demanded.
"Where?" It asked.
"Ummm... how about Chicago? Yeah, go to Chicago." And off we went.
We drove down the driveway and I looked out the windows. The lake that I had grown up near was destroyed. The water was blackened with pollution The area that I had known and loved, the woods, the quiet was all gone. There were office buildings and rows and rows of new homes.
"H... H... How...? W.. Why...? WHAT DID THEY DO?!! WHAT...? THEY DESTROYED IT!! THEY DESTROYED MY LAKE!!! NO!! WHAT HAPPENED!!!" I cried. Tears rolled down my face. "I don't even know how to get out of here!" I said defeated, helpless. "Please... Get me out!" We drove. I was in the worst place. Ever.