Daily Flash Fiction 2/21/21 W/C 277 |
Bad Dream Incessant ringing, it woke me up. I’d been dreaming of a doll running about. This doll couldn’t find the phone. The doll looked everywhere, turned over every stone, every stick, even every brick from a nearby unfinished house. Then suddenly the doll stopped. It looked directly at me. Its huge black eyes bore into my soul. I could read its mind. It told me to wake up. I thought about this in my dream. An idea that dolls could have a mind, the thought that a doll could run around looking for a phone. But the doll was insistent. ‘Wake up!’ was its message. So I woke. “Hello?” “Is this Mary?” I didn’t recognize the voice. “Yes?” I was a bit hesitant. “Congratulations! You’ve just won a free trip to Hawaii!” I hung up. Crank call. Then another ring. “Hello?” “Are you quite contrary?” “What?” “You know, like the rhyme. You have a free trip. This one is to Fiji.” I hung up. The doorbell rang. The mailman handed me a package. When I opened it, the doll inside had a note attached to its hand. ‘Congratulations! This ticket is for a one-way trip to Tahiti.’ I threw the doll with the ticket in the trash. Who was playing a bad trick on me? Had someone found a voodoo doll? I crawled back into bed. Maybe I was still in a dream. And just like that, I woke up on an island. Sandy beach, palm trees, ocean waves, and a gentle breeze. A man leaned over and asked me, “Mary, do you know what happened to all the bagels? I’m late for work.” W/C 277 |