Lazy Halloween Costume

I didn’t put much thought into my Halloween costume this year. Hell, you could say I put no effort into my Halloween costume this year. I was walking in the rain surrounded by clowns, goblins and Barbies, and someone was smart ass enough to ask me what I was.

I just told them I’d gone as my doppelganger. Nice and easy. Super Mario laughed, and Jim Morrison asked me what a doppelganger was.

I saw him when I got home, sitting on my sofa, watching a scary movie. ‘Nice costume,’ I’m sure I heard him say.

Just too many doppelgangers.

Strange Stain

I was having a great day until I noticed the stain on my jumper. It was a small yellow stain, I think you could only see it under certain light, but I figured everyone could see it and I’d just been walking around with this stain like some slob. I buttoned up my jacket and slunked on home. Was it Chipotle, it looked like Chipotle.

When I returned home I unbuttoned my jacket and looked at the stain again. It had grown to the size of the jumper. I freaked flung it off and found the stains all over my body.

Coffee Bottom

I can see something at the bottom of my coffee cup. It’s a black coffee but I can make something out all the same. I stick a wooden stirrer into the liquid and it comes to a stop at the thing at the bottom. Of course I’m not going to drink it and find out, but before I can take it back for a replacement coffee, I feel the thing at the bottom gripping my stirrer. 

A small hand crawls up until its tickling the hair on my own. It’s the hand of a devil, the price of takeout coffee. 

Face Splash

I splashed my face in the public bathroom. It’s a thing people do when they need to feel a touch more alive. You see it in movies all the time. I consider sticking my head under the hand dryers.

I don’t do it to feel alert and awake though, I do it to keep it off my face, the monster that steals faces. It’s been trying to get me for some time now. Whenever I look in a mirror and it doesn’t quite look like me, I know I have to splash. It screams each time I do. Face off.

Problems Cease, But What’s Next?

The problems ceased, for now. They’d come back, they always do, but for now, the problems had ceased. They had shrivelled up into a corner, hiding amongst the dust and mould between the cracks. I sat in the centre of the room looking at such corners, because I felt turning my back would bring them back stronger.

Looking or not looking doesn’t really matter.

I eventually had to leave it be and decide what would be next. I couldn’t quite think, the problems had become so tangled, so ingrained in my soul, that they had become part of me.

Problems…

Checked In Checked Out

I checked in my suitcase at the airport and made my way through security. I sat down at my gate and a thought crossed my mind. I considered the prohibited items that can’t be inside any checked-in luggage. A pang of panic sparked me, I’d left something in that couldn’t be checked in.

I rushed back through security, waiting in a long line for check-in once again. I worried about missing my flight, but this needed sorting. Once we found my case and pried it open, I removed squeaky Billy the hamster, how did he get in there?

Empty Town

The town closed early, at 4 p.m. The shutters went down, the citizens went home, it quickly became an empty town, with only the darkness of the oncoming night entering the streets to keep it company. I had someone found myself alone in this town, wandering the streets in hope of finding food, but of course, all the stalls and restaurants had shut their doors with the rest.

All I could find in the darkness, feeling my way through, was one flickering light in an alley. It lit the cobbled streets, and a shadow to keep me company. It wasn’t mine.

Fluff Spider

I went to see a movie about killer spiders. They swarmed a whole block of flats, hiding in every nook and cranny , breeding, growing in size. The film made my hairs stand on end and I was glad the spiders featured were a work of fiction and nothing more. 

When I returned to my room I felt a sense of dread, which was stupid, but I carefully examined every corner as I headed to my bed. Nothing to see, but as I shut the door a black blob came running at me and I fell.

Just a piece of fluff.

Power Cut

A power cut took place whilst eating breakfast. A waiter brought in a boiling kettle for coffee but it was hard to make anything out in the dark breakfast room. Drinking coffee in the dark is never much fun. 

I headed outside and it was still early morning , all the lights were out. I spotted one guy walking up and down on his balcony. I wondered how long I’d have to wait for a comfortable caffeine fill. 

I went to a nearby cafe and the power was also out.  Turns out a major line was down due to a stray kitten infestation. They thrived in the darkness, I bought Cola.

Movie Marathon

I didn’t know how to prepare for a movie marathon. It was going to be ten hours of pure terror, one after the other, and whilst I was excited to see so many movies, my main fear came from how I was going to survive without falling asleep, when to eat, when to drink, when to toilet. Did they take breaks between movies, did you have to simply miss certain scenes, the thoughts circled in my head. 

I ended up staying in my seat from start to finish, the terrifying images paralysed my mind and I saw these images for weeks.