Through Foggy Glass

Flashback

So do you remember the person I tripped which I shrugged off and sort of forgot about for a couple years? That person is now relevant to the story in a couple chapters.

Just a side note

After studying at Cambridge University for another three years, I finally graduated with a degree in publishing and music production. With I fresh diploma and a new found freedom, I set off for the city for my new job at a publishing company as an intern. I didn't hate the job. To me getting a coffee or a file for the staff wasn't a problem, until it became a huge problem for them. When I had applied for the internship, I never specified that I was blind. I got the job no one suspecting anything until a few people finally put two and two together and told the administrators they felt uncomfortable with a blind guy in the department.

Yes, people were horrible in those days.

So I got fired leaving myself unemployed for three weeks in a huge city with a tiny apartment. I did a few odd editing jobs and brail proofreading to get by but it wasn't enough. Then like lightning, opportunity struck, my video taken from me singing in college got to a producer in Kansas. He ran a small entertainment company, consisting of his friend and his ex-girlfriend who were apparently the only signed singers in the company. The entire operation was run in the basement of the guy's mom's house, fully equipped with a recording room, a post-production office, and somehow a photo studio. 

You could imagine my surprise when I got there and we did "business" in the living room while his mom was baking and singing the 70s top ten.

"So you're a... Producer?" I gave him a sceptical look.
"Yes, fresh out of college and everything." I heard him smile, making me more uneasy.
"Um is your..." company" you know um...legal?" I heard him shifting.
"As legal as you want it to be." I paused and started laughing.
"Are...you being serious?" He got closer to my ear.
"Just don't tell my mom, she thinks I have a permit." He slowly moved back and slid some papers towards me.
"Now about the contract, here at Base Entertainment we offer an excellent promotional YouTube period. Our advertisement team puts together a commercial and photo shoot to let YouTube run and promote. This promotion lasts three weeks and costs roughly 300 dollars for the video and 200 for the photo shoot." I started laughing again wanting to die then and there on what this guy was telling me.

"Is there a problem?" I wiped my tears and let myself calm down.
"Really? Is this a problem? I can't even begin to explain what the problem is." I sighed and began getting up.
"Wait! you can't leave yet!" He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back to sit down.
"Why? Your deal isn't what we exactly call "legitimate" or legal." I began to get up but he forced me to sit again.

I heard him move in front of me and get on his knees.
"Please! You are the only one who can save this company from going under! I didn't get a $30,000 loan from the bank to end up like this." I could feel his stare burn through my sunglasses and into my eyes intensifying making me more annoyed.

"Okay...I don't know what your problem is but I have no problem with calling the cops right now if you don't let me leave." His whimpering stopped and his mom suddenly stopped singing. I could hear someone slowly coming near me from behind. I felt something hot near my face that had steam coming off of it that smelled like beef stew. The crazy guy in front of me started getting closer and began to grab my legs.

"Hey! What are you-" a huge metal thing hit my head and spots began appearing in my vision. The crazy producer guy yelled something at the person behind me. The huge metal thing came down a second time, causing me to fall face first on the ground and black out.

And this is where everything becomes strange...

 During the twenty or so minutes I was out cold and being tied to a chair, I had a dream. It started in a room filled with fog. I could hear the sounds of birds and kids playing with the sound of a lawnmower working in the distance.  Suddenly, I found myself laying in a bed and looking up at the ceiling of my four-year-old self's bedroom. Sitting up I looked around the room. It was blurry and distorted, my eyes only being able to make out shapes and blobs of color. I placed my feet on the floor, the room beginning to become clear as I walked around.  Toys and books cluttered the floor as stuffed animals lay in the rubble. Star stickers dimly glowed on the ceiling and a solar system mobile spun around in the light draft. I looked at one of the walls to see a blurry picture of my parents together, with me holding something in my hands. Slowly walking towards the frame, I stretched out my hand to touch it. The image began to get clearer as my hand got closer to the frame. My fingers barely grazed the glass when the sound of shattering glass sounded from behind me. I turned around and found to my horror that the room was beginning to fall apart falling into a dark void.

I tried to reach for the picture one more time but felt it starting to get farther and farther away. Running, I tried to catch up but the picture didn't get any closer. I couldn't let it get away, and I didn't know why. All I knew was that I had to keep trying to reach it. The sound of shattering glass began to ring louder and closer, cracks beginning to form under my feet. I suddenly felt the floor give away, under me. I tried running faster but it was too late, my foot slipped with my body falling down into the void below. The room above me got smaller and smaller until all I could see around me was black.