The Stew Pot - Part II

Paranoia was running rampant as Ian walked the six blocks to his mid-city condo. He glanced over his shoulder one last time before entering the front door. What was he expecting? Just need to sleep he told himself again. He made his way to the elevator beginning to relax slightly and pushed the up button. A pang of anxiety stirred as the lights above the elevator doors began to light in reverse order. 15, 14, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 - Ian felt the bead of sweat forming on his brow - 7, 6, 5 - the fight or flight response was lining up at the starting line - 4 - relax - 3, 2 - can't stand it! Ian bolted down the hall and fell around the corner as the elevator doors opened.

He peeked around the corner still on his knees. The hall was empty. "I ought to be committed." he told himself as he stood up and collected his bag. "What an idiot I am!" He quickly moved backed to the elevator, pressed the up button and waited on the doors to open once again not noticing the pair of red eyes watching him down the hall.

When Ian woke up, he felt oddly refreshed with the memory of the previous day pushed deep into the back of his mind. Wait! The next day? He started to panic as he flung around to find the clock on the side table. There it was on the floor, he must have knocked it over in his sleep: 5:32AM. Whew! Not late. He wasn't sure if being late was conducive to keeping his job these days. He sauntered out of bed and headed to the shower to freshen up. Today is going to be a good day, he told himself. A good day.

That morning was just as good as he had hoped. The water in the shower was warm enough, his clothes were wrinkle free and his toast was cooked perfectly. He had even found a jar of homemade strawberry jam he had bought in the summer at the farmer's market. Ian was a few minutes early for the bus and that cute lady from the third floor had smiled at him on the elevator. All in my head, he had finally convinced himself it was all in his head. He had just needed sleep and now he was normal again. If only he knew how wrong he was!