7.
A scraggy looking old man in a white coat came into the booth and started prodding Neil’s eyes, staring into them. He spoke with an uncaring tone, “very well, you can go home now Mr Kimber.”
“What?” cried Neil, awash with anxiety and confusion, “what happened? Did the country make it to Florida?”
The doctor sighed, “Whatever is in your own fractured mind is your responsibility,” he waved an A4 piece of paper at Neil, it had a lot of small print but the man was clearly pointing to one particular clause, “see here?”
At the bottom of the page Neil could clearly see his signature written on the bottom, “I don’t understand, but what happened?”
The frumpy and annoyed man sighed, “The mind is normally slightly muddled by the experience, it only lasts a few minutes and you will adjust back to reality again very soon. I however have just clocked off and I am taking the wife out for dinner tonight so there is no time to explain.”
A young woman with a concerned face appeared over his shoulder, the light from the door was unbearable and Neil had not seen her before, “looks like another collapsed memory stem doctor, it seems to be happening to them all. We will have to coax him back in gently.”
He turned to the woman, “I haven’t got time for that,” he moaned, “the steak won’t eat itself now will it?” With that said he left the room and the woman came over to Neil and held his hand.
Over her shoulder she complained, “He cannot go anywhere yet,” and then, in a patronising tone she asked him, “Do you know who you are?”
“Of course,” sounded a now quite annoyed Neil Kimber, “I am the hugely successful business tycoon Neil Kimber and I have a very important role to play, I need to address the President of the USA straight away, the whole country will die if I stay here!” he protested.
She looked at a file on her lap, “you are indeed Mr Neil Kimber but I am afraid you are not a successful businessman. I am sorry Mr Kimber but you came to us as a poor, desperate tramp and agreed to take part in a mind experiment within this virtual reality suite; fantastic huh?” She smiled at him but it was unconvincing.
The man put his head back in the door, he had swapped his white coat for an overcoat and was frantically shoving his arm in its sleeve, “just pay him Jules, he has signed the secrecy contract now get rid of him!”
The woman ignored him and gave another smile, “we do have to get you moving now Mr Kimber, we have other people waiting to use the booth, do you recall what shelter you came from?”
“What?” he cried, shaking with fear and slapping his head, “I did not come from any shelter, I live in a manor, I live in luxury, I am well known, I saved the country from the Europe!”
“I am afraid, these all seem like products of the virtual reality suite, you see, it homes in on your dreams, your aspirations and creates a world around them,” she explained. She intensified the grip on his hand, “tell me; how did you save the country from Europe?”
“I dug underneath the country and floated it, then I sailed it like a boat across the Atlantic Ocean, it was working well and then we experienced a few proble……”
The patronising tone increased, “do you really think that sounds realistic Mr Kimber? Tell me, why did you do this?” She began to fill in a form, frantically scribbling details with a pen as he spoke.
Neil had to stop and think, “well, no, it was impossible but, but we could do anything, we could do the impossible…..”
“No one can do the impossible Mr Kimber, that is why it is impossible,” she slyly pointed out and it was something that had to make Neil seriously think. His thought pattern seemed to be suffering, as if; by some force his intelligence was rapidly diminishing before him. The conversation continued much like an interview, she asked him several questions as to why he thought he could do the impossible, why he thought that it was all so real and she began to probe into just what was behind the whole idea. Eventually after much discussion he had explained the origins of the whole incident at the Create-A-Cuddly Workshop and then the toilet in McDonalds where as a child he dreamed up the idea while frustrated that there were things in America that he could not get here in Britain. “You see,” she leaned in and explained, “The whole illusion was based purely on a childhood dream archived in your memory. You created the concept and the virtual reality suite accessed that and turned it into the program, clever isn’t it?”
Neil was lost for words, after an hour or more of this consultation there was a slim part of him that actually began to believe it. He stumbled for a few moments and had not the notion to respond against it, it all seemed the most likely, “yes,” he mumbled, “yes it is.”
Then he began to feel like he was being ushered out, she was trying to convince him to leave, at first politely but with an increasingly harsh tone taking place. She handed him a manila envelope with some money, “you agreed Mr Kimber, not to mention this experiment to anyone if you recall.”
That is when Neil lost control, he was no tramp, he was Neil Kimber, business executive, the entrepreneur extraordinaire, the maker of the impossible, that was the reality and it seemed as if the rebels against his idea had finally broke through the security, captured him, tortured him with persuasive techniques, messing with his mind…..yes, it is all clear now!
He leaped up knocking the woman over and screamed in a rage, “how dare you, how very dare you all, you bastards,” he screeched at the walls and at the ceiling, looking above and below for where they were hiding, behind the one way mirrors, sneering at him. “What I did I did for all of us, to make the country a better place for all of us; what I thought was best for the country, best for us all; we voted, it was all democratic, the majority wanted this, we sailed, it did not work ok, I admit, I was wrong, I did not mean for it to end like this. Now I have said my piece and that is all I can say, now let me out, let me out!”
The other man had come back into the room, “Doctor, I thought you had gone?” asked a flustered and ruffled woman, laying on the floor in distress.
“Too many of them are losing it, sedate this patient nurse now! We cannot have them talking!” He handed her a syringe.
She struggled to her feet as the doctor rushed out again. Approaching Neil slowly, “now, now Mr Kimber, you are suffering a mental meltdown as a product of the experiment, you need to relax, ok, just calm down and relax, we will help you back if you trust me,” she got closer to him and he pulled back, tense and insanely, “come on Mr Kimber, it is all ok, I am here to…..”
“NO!” he blubbered like a child, all of it had come to this moment, he knew that they were playing a game with his mind, “I will not!” Somewhere though there was a tiny element in his mind, from all that she had told him that perhaps she was right, that this was reality. He was a tramp needy of money so much that he had agreed to take part in this crazy experiment. Then as a rush to the head he gave up on that notion, why be a tramp when he could be rich beyond his wildest dreams? Why live this life? He needed out, they were out to crush him and very soon the country would be returned to European shores. He had to be given a chance; America was now so close that he knew, in his heart of hearts that they could make it. He yelled, “we will make it, we will I promise,” he whimpered.
“No, there is no master plan to float Britain to the shores of America, that is crazy, Mr Kimber, can you not see that? We can help, let us help you,” she continued moving close enough to leap at him and plunge the syringe deep into his vein but just plucking up the courage to carry it out.
“NO!” he threw himself back onto the seat he came from; hoping it would take him back to the manor, “Let me out!”
Suddenly a voice he recognised came from beyond the door, it soothed him, “don’t worry Neil, we are coming in!” it demanded.
Suddenly the door was thrust open and Neil’s father, just as he remembered him as a child threw himself into the booth and cuddled his son, “you are ok son,” he consoled him.
This is when Ne
il began to realise that the booth was no virtual reality suite at all rather it was the toilet in McDonalds and he was not businessman nor tramp but just a small child. The world around him faded back into a reality with more clarity than ever before and was filled with embarrassment at being locked in the toilet at the fast food restaurant.
How his mind to concoct such an amazingly imaginative story at such a tender age was nothing new to Neil, he had the imagination to produce the bizarre scenarios, he was used it and knew no different. He sighed, it seemed so plausible in his mind, but Neil was smart enough to know that these things were, in an adult world, impossible. His friend, now he come to think of it, Doctor Horton did look like Darren his best friend at school as his words came back to him when he was escorted back into the restaurant, “nothing is impossible my friend.”
“Come on, eat up,” encouraged his Dad but Neil did not feel like eating. His whole life was just a dream, he would have to play it out again and he knew it would be all so different. He looked down depressingly at his Chicken McNugget meal; so much for the happy part of it.
His Dad looked at him and smiled, he supposed he should be pleased to see him after all these years if they were real but, well, they weren’t. “Come on, eat up Neil,” he requested again, “we have to go to the Create-A-Cuddly Workshop; we can build a dinosaur now that Britain has docked in America remember?” and with Neil’s look of astonishment his Dad finished off his mind-blowing statement with a subtle wink.
Hey, that is it folks, hope you enjoyed your stay at Planet Worrow and I trust your journey back to reality will be a safe and happy one; watch the step on your way out. Before you do depart us again we very much hope you will visit us again, here are some other options of things you could do on your stay……..
KELLY
Who is KELLY, what is KELLY. Do you wish you knew? Be careful what you wish for………
WHITE SPACE VAN MAN
Join Barry, the anti-hero on his journey through the solar system, sound exciting? Well, not for Barry; it’s his mundane, everyday working life as Barry is an interstellar delivery pilot of a white space van, delivering medical supplies throughout the colonies. It’s pretty boring stuff and a lonely occupation out there therefore Barry longs for a change in his life. When a delivery discrepancy needs to be put right Barry finds his desires are becoming true and he is about to embark on a mission crucial to the survival of the human race. Armed with just a Cornish pasty he ventures off to get the girl, save the universe and burp a lot.
THE HARGREAVES CODE
Join Robert Longdong and Heather Lovely on an all-out bonkers mission to solve a cryptic clue left by a children’s author and cartoonist in hope to save the world from his evil creations in THE HARGREAVES CODE.
THIS NIGHT THAT NIGHT
Take a trip with Mike as he assesses his topsy-turvy drug fuelled maniac life and comes to terms that he not all that he is cracked up to be. This black comedy is outrageous and crude, realistic and gritty to the core but twists at the end into a belated coming of age story; just like most modern day blokes!
THE HEX FACTOR
Just when you thought TV talent shows couldn’t get any more horrific along comes this grisly satire to rock the house.
SAFFRON
Enter the shadowy world of Paul as he moves into his new flat and befriends the neighbour, a wild card but just how wild is he? What is prepared to do in order to belittle Paul and get the girl he likes….or is all that it really seems in this dark, psychological thriller.
ONE PIECE MISSING
Shattered reality from the deepest thoughts of an alcoholic artist can only go wrong when he is faced with obsession for his new model. However something is unusual about the whole occurrence is this love, mind games or has something finally come tow watch over him when he needed it the most? Love this inspiring romance with a twist, or it will get to you.
TALES OF WORROW
Short stories much like this one that takes us to a variety of crazy worlds with a variety of crazy characters.
SELECTED POEMS
A nuthouse of poems and thoughts for your amusement, maybe…. nope no matter how many times I edit it you cannot polish a turd.
I Am Not Frazzle!
Ok, here is the deal, we take 10 great authors, give them the freedom to write a story in their own style and genre as long as the general theme has children involved. Next we put them in a big pot (the stories not the authors) and mix them up a bit to see what comes out at the end. And here it is, a marvellous mixture of inspiring, entertaining, funny and thought provoking fables that will delight every grown up from here to the land of Lorff ... Huh? What do you mean you’ve never heard of the land of Lorff? Well my friend, read on.....
All proceeds of this book go to the Devizes and District Opportunity Centre, a registered charity in the UK that helps children with disabilities and learning difficulties get a better start to life.
The contents look a bit like this, well, quite a lot like this in fact:
A Wish for Lucie by Maria Miller
I Am Not Frazzle! by Darren Worrow
The Candy Vendor’s Confession by Nancy Brooks
Mirror Image by Holly M Kothe
Simon by Dave Darby
The Storekeeper by Cecily Magnon
Stingers by Graham Downs
The Beauty of Ugh by Richelle E. Goodrich
The King by Paul Howard
The Story of Nugu the Baboon by James Penhaligon and James Cruickshank
Please support this amazing project!
For more information:
www.iamnotfrazzle.webs.com
Tales of Worrow Volume II Page 14
