Lucid (#wattys2016)

Four (Revised)

The therapist's office had an enormous sign on both the inside and the outside, reading Samantha Flugh, therapist offices. While the building's white walls and small shape appeared inviting, Isaac knew that it wouldn't be a good experience. He tried to convince his parents that he was fine. "Why are you taking me to a therapist office?" All his mom could reply with was, "Your best friend just died, and you've been acting a bit strange lately. This'll be good for you, you'll see." With that, they entered the building, and he heaved a long sigh, knowing that he couldn't do anything about going here.

Isaac's parents walked up to the receptionist and checked in. They were right on time. They were led directly into the hallway, as no one else was in the building. He was brought into a small room with space for a leather reclining chair and another one that didn't recline. It was just like in the movies and on T.V. He lay down on the reclining chair and looked up at the white ceiling, the only place where it was comfortable to tilt his head. He was no expert on psychology, but he knew that they did this to get people more comfortable to talk, because most people don't like talking to a stranger face to face. His parents left the room, and in walked a tall brunette. She greeted him with a casual but polite "hey, Isaac." She shook his hand and sat down on the vacant chair, pulling out a large notebook and pen from her purse.

The therapist started by questioning Isaac about all that had happened. He felt no need to lie; he had already told the truth to his parents, so he started in the same scene as before: the dream. He continued to gaze up at the ceiling as he told her about the dream, the bus ride, Andre, Lucy being run over, the other dream, Andre again, and everything else that had happened until the present. All the therapist did was reply with an occasional "yeah" or "uh-uh," and she wrote down the whole story in her notebook. Isaac looked at her, and could see that she had a very grim facial expression, and knew that something was bad. She asked him to continue, so he told her about his concerns about the whole situation. She asked him how afraid he was, and he told her a lot.

The next thing that the therapist asked Isaac was what he would do about the whole situation. This caught him by surprise. While he had earlier tried to wake himself up, that was all that he had did. That obviously didn't work. After that, he hadn't really thought about what to do next. He considered talking to Andre the next time he saw him, so he told her about that. She asked what he felt about Andre.

This question Isaac had considered many times in the past. He was unsure of whether or not Andre could be trusted, because nothing he had said had been correct, but he was all knowing it seemed. He knew about the dreams. Isaac wasn't sure what to say, so he just said that he did trust him. 

The therapist took a quick glance at Isaac, and he realized that he was sweating a bit. He wiped it off his forehead discretely and continued, telling about how he was unsure of Andre. He said that he had told him to go into the burning building, and the therapist looked at him like he had three heads. "You listened to him?" she asked, and he replied with a "yeah..."

Life seemed to go on forever. The therapist interview continued though, and Isaac got a little bit bored. Like it was on cue, the therapist pulled a stack of papers out of her bag, and she looked at him. "We're going to play a little game, so if you were bored, well, you won't be anymore. Here's how It'll work: I will hold up an ink blot image, and I want you to tell me the first thing that you see." Isaac had heard of this game before. It would help mental health evaluation, but he wasn't crazy, so he didn't have anything to hide.

Right?

The therapist held up the first image. Isaac was unsure of what it looked like, but after a few seconds he saw what appeared to be a knife. He assumed she could tell whenever he lied, so he told her the truth.