The Carousel Effect

The kitchen floor was tiled, all white and polished. Dan grabbed a cup from the counter and poured hot water over a tea bag. His head was fuzzy, feeling more like an arm after having lain on it for awhile.

"What do you take in your tea?" Dan asked to Suki.

"Just a little sugar," she replied without taking her eyes from the screen.

Dan looked around at his kitchen; it seemed bigger than usual. The walls were tiled and had taken on the look of Danforth Street platform.

He brought the two cups into his living/sitting/bed-room. Placed one on the table beside the laptop. The little metallic orb was still circling her head, every now and then a small click would be heard. Like a wasp trapped in a glass.

"I know," Suki answered.

Dan turned his attention to the television set. He had turned it on earlier as a background noise to help drown out the drunks that were in the apartment next to his. He thought it would be only decent for his guest not to hear the ramblings of several alcoholics that cry, sing, yell, scream and cry about nothing in particular. On the tv screen Michael York was dressed in a black tunic and was screaming at the people of the city, "You don't have to die! You can live! LIVE!"

Dan knew this movie. He had it in his collection, but there was something quite not right. He didn't know what was wrong. Just that the movie seemed off; heck, his whole evening was off so he shouldn't let a classic movie bother him.

Both Dan and Suki stopped and looked at the screen as the announcer's voice came on:

"We will return to Max Cube's Plight right after these messages."

Designer Dreams

The sound of a subway shuttling past made him do a double-take. He was used to hearing trains shunting back and forth but the sound of a subway on a platform seemed a little unnerving. When he looked around the room the image had taken on a blurry kind of static feel to it. Like trying to tune in a station on the UHF channel. His mind was trying to comprehend a million things now and nothing was making sense.

"I found something," Suki said aloud. It was aimed at the metallic orb. She was going through his mac, scanning through various websites and reading; every now and then she would jot a few things down on a piece of paper. "I think we're close."

The kettle in the kitchen began to whistle. It sounded like a subway train stopping.

Station 23: Tea & Crumpets

Dan sat there and took a sip of his coffee. Suki was scrolling through the orange-coloured mac laptop on the table. She was pausing now and then to see something and then continued to scroll down the pages. The little metallic-insect creature hovered around her head like a moon orbiting a planet. It continued to change colours every so often as it clicked. Dan kept an eye on it. He wasn't sure, his head was pounding again. Like a wave on a distant shore.

"Headaches," Suki told him. "You're out of phase at the moment."

"Really," Dan replied dryly. His tongue felt like fuzz.

"Honestly," Suki said. "I haven't the foggiest, but there are several factors at work here."

"But how?" he wanted to know.

"This is a weird thing to be happening," Suki said. "I sought you out because it was the only factor I know."