A Sisyphean Dreamlife
Dreamed on 2014.04.17.0755
The man was stuck in a loop, and someone had figured that out and committed a crime. It took me a while to realize he was stuck in a loop, since that's not the kind of thing that happens usually. A big loop, like, a Groundhog's Day loop, except time still passes for everyone else while he does the exact same thing everyday.
The kitchen table was covered in dust except for the spot where he always sat each morning and night for his food. The carpet, even, had a path worn from the same tired footfalls he placed in the same spots each day. Lucky going shopping was in his daily routine (followed by a burger for lunch at the diner next door), or lack of food may have brought him down. The newspaper he read each morning was tissue paper thin now, and started to shred, but I could still read the date from ten years ago on the paper.
Subsequent research told me that this had been the day the old man's wife had been murdered by an intruder in the house and things started to click for me. Even further research showed that the case was still unsolved -- some clues pointed to the husband, but he had aggressively claimed that a man had broken in at the time. He didn't notice my presence at first, but I managed to break his loop temporarily -- though being an intruder of sorts in the house of a man in this condition has its hazards.
I ultimately convinced him of my status as a detective, then got him to talk about the recent crime (his from window had been busted and several things were quite clearly stolen -- it was caught on camera from the business across the street). He hadn't noticed, though -- it was all stuff that wasn't part of his loop, and he wasn't fully there anyway, so, when he noticed me off and on throughout my visit, he spoke only of that night ten years ago.
The man was stuck in a loop, and someone had figured that out and committed a crime. It took me a while to realize he was stuck in a loop, since that's not the kind of thing that happens usually. A big loop, like, a Groundhog's Day loop, except time still passes for everyone else while he does the exact same thing everyday.
The kitchen table was covered in dust except for the spot where he always sat each morning and night for his food. The carpet, even, had a path worn from the same tired footfalls he placed in the same spots each day. Lucky going shopping was in his daily routine (followed by a burger for lunch at the diner next door), or lack of food may have brought him down. The newspaper he read each morning was tissue paper thin now, and started to shred, but I could still read the date from ten years ago on the paper.
Subsequent research told me that this had been the day the old man's wife had been murdered by an intruder in the house and things started to click for me. Even further research showed that the case was still unsolved -- some clues pointed to the husband, but he had aggressively claimed that a man had broken in at the time. He didn't notice my presence at first, but I managed to break his loop temporarily -- though being an intruder of sorts in the house of a man in this condition has its hazards.
I ultimately convinced him of my status as a detective, then got him to talk about the recent crime (his from window had been busted and several things were quite clearly stolen -- it was caught on camera from the business across the street). He hadn't noticed, though -- it was all stuff that wasn't part of his loop, and he wasn't fully there anyway, so, when he noticed me off and on throughout my visit, he spoke only of that night ten years ago.
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