My head throbbed in pain as I opened my eyes. I looked around. Where am I? I looked up in the sky. It was a deep and perfect blue, with hardly any clouds to ruin its complexion. The sun was glowing brilliantly in the morning sky. Wait, why was it morning? It should be about seven—I get off of work around six thirty. Nothing seems to be making sense right now. Then, my vision focused on something in the sky. It was fairly small, and its head was shaped like a triangle. What was it? It appeared to be moving further away.
Then I heard a ticking sound. It was very light, but definitely noticeable. I looked around, trying to find its origin. Eventually, I saw where it was emanating from. There was a pocket watch lying on the ground, on top of a piece of paper. I lifted up the watch by its chain. It appeared to be counting backwards, oddly. In fact, it wasn't even a standard watch. It counted from 1 to 60, with intervals of 15, 30, 45, and 60. The single hand turned backwards very slowly, seemingly at 1 rpm; it counted by the minute. Why was it counting down? I reached down a grabbed the sheet of paper.
I read it. "Your wish was granted! You have one hour to find what you're looking for. I would have stuck around to help you, but I had things to attend to. See you later?" What did it mean by that? What wish? I've had plenty! I mean, for example, if my ex-wife had died, that would've been great! Or if I had one hundred million fucking dollars! That would've made my day. I never wished to be... wherever the hell I was. Well, I had wish for something. So, I guess I'll look around—even if this was a dream.
This landscape seems to be teeming with life. Everything is so vibrant and happy here. Although I haven't seen any of the animals here, I know there are plenty—I can hear them running through the dense woods. As I walked about the forest, I kept trying to remember what I had wished for. How should I know what to look for if I don't even know what it is? Every so often, I would look at the watch. It seemed to change quickly. 48, 33, 26, 12, 4. I only had 4 minutes left. I've been walking around aimlessly, and I haven't found a damn thing. But, something did finally turn up.
I heard a voice, and looked around frantically. Then, I came across the person. He seemed tan, well-built. I couldn't see who it was. But, I started to realize who that person was as I got closer.
"Dr—" I stopped myself, and hid behind a tree. I had seen two other people walking up to him. And I had seen his smile. His actual smile. For once in his life, he was happy. I knew who he was behind closed doors when we were in high school. He was never actually happy. In contrast, I was always happy. I don't to remind him of his past. I lifted up the clock and looked at it. I had my time, and perhaps this is now his. There was less than 30 seconds left. I thought to myself quietly, "I'll miss you, old friend." As it struck zero, the environment around me changed. Eventually, I was back where I originally was.
I felt my face, it was cold with tears. They weren't tears of sadness, but a result of joy. I didn't make it in this world of mine. My life spiraled out of control. However, Drew's apparently didn't. He seems to have found actual happiness. Nothing has gone wrong for him. I was kind of jealous, but, at the same time, I was proud of Drew. He had changed for the better. He was able to make it in his world.
Legs shaking, I stood up. In my right hand, I felt something cold. It was the watch—still stuck at zero. That wasn't a dream. It actually happened. I slipped it into my shirt pocket, and turned back to my truck. As I got in, I thought about what had happened to Drew. If he was able to change, maybe I could. I might as well, I'm not going anywhere as it is. I started the vehicle, and began to drive home.
EDT: How was it? Good? I hope so! Anyways, as always, leave reviews. Tell me something, I don't mind. This was a weird two chapters, but there was a reason behind them. I hope you figured that out. Basically, Justin Peck was a story device used to illustrate the change in Drew from his original self to his current state of mind.