“I shouldn’t have gone…..I knew I shouldn’t have…..why did I go?”

“I shouldn’t have gone…”

“Please forgive me.”

Glen woke up suddenly with the words still fresh in his mind. He had almost become used to them. Every night for the past several weeks, the same torturous message, the same regret, the same plea for forgiveness. None was forthcoming though – there was never an answer.

Once again he had fallen asleep in front of the TV – it was still turned on and hissing at him from behind a blizzard of static. The television was like a master to him now – it controlled him and dictated his every move. Glen had watched the thing for countless hours and days, forgetting time and space, simply searching, waiting, and looking for a sign. It was as much an object of dread as it was a life line. He began to ask himself how much longer he could keep this up. Would he still be doing this same thing every day for the next week, the next month, or even the next year? He already knew the answer – he would keep doing this for as long as he kept having the dreams.

This morning he was feeling unusually hungry so he quickly made himself some breakfast. He sat down at the kitchen table hunched over a bowl of cereal. His eyes walked around the dining room noticing all of the various bits of domestic attention required – walls cleaning, cobwebs sweeping, table polishing, windows washing – the list was endless and depressing. His eyes parked onto a vase of roses. The roses had died weeks ago and now sat in water that was black with rotting organic material. He didn’t have the heart or the will to throw them out though…his wife loved roses…and she picked those very ones.

Glen dumped his bowl into the kitchen sink which was now nearly overflowing with unwashed plates and utensils. He poured himself a strong coffee. Sipping the bitter liquid, he began to feel more life in him, and a renewed strength and focus for what had to be done with the rest of the day. He moved back into the lounge room and watched the swirl of dust that was highlighted by a beam of sunlight that had forced its way through the drawn curtains. He adjusted the curtains to kill the wayward intruder and then returned to his experiment…his watching post.