Hekser (Witches)

3. A regular day. Sort of

My dreams were weird. I saw the two women, Marisha and Serena. I saw the snowed-over street and the strange sign. But there were more images. Disturbing ones but also loving, caring ones. Images I couldn't describe to myself after waking up, but I knew they had been there. The whole thing worried me, because I never had vivid dreams like that.

Call me strange, but I ignored the little box on the shelf as much as I could as I prepared to go to work.

I don't have a fancy job. I work as an assistant in a hardware store that seems to be established three years after Columbus arrived. Nice place, decent pay and a kind, old boss named Burt, who gives me the space I need. He knows I had that fight with Charlene and he isn't pushy about it.

"Teresa." Burt smiled from behind the counter. "You are early."

"Hey Mr Burt, how's Mrs Burt?" His wife, Rita, wasn't the healthiest person around and he always worried about her.

Burt shook his head with a smile. I once came up with Mrs Burt and that's who she will always be for me. "Not too bad this morning, thank you. She's on new medication and that seems to do her a lot of good."

"Cool. Good to hear. Is there anything that needs to be done first?"

And so the day started. A day in which nothing outrageous happened. People came and went, deliveries came in and I sorted those things into the right places. I had never thought my work boring, but after the experiences with Serena and Marisha, the day seemed to crawl along. Every moment that wasn't busy, I thought back to the two, to being in their room (or house?). Only then I realized how many moments I had to think about all that.

What would I do that evening? Would I visit that video-channel again? As I asked myself, I knew I would. The whole thing had been too crazy; I had to do that again, and I wanted to know more about that box. And, yes, about those two women.

An hour before leaving work, my phone rang. It was Jack, someone I really like as a friend. He asked if I had plans for the night. I did, but didn't feel I should explain those to him. That worked out well; he asked me out for dinner because he wanted some company. Like me, Jack was alone after a fight with his girlfriend, so we connected well on that level. He has tried to make me his new girlfriend but that's not how I'm wired and I made that clear to him.

We agreed to meet at a decent place. They had good food and good prices, a nice mix of things.

"Hey. How's life?" Jack asked. It was his standard opening.

"Alive." My standard reply. We both ordered something to drink. Jack immediately ordered the daily special. I quickly looked at that and decided to get the same. Then I listened to Jack, who had gone online and registered on a number of dating sites.

"That's quite a world on its own, you know," he said. I didn't know because I stayed away from places like that. I like to meet people in person, I told him. As I said that, I remembered Marisha and Serena. Well, I had met them in person too, right?

As Jack rambled on about the women he had chatted with, my mind kept drifting off to the previous night. It wasn't hard for me to keep some attention with Jack, so I managed to nod and say yes and no at the right times. Jack was easy to be around and he wasn't really demanding.

"Food's good, huh?" he asked after our plates had been put on the table.

"How do you know? You haven't even tasted it yet." I snorted. It did smell good though.

"I create the anticipation of a good meal," Jack said. "That seems to help in making it good. And no, I'm not that smart. I just read that somewhere." He laughed. Good, old Jack, always too honest for his own good.