Because You're A Hero
Disclaimer: I own Nothing
"Thank God…Sam! Come on, come on outside!" I step through the glass window, stepping out on to the pavement, not really sure why I'm having this strange dream again and why I'd just called that man to come join me…I don't even know him.
As soon as I step out the door I breathe a sigh of relief and the man joins me. "Hey it's so good to see you…" I trail, again, I'm thinking this is a dream and I'm not the one saying these things, all I'm doing is merely…Observing…From inside my own body.
"I can't believe you finally got here…" He says.
"I never thought I was gonna find you…" I reply in his mid sentence, but continuing to answer his question. "Yeah I'm here, I'm here but where…where is here?" I watch him closely studying his look, he looks confused and agitated. I want to…help him but I don't know how, he looks like he's been crying…For some reason it makes me…emotional.
"Al's place…" He say's as he points to the sign, for some reason this makes me giggle. I reply with a witty comment. "Ha! I always wanted my own bar!" Though actually I'm deeply concerned as to what's going on.
I feel like I've been searching for this man in desperation for the last little while and now that I've found him…I just can't loose him again. "Yeah well this is more than a bar Al." I look at him, confused. "Err..." He continues at my pause and confused staring at him. "This is where it all started…"
I'm not sure what to say, I'm getting more confused by the minute. "Where what started?"
"Quantum Leap." He says gently. I look at him for a long moment before looking out around me, for some reason I know what he's on about, although I've never heard of it before. "But no…But no this isn't New Mexico…" I say looking back to him, he's getting more confused and for some reason I'm getting more worried about him.
"No, no, no, no not the project, you remember the first time I leaped? And we all felt that someone or something…Grabbed me…"
"Yeah…"
"H-he's the someone or something that…Grabbed me." He points into the window, at a big man behind the counter polishing the glasses, laughing with other drinking men. "Who the bartender?"
"Yeah that bartender's been leaping me around…" I look back at him slowly wondering how much more confused I could get. Still observing myself and this man interact from within my own body.
"He wants me to believe that I'm the one leaping me…But I…I Err…I think it's him…Al, one of the miners in there is Moe Stein – Captain Galaxy, remember Captain Galaxy? Only here…His names Ziggy…" I say nothing I'm watching this man as he paces back and forth telling me these things and I'm completely confused, I want to help him, I'm a good guy whether I'm dreaming or not but this guy is freaking me out. I have no idea what he's talking about but in a way I do. "An…And Frank and Jimmy LaMotta are in there, only here their names are Tonchi and Pete and there's a guy named Gooshie in there with a long beard…" This is getting out of hand, I watch myself try to calm him down but the man… this 'Sam' continues…
"Sam…"
"But he doesn't look anything like our Gooshie right, but he's got the same bad breath…"
"Sam…I…I think we better get you outta here…"
"No Al…Please…Please everything I'm telling you is the truth…" I can't believe it, I'm dumbfounded this guy – who – for some reason I hold a particular bond with, seems to me like he's going crazy.
"Err…Yeah…err you haven't been leaped around by God or fate or time…No…You've been leaped by a bartender…" I wanted to reach out and grab him, shake some sense into him.
"He's not just a bartender, that's what I'm trying to tell ya Al…I think he is…God." That did it, this guy was too whacko for me, I'm trying in vain to pull out of this dream, by this time Beth's normally shaking me silly for kicking and punching thin air, I want out but this person keeps me and this dream going…Even though I'm dying to be set free from inside my dream mind I also cant bear the thought of the dream ending, before I can speak he continues…
"Or time or fate or maybe even something that we've never even thought of…"
"Gooshie…" I call out.
"Al…When I leap, do I turn all blue and tingle with electrical energy?"
"I dunno, when you leap I go back into the imaging chamber…"
"I bet I do, I bet I…I bet I turn all blue and tingle with electrical energy, the same way that he did when he leaped, only nobody leaped back in…But that's probably because he was dead…."
"Oh that's it I'm outta here…." I whisper, I doubt Sam's even listening to me. I want desperately to stay but so desperately to leave it's all so confusing and I don't want to believe it.
"Al…All those stories of-of dead souls coming back to warn the living…What if their all leapers like Stawpah?" Stawpah suddenly started to ring true to me.
"Stawpah?"
"Yeah Stawpah, this guy he was here and…And he leaped…He…Stawpah is Steve in Russian." As if I didn't know….
"I know what it means, I've got an uncle named…Stawpah" Suddenly the me in this dream was feeling as queasy as I was, I think we both wanted to chuck. All of sudden this big burst of energy that had been fuelling this man before me suddenly began to diminish, for some reason the part of me he's talking to wants to leave, to get help, to get him out of there, I…Looking from inside my mind…Observing this all…I find myself wanting to help him to. The man sits down slowly…
"Does he have erm…Err rheumatoid arthritis Al?" I notice his whole personality beginning to collapse. I'm not sure what to say for the better…So I tell him the truth; we've always told each other the truth…
"Yeah he's got a…a…All twisted up like a pretzel." The man begins to laugh so I continue, wondering what the joke is. "It's not funny…"
"Oh but it is…" He continues to laugh, I'm scared for him, scared OF him, and of what he's becoming…it's not supposed to be like this… "Why?" I ask.
"I don't know Al it just…" He laughs but the laugh becomes more of a desperate shallow cry, mixed in with a tinge of laughter and exhaustion. I want so badly to reach out and hold him, to be with him but for some reason I cant and I don't know why. I look at this coloured rectangular object in my hand, as I try to offer Sam words of comfort.
"Err…A…Just take it easy, I'm gonna go back and figure this out with Ziggy…But I'm gonna get you out of this…" I open some kind of door behind me, stepping back into it I take one final look at the man and offer the only comfort I can…
"Whatever it takes I'll…I'll get you outta this…" I watch him for as long as I can using the colourful object I close the door on him, he's gone and my heart feels like it's bleeding to death. I cant stand it, my hand reaches out and I touch this metallic door, I whisper his name over and over until I'm approached from behind by some people….As I begin to turn I feel an electrical force grab hold of me, I feel like I'm being pulled out of existence, out of living and it scares me so badly that I wake up finally, covered in sweat and tears next to Beth, my wife…
"And why do you think that you dream this, such, vivid dream Mister Calavicci?" The quack was at it again, trying to get Al to believe it was just his vivid imagination playing up again.
"I don't know, if I knew that would I be here?" Al couldn't stand quacks, all this nozzle wanted was money and all he wanted was answers and nobody ever gave him any, personally he didn't know why Beth insisted on him seeing this quack, the dreams were after all becoming less frequent with time.
"Perhaps Mister Calavicci, you desire to be reached out upon, this Sam represents your weak and vulnerable side, the emotional side of you that you never like to bring out…" The quack laughed a little before continuing. "After all didn't you tell me you lived in a house full of women? Four daughters and a wife? That's quite a battle for even the strongest of men!" Al wanted to get up and punch the noggin on his face, but he didn't, that'd already cost him silly amounts of money from the last quacks he'd visited.
"Yeah maybe your right." It was easier to agree, this guy didn't know any more about his dream then the last six quacks he'd visited and this was a waste of time and money. For some reason Al was having these dreams regularly, but, just lately, the last few days they'd become less frequent and parts of the dream were starting to fade or he'd wake up early.
Whatever it was, it'd pass, he knew it and he wasn't going to spend any more time or money discussing it. "Well thanks doc you've been a great help." Al stood up from the sofa and straightened out his clothes slightly. "But we've barely begun to discuss your problem…" He tried; Al wasn't having any of it. "Send me the bill." Were his final words as he left the office, now home to Beth and the girls, maybe he'd just catch them in time for dinner.