The Dream Puzzle

1

The station was dark and quiet except for the muffled snores of a couple of the firefighters and the occasional squeak of bedsprings as one of them rolled over. The ticking of the wall clock in the dorm kept time with Marco's breathing which Chet found slightly annoying. He was awake again in the wee hours of the morning. This had been happening more often than not in recent shifts and he was beginning to get alarmed. Geez Kelly, come on, he thought then decided to roll over on his other side – the side facing Marco – hoping to relax and drift off.

As he rolled over – squeaking the springs again – he opened his eyes just enough to check the time but his eyes never made it up to the clock. Instead, he lay in bed staring at a man standing over Marco's bed seemingly watching the older firefighter sleep. Chet knew he should be alarmed but for reasons he couldn't explain he wasn't. He felt a strange sense of alright-ness surround him like a warm blanket on a cold winter night. Momentarily stunned, he quickly shut his eyes and reopened them. Again, the figure was standing near the head of Marco's bed gazing down at the sleeping man. Marco rolled over but didn't seem to notice the stranger standing so near him. The guy was dressed in some type of white loose fitting shirt and had blonde hair and beard but Chet couldn't make out his facial features which were hidden in the shadows of the walls. He leaned up on one elbow to get a better look hoping he'd at least recognize the man. Instead, the light from the streetlamp shining through the blinds cast shadows resembling piano keys across his face but Chet knew that the intruder had seen him because he could see the glow of his beard as it passed through the lines of light when his face rose up to look in Chet's direction. Startled, Chet rubbed his eyes and took another look. He was gone; vanished. The dorm looked exactly like it did on any normal night. No one else stirred. No one else had seen the stranger; not even Marco.

Chet laid his head back down on the pillow as a thin sheen of sweat broke out on his face and neck. What had he just seen? Can a person dream when he's awake? Shit, this lack of sleep is making me lose it. Then a terrifying realization bolted through his thoughts. He had seen a stranger standing over Marco's bed just moments ago and then suddenly he was gone. Chet never heard a door open or close which meant he was still in the building.

Fear wrapped its boney fingers around Kelly's ribs and formed a fist inside his chest. He felt his heart rate increase along with his breathing. He had to check out the rest of the station. This unknown guy knew Chet had seen him which is most likely why he had fled the dorm so quickly. His head told him to wake up the other guys to do a thorough sweep but his pride told him to do it alone. Man, I'll never hear the end of this from Gage if we don't find anyone. So, he quietly pulled on his turnout gear and headed to the latrine. At least if any of the other guys woke up they'd think he had simply gotten up to use the bathroom. Slowly and carefully, he searched every corner – every square inch in fact – of Station 51. He looked inside and under both vehicles being extra careful not to wake his sleeping comrades. He opened every cabinet, supply closet, and even looked underneath the tables. After scouring the station from top to bottom over a two hour period, he found nothing out of the ordinary; except for one semi-frightened firefighter wandering around the station at 0500, who was beginning to think he'd seen a ghost.

Morning klaxons sounded arousing the sleeping firefighters; at least five of them were still sleeping. Hank acknowledged the wake-up tones and then drew his eyebrows together and wrinkled his nose.

"Is that coffee I smell?" He asked of no one in particular.

"Hey, I smell it too, Cap." Johnny said with a yawn as he looked around to see who was missing. "Must be Chet - he's the only one up already."

The five of them stepped into their turnout gear pulling on their suspenders as they trudged sleepily toward the kitchen. They found Chet already in uniform sitting at the table nursing a lukewarm cup of coffee. He had obviously been up for quite a while reading the morning newspaper.

"Mornin' fellas." He commented in a subdued voice.

John and Roy exchanged bewildered glances and Roy was really afraid that Johnny was going to seize the opportunity to make some smart remark to Chet. Much to Roy's surprise - and relief - Gage kept his mouth shut. He seemed genuinely concerned by Chet's behavior.

"Couldn't sleep, pal?" Hank asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee and passed the pot over to Mike.

"Nah, I had a really weird dream last night and just couldn't go back to sleep. So I figured I'd go ahead and make us some coffee."

"Dreamed you had a date with some hot chick, huh?" Johnny jeered.

"Gage, will you shut up." Chet commented; his eyes never leaving the newspaper as he slowly turned the page leaving Mike, Roy and Hank staring at each other wondering if the world had just tilted on its axis from the role reversal playing out in front of them.

Marco was only half listening as the crews voices seemed to melt into one similar to the adults on the Peanuts cartoons. He sat staring into the darkness of his coffee rubbing his forehead with his thumb and fingers as his mind drifted back to his own strange dream from the previous night. The details hovering in his mind like a fog of jigsaw puzzle pieces just waiting for him to put them all together.