Like Father, Like Son
Dib walked slowly up to the broken down house. Three slightly crooked sevens marked the front. He looked at them fixedly as the last seven began to leak something red from around its edges.
The door opened revealing a light less void.
He glanced around nervously. A boy stood in the other yard watching him.
It was Todd as a child. Why was Todd standing over there?
Suddenly a voice caused him to turn back to the void.
"Enter."
He knew that voice.
"Oscar?" He asked stepping in. It was a little cold inside but sort of welcoming at the same time.
He was in a dimly lit room. A man was crouched over a table on one side. He reached up and tilted the single light in the room over the table before going back to what he was doing. He never once turned around.
Dib started to go forward very slowly. This man was very tall, very thin. With wildly spiked hair and worn clothes. The words 'I Exist' were on the back of his shirt.
The man suddenly looked up. He turned slowly to Dib revealing a manic face with spatters of blood here and there. His eyes were screws and his teeth were fangs.
"Welcome home son." He hissed.
Dib turned and ran back into the darkness only to be stopped by Oscars eyes. Those tiny black eyes that filled his mind.
"Come back to me." The voice of Oscar called.
Dib bolted out of bed landing awkwardly on the floor. He was panting hard and covered in cold sweat.
After a moment the adrenaline and sleep wore off and he realized he was in his room. It had been a nightmare. That's all.
He sat on the floor for awhile trying to shake away the images. But they wouldn't leave.
He stood up and pulled off his nightclothes putting on something for the day. The clock read Five a.m. so he might as well get up. After a bit of searching he found his glasses on the nightstand and put them on.
His dark room came into focus and he again tried to shake away the nightmare images.
He made his way down the stairs being as careful as he could.
He was eighteen now, up near six feet tall and stick thin. He still had that one prominent spike among all those smaller ones. His clothes still consisted of that gray shirt with that flat line mouthed smiley face and a trench coat with black pants. He had decided to follow in Einstein's footsteps in the clothes department and had many sets of the same clothes.
After a while his mind turned to Zim and he wondered if the alien would ever come back.
A long time ago Zim had come to Dib babbling something about a Chihuahua and a 'Milky Way bar'. Then he had run away.
Dib hadn't seen him since. Everything owned by the alien was gone.
But because Zim was gone Dib had been left with nothing to chase. Nothing in front of him to prove to the world.
He'd been depressed for a long time, his grades had suffered and his insomnia had worsened. There were times when he barely got a few hours of sleep a week.
After all that torture he finally pulled it together as much as he could but still had nothing real to live for.
Then one day, in a music store he had stopped in on a whim, he discovered the guitar.
He had just picked up one that looked nice and picked at it. After awhile he had started letting those few picks on the strings evolve into a song he had heard on the radio.
He had stopped after a while not entirely impressed with the sound of that particular instrument. He eventually looked up to find everyone in the store gawking at him.
Come to find out he was a natural. So now he spent time in parks playing songs he had heard or ones he made up on the spot for some loose change. It kept his mind entertained and helped him a little in the money department.
He opened the fridge and pulled out something that looked edible and closed it. Today was a Saturday and he was off work at 'Dragon Books' so all was well at the moment.
Except those damn nightmares.
He tried one last time to make the images go away as he figured out just what it was he had pulled from the fridge. It was a couple hamburger patties from a few nights ago that someone had just wrapped in foil.
He shrugged. It was food and he was hungry.
He pulled a plate from a cabinet and tossed the patties on it. He threw away the foil and popped the plate in the microwave.
After a bit of searching he found the ketchup in the fridge. While waiting the last minuet and a half for the bell to ding he went for a fork.
He set what he needed on the table and heard the bell go off. It was an annoying sound that sent the hairs up on the back of Dibs' neck when he heard it.
He used a napkin to carry the hot plate of reheated burger meat to the table without burning himself.
Suddenly he stopped.
The carving knife sat innocently by the ketchup bottle. But he hadn't gotten it out.
He set down his plate and stared at the knife. He could see his reflection in the steel blade. He shivered feeling a draft, or what he hoped was a draft.
'Come back to me.'
The thin whisper came to him from the dark.
He suddenly wasn't so hungry.
Dib walked slowly up to the broken down house. Three slightly crooked sevens marked the front. He looked at them fixedly as the last seven began to leak something red from around its edges.
The door opened revealing a light less void.
He glanced around nervously. A boy stood in the other yard watching him.
It was Todd as a child. Why was Todd standing over there?
Suddenly a voice caused him to turn back to the void.
"Enter."
He knew that voice.
"Oscar?" He asked stepping in. It was a little cold inside but sort of welcoming at the same time.
He was in a dimly lit room. A man was crouched over a table on one side. He reached up and tilted the single light in the room over the table before going back to what he was doing. He never once turned around.
Dib started to go forward very slowly. This man was very tall, very thin. With wildly spiked hair and worn clothes. The words 'I Exist' were on the back of his shirt.
The man suddenly looked up. He turned slowly to Dib revealing a manic face with spatters of blood here and there. His eyes were screws and his teeth were fangs.
"Welcome home son." He hissed.
Dib turned and ran back into the darkness only to be stopped by Oscars eyes. Those tiny black eyes that filled his mind.
"Come back to me." The voice of Oscar called.
Dib bolted out of bed landing awkwardly on the floor. He was panting hard and covered in cold sweat.
After a moment the adrenaline and sleep wore off and he realized he was in his room. It had been a nightmare. That's all.
He sat on the floor for awhile trying to shake away the images. But they wouldn't leave.
He stood up and pulled off his nightclothes putting on something for the day. The clock read Five a.m. so he might as well get up. After a bit of searching he found his glasses on the nightstand and put them on.
His dark room came into focus and he again tried to shake away the nightmare images.
He made his way down the stairs being as careful as he could.
He was eighteen now, up near six feet tall and stick thin. He still had that one prominent spike among all those smaller ones. His clothes still consisted of that gray shirt with that flat line mouthed smiley face and a trench coat with black pants. He had decided to follow in Einstein's footsteps in the clothes department and had many sets of the same clothes.
After a while his mind turned to Zim and he wondered if the alien would ever come back.
A long time ago Zim had come to Dib babbling something about a Chihuahua and a 'Milky Way bar'. Then he had run away.
Dib hadn't seen him since. Everything owned by the alien was gone.
But because Zim was gone Dib had been left with nothing to chase. Nothing in front of him to prove to the world.
He'd been depressed for a long time, his grades had suffered and his insomnia had worsened. There were times when he barely got a few hours of sleep a week.
After all that torture he finally pulled it together as much as he could but still had nothing real to live for.
Then one day, in a music store he had stopped in on a whim, he discovered the guitar.
He had just picked up one that looked nice and picked at it. After awhile he had started letting those few picks on the strings evolve into a song he had heard on the radio.
He had stopped after a while not entirely impressed with the sound of that particular instrument. He eventually looked up to find everyone in the store gawking at him.
Come to find out he was a natural. So now he spent time in parks playing songs he had heard or ones he made up on the spot for some loose change. It kept his mind entertained and helped him a little in the money department.
He opened the fridge and pulled out something that looked edible and closed it. Today was a Saturday and he was off work at 'Dragon Books' so all was well at the moment.
Except those damn nightmares.
He tried one last time to make the images go away as he figured out just what it was he had pulled from the fridge. It was a couple hamburger patties from a few nights ago that someone had just wrapped in foil.
He shrugged. It was food and he was hungry.
He pulled a plate from a cabinet and tossed the patties on it. He threw away the foil and popped the plate in the microwave.
After a bit of searching he found the ketchup in the fridge. While waiting the last minuet and a half for the bell to ding he went for a fork.
He set what he needed on the table and heard the bell go off. It was an annoying sound that sent the hairs up on the back of Dibs' neck when he heard it.
He used a napkin to carry the hot plate of reheated burger meat to the table without burning himself.
Suddenly he stopped.
The carving knife sat innocently by the ketchup bottle. But he hadn't gotten it out.
He set down his plate and stared at the knife. He could see his reflection in the steel blade. He shivered feeling a draft, or what he hoped was a draft.
'Come back to me.'
The thin whisper came to him from the dark.
He suddenly wasn't so hungry.