Manus had just woken up to find himself back in his hallway after his visit to the attic realm...
Manus leaned back from his desk and signed the drawing at the bottom right corner. He had no idea how to explain this to Mel or even if he should. It seemed to look a lot different the longer he looked at it. It didn't have the same inflection that it had just a few minutes ago... Was this all in his mind? He had just been to the one place where he could learn what these things were and had wasted the chance.
An Idea struck him, he had noticed the displacement in time when he was in there and wondered how long he could be there without anyone noticing. "Can I really go back?" he wondered. He glanced once more at the clock to see it was only 2:43 am. "That drawing sure didn't take as long as I thought it would," he said semi-proudly. He began to question why this was happening to him and wondered aloud, "Do I really want to go back there?" The experience hadn't hurt him, yet there was something that didn't seem right about the whole situation. It was the way the hands acted towards him. They were ready to help yet didn't want to seem overbearing. There was an urgency to help in their actions that made him feel like a mental patient. But he began a tangent line of thinking that changed his whole view. How long could he stay in the realm? And what else could he do there? He began to convince himself more and more that it wasn't the insane asylum he first thought. He unconsciously walked towards the door to the hall. He softly opened the door and looked down hall to the attic that had changed his life. Just then his alarm went off and he raced back into his room to see the alarms face read: 6:00 am. His logical reasoning overtook his mind and the idea that he had been entertaining seemed to be pushed to the far back of his mind. He walked into his bathroom and looked in the mirror to be greeted by a different version of himself that he had ever seen. He looked like he'd just been on a vacation for a month, and he was in perfect order, no ruffled hair or disheveled clothes. And oddly enough he noticed that the cut on his hand had healed.
He was on time. He was early this time in fact. He saw Mel drive into her usual parking spot and slam her car door shut. Mel briskly walked to the door and fully expected to find it locked. Much to her surprise, the door gave way to her pull easily and she stepped into the office. She looked around the office and saw none other than Manus, sitting in his desk, smiling back at her.
"You're here! And... put together!" she exclaimed. Manus got up from his desk and walked over to where Mel was standing. The whole time he was debating whether or not to tell her what he had been through. How could he tell her? How could he say what was on his mind without convincing her he had gone off the deep end? There was just no way. He had to keep this under wraps. He crumpled the paper that he kept in his pocket as he walked over to Mel. She glanced him over and couldn't believe how different he was from yesterday. She wondered what sort of thing could bring on such a change. He had gone from a crazy lunatic to the old Manus in one night. She looked down at his wrist and noticed that even his cut had healed! "Cuts can't heal that fast," she thought to herself, "something must be going on here and I better keep an eye on him still."
"Manus! What is going on? Why were you so shaken up yesterday?" she asked.
"It- I was just having a stressful day was all," he lied, "I guess all my stress just... caught up with me."
"So how are you all put back together now?" Mel asked with genuine concern in her voice.
"Sleep!" he responded eagerly.
Mel had known him for too long to buy that response. Something was definitely going on with Manus. The whole time she had known him he was a methodical, level headed manager. Something had to be done to help him.
The office hours dragged on with one customer after another glad to see Manus back on track. Manus was eager to help and a lot happier than before. Mel was torn over him and wondered what had really happened. Should she try to help? Or is it better this way? She had to keep tabs on Manus.
To be continued....
