THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUBMISSION
PART FIVE
As Jordy Floyd, stirred in his leather office chair, he let out a slight groan.
‘Sleeping in an office chair will do that to you,’ he thought wearily.
Moving slowly, as befitting the feeling that certain parts of the body will break off if jostled, Jordy slowly stood up and made his way to the kitchen. The clock on the stove blinked 4:33 back at him.
As he stuck a glass under the water dispenser nozzle in the refrigerator door, Jordy reflected on what had happened to him that night. ‘What a strange dream,’ he thought, drinking deeply. ‘It was so real. The textures, the colors, the entire situation. Like a piece of real life.
‘But where did it come from?’
As he put the glass in the sink, that was the thought puzzling him the most. Where had it come from? Because Jordan Floyd did not have a sister. Had never raised tomatoes in a truck garden. Had never kidnapped a girl and held her hostage in an old garden shed.
Nothing like that had ever happened to him in his life.
As he walked back toward his desk, he noticed the flashing light on his answering machine. Hitting the playback button, he heard Susan’s voice.
“Hi, Jordy...guess you must be out somewhere buying some last minute Christmas gifts. I’m sorry to say that I’m going to have to cancel this weekend. Last minute arrival of sibs and kids. Maybe we can get together after the 1st? I’ll be looking forward to it! Ciao!”
Stabbing the erase button with his finger, Jordy tried not to get too upset. He’d only given his maid off until the day after Christmas; taken off work until the 27th; and prepared some exquisite and excruciating surprises for Susan’s visit. And now, it was all blown to hell.
But then, looking toward his computer, he thought ‘I can always use the time to write.’
Then, looking more closely at his computer, ‘What the hell is that?’
As he walked closer, he saw a number of pages in the top tray of his printer.
When he picked them up and counted, there were 18 in all.
Double-spaced. Grammar and spelling corrected.
The story of Jordan Floyd, boy tomato grower and sister-abductor.
The dream he had just imagined in such rich detail was in his hands, already in print.
He moved over to the mouse, nudging it to wake up his sleeping CPU.
But when the screen-saver disappeared, there was nothing on the screen to see...not even the window with the swirling colors that had been there when he fell asleep.
Unable to process the incongruity, Jordy sat down heavily in his chair, shaking his head to try to clear his thoughts.
Which is when he noticed the flashing icon on his screen that denoted that he had received a new e-mail. He clicked the icon twice.
Thank you for your submission. You will be contacted again shortly.
And, for perhaps the first time since childhood, Jordy Floyd felt something strange stir in the pit of his stomach.
Jordy Floyd felt fear.