Mark Anothony's Namesake

I awoke to the bittersweet sound of a violin being played. The instrument seemed to weep into the air and saturate its surroundings. I raised my head up from the seat and felt velvet beneath my hands. I looked to my left out the window and the world seemed to be passing me by. I was in a locomotive. It was speeding down the tracks. I could barely make out the countryside as the train sped on. I turned to the right and a man stood over me. He was wearing a pristine black tuxedo with a white napkin laid over his arm and on his other arm, he was holding a top hat. I jumped with fright. I wasn’t expecting a man to be standing there in such close proximity.

The man spoke. “I am sorry good sir, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I noticed your hat fell off your head when you dozed off. My name is Mark Anthony if you would need any further assistance” He reached his hand out holding the hat.

I looked down at myself and I was wearing a 3-piece tuxedo with a red handkerchief in the lapel. I put my hand in my pocket searching for a boarding pass, but no luck. Some sort of hint that would help me find out where I was headed.

I took the hat from the waiter and placed it on my head. “Excuse me sir, but did you see me enter this train? Do you know where we are going?” I asked

The man smiled and looked down at me. “I don’t know where you are going or how you got here, but I do know your date for the evening has arrived and it would be quite rude to leave a lady unescorted to dinner” He motioned to the back of the train.

“Mr. Harris this is Ms.Clark, please take a moment to get acquainted.” Announced the waiter and then exited through the red velvet curtain in front of the train.

I turned around not knowing what to expect. I turned and saw a woman seated at the back of the train, she looked just as confused as I felt. She was in a red dress with a full skirt and sleeves that puffed around her shoulders. She wore white gloves and looked the perfect picture of grace. I was completely taken over by her beauty and sat in silence just watching her. Once I had finally gained my composer I stood up and walked to the back of the train. I extended my arm for her to take.

“May you escort me, Ms. Clark ?” I ask

She stands up and grabs my arm. She feels familiar and new all at once. I can smell her perfume and it makes me wish I could be closer to her.

She finally spoke, “Mr. Harris I wasn’t expecting such a dapper gentleman to escort me to dinner. I seem to be lost, but now that I have your arm it doesn’t seem to matter.” She smiled up at me.

My heart jumped. “I feel the same way.”

We looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, while she grasp my arm. I knew my life was forever changed at that moment. Looking into her eyes felt like I had been completed.

The waiter walked through the curtains and motioned for us to follow him. We walked side by side into the next car. The only thing that sat in the next railcar was a table set for 2 and a sonograph set in the corner which was the source of the violin. I grabbed the seat to set Miss Clark and then I seated myself. I noticed that our table was shaking from the vibrations of the train and that the red wine the waiter was pouring for us was spilling onto the lace table cloth. I looked up at his face to see if he seemed alarmed, but he seemed unbothered.

I raised my glass towards Miss Clark for a toast even though our plates raddled and it felt like the world might be ending I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else with me. I knew after our brief encounter I would want to spend my last breath with her.

“To Love,” I say

“To love,” She smiles and takes a sip of her wine.

The waiter opens our silver platters sitting in front of us to reveal 2 peasants cooked to perfection. We ate our meal with class I didn’t know I had. I felt like a gentleman. I thought back to when I felt this way before, but I couldn’t recall a time. I couldn’t remember anything. I couldn’t recall my mother’s name. Ms. Clark grabbed my hand sensing I was in distress.

“What’s wrong?” she asked

I looked beyond Miss Clarks’s beautiful face and out the window. The snow seemed to be falling and it was so thick that I couldn’t see where we were headed. The train was shaking so terribly now that the table was raddling violently.

It was then the thought popped into my head. Nothing in front of me was real. “None of this is real,” I say as I look into her eyes. “You’re just a beautiful dream,”.

She snorted with laughter and she spet her wine out into its glass. “You think I AM the dream?” I have been positive this entire time your my dream.

This puzzled me. I had many strange dreams, but the people never reacted in that way… a matter of fact most of the time once I realized I was dreaming I could control my surroundings, but quickly woke up. I thought hard about making the train slow down…But nothing happened. I looked back at Miss Clark.

“Maybe this is your dream?”, I ask.

She ponders for a moment. “I’m going to stop the violin music,” She said quickly.

She looked at the sonograph and stared intently, but the music continued to play. She looked back at me puzzled.

“So, if neither one of us are dreaming...Is this…?” She asks

I cut her off “Heaven?” I ask.

“I was fixing to say that” She smiled at me.

The waiter reappeared through the curtain. “Join me in the next car?” He asks

“Are you God?” I ask

The waiter rolls his eyes. “You are both quite amusing when you are this young,” He says with a laugh.

I looked at Miss Clark and shrugged.

“Who are we to really question anything? If I spend eternity with you, eating exquisite food and drinking this fine wine I would be a happy man” I grab her hand and say

We walked together hand and hand to the next car, but it seemed to have stopped. We were in the engine room now and we could see far out in the distance the train tracks were speeding into what seemed like thin air. The snow stopped, and the land stopped. It was white.

“How do we stop?”, I desperately ask the waiter.

“We have almost arrived”, he said calmly with the white napkin still placed on his arm.

I look at Miss Clark to see if she has any guidance.

“May I have this final dance with you, Mister Harris?” She says as she extends her hand.

A single hot tear starts to come to my eye. “My love, I need to be here longer with you” I plead

“If this is our last moment we will spend it together,” She says as our bodies glide into each other.

The waiter leaves the engine room and the violin music drifts in softly. I place my arm around her waist with her palm on my should and our fingers grasp tight. I look into her blue eyes.

“Can I kiss you?” I ask softly

“I thought you were never going to” She smiles.

_____

Ding Dong

"Flight 126 has now arrived in Los Angeles," says the captain.

That is what I hear as I am jolted awake from my seat on the plane. My heart aches from greif. I looked down at my arms as if they might still be holding her. It was a dream. I sit in my seat and look around at my surroundings. The world around me looks grey and the people around me look plain. I clenched my fist in anger.

“I must look at a fool,” I thought to myself. Half crying half angry on the plane with a neck pillow around my head in a Hawaiian shirt and socks with sandals. I grabbed my carry-on and exit the plane slowly. I went to find my suitcase from baggage claim. I watched bags go in a circle and thought about how that really is how life is. You’re just going in a circle and none of it really mattered. It was then I felt someone stare at me across the baggage claim. I caught their gaze and it was Miss Mallory. She looked different. She was wearing black leggings with a tank top and some headphones with a long blonde ponytail. I jumped over the conveyor belt like a child at a playground to get to her. I heard a “Hey” from someone in the crowd, but I didn’t care.

She looked up at me. “You’re not gonna believe me what I’m about to tell you”, She said.

Before she could finish I grabbed her cheeks in my hands and kissed her and then grasp her in my arms so she couldn’t get away.

Finally, she asked. “What is your first name Mr. Harris”

“Lucas” I laughed “What’s yours?”

“Sarah,” She replied

“Well, Sarah where do we go from here?” I asked

“Anywhere we want” She exclaimed

___

Mark Anthony threw off his headset and picked up his phone and called his mother. She was a little old-fashioned and didn’t enjoy hologram messages.

“Mom, can you tell me how you and dad met?”

“Well, Honey you’ve heard that story a million times. We met at an airport. It was truly love at first sight” He heard his mom say through the phone.

‘Great! Talk soon! Love you!” He said and then hung up.

He picked his headset back up.

His coworker looked over his cubicle at Mark Anthony with questioning eyes.

“Dude you can’t be playing around with this equiptment” He said

Mark Anthony grinned mischievously. “This time really was the last one.”

“Somehow I doubt that. This type of tech should really only be used in war. You can’t be using it to change every aspect of your life. You’re going to spin out eventually and make something you can’t keep up with.” His coworker warned.

“It’s FINE trust me. I just did the runaway train simulation with my parents anyway. I just wanted them to meet a little sooner. They always said they met too late in life…plus,... guess what I did… “ Mark Anthony giggled

“What this time?” The coworker asked

“I changed the waiter’s name to Mark Anothny” and then he laughed

“So, you basically just picked your own name?” He asked

“Yeah” Mark Anthony grinned

“That just sounds like something a supervillain would do,” His coworker said as he shook his head