| 6:42 again. |
| Strange, he thought
|
| For as long as he can remember he had always woken up at 6: 42. He never had
|
| his alarm set for the time or anywhere near it
|
| He wasn’t trying to wake up
|
| 6: 42 seemed to be observing him, and it never seemed to lose interest.
|
| And in some strange way, it comforted him
|
| He flipped his lights on and squinted. |
| It had been happening for over eight
|
| months
|
| No matter what pills he took or how late he went to bed, his internal clock
|
| always prevailed
|
| He wasn’t angry, wasn’t tired, but he felt helpless
|
| His name was Oden. |
| He lived on the sixth floor of an old apartment building
|
| with a balcony overlooking the city. |
| The view was nice, but the neglected
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| projects took away from it all
|
| The city was odd, the sidewalks almost always deserted and the streets
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| seemingly devoid of all noise
|
| And at night, the stereotypical neon signs and flashing lights were replaced
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| with a quiet far away hum of the city’s factories producing steel
|
| For as long as he can remember, graffiti covered almost every wall of every
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| building, and windows were cracked on floors up high. |
| Tommy often wondered why
|
| the city never bothered fixing it up
|
| Despite the eerie emptiness, the citizens seemed happy enough, always with a
|
| smile and a friendly greeting
|
| They would nod and say hello while passing Oden in the hallway, always
|
| appearing busy with something
|
| He picked himself up and walked from his bedroom to another room.
|
| His small television was hanging on his dirty blue wall, and was turned off as
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| usual. |
| There was an old grey couch that seemed small, awkwardly placed in the
|
| middle of the room. |
| It was dirty and faded. |
| He felt he should replace it,
|
| but he hardly used it anyway. |
| He was never in the room. |
| He found it amusing
|
| that they called it a living room, because he hardly lived in it at all
|
| However, his most prized possession was in this room. |
| His rectangular crystal
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| chamber was lying on the desk and he absolutely cherished it
|
| It was the only reason he entered his room. |
| It took him to a world of mirrors.
|
| What was it like to see the world through the eyes of a glass cage,
|
| segregated from all the discomfort and awkwardness of life?
|
| He would have to know
|
| He needed an answer
|
| There was nothing as essential
|
| He thought for a moment and then sat down on his couch
|
| He glared into the black abyss of his television. |
| That was the only show he
|
| really liked anyhow. |
| He looked into the black abyss of his television.
|
| That was the only show he really liked anyhow |