A Caffeinated Dream

I'm running, running, running.

Am I running from something or towards something?

Where am I?

Stop.

Catch your breath.

Catch up to your breath; it's running away from you.

I stop.

I don't stop breathing; I stop walking.

Where am I?

I'm standing on the threshold of a tall doorway, somewhere high up above the clouds. Behind me, there's a black void floating in midair. He's trying to suck me in, but his shambling nature is getting the best of him. I know better. He'll catch up eventually.

Inside this threshold is a diner. The place looks awfully grimy, smelling of grease and coffee. Familiar faces fill the seats, yet I don't recognize anyone. Their gaping mouths are devouring food, each one with a different plate. Pancakes. Waffles. Moldy eggs.

Some of these people look like they've been sitting here for ages. In the far corners of the diner, they sit with the dust. Flies are buzzing in their ears; they pay no mind.

There are younger faces, too, all seemingly polished and brand new like they came out of a box just freshly made.

Old or new, all of them take vacant glances in my direction. No noise.

“You want coffee, sir?”

I suddenly notice a waitress standing right in front of me. She grimaces. Straight perfect teeth, short dark hair, and appeal. Appeal. Appeal holding a coffee pot and two mugs. There isn't a drop of coffee in that pot.

My chest is blooming. Blooming what? Flowers? “Coffee?”

She laughs. “Yes, darlin’. Coffee. Ever heard of it before?”

I look back at the coffee pot, and realize that it isn't empty anymore, but filled with a steaming black liquid.

“Do you want any coffee,” she asks me again.

I nod. It looks unusually thick as she pours it into the cup.

“Well,” she starts as she hands it to me, “Would you like anything else?”

I look behind her. One of the cobwebbed people smile and wave from their seat. Blood gurgles from his mouth.

“Where am I?”

She smiles puzzlingly.“I'm sorry; I don't understand the question.”

I scoff and raise my arms, looking around us. “W-What is this place?”

“Home,” a different voice replies. I turn back to the waitress to see that she isn't the dark haired dame from before, but a short haired blonde.

“Home?”

“This is your home,” she says, staring me down.

“Home,” I say again, gaping at her soft blue eyes.

“Yes.”

My mouth gets dry. I go to take another sip, but the mug is empty now. “Uh, w-who are you?”

She smiles. No grimace. Just a smile. “I'm home.”

“Home?”

She nods.

I don't say anything. I look back at the entrance. The void is getting closer.

“What are you so afraid of?” I hear another voice say. Someone flicks me in the head.

It's the dark haired girl again.

“I'm not afraid.”

She laughs. “Everyone is afraid.”

I pause. Stare at her. Something seems so automated in the way she talks to me. I can't pinpoint it. “What are you afraid of?”

She grimaces. Not a smile. A grimace. “Black holes.”

“Why a black hole?”

“Well, they can consume anything, you know.”

“And?”

“Even light.”

“So?”

“So we could all just die in one moment, and not even know it.”

“We're nowhere near a black hole.”

“Then what's that?” She looks behind me.

The void is standing at the door, now. He smiles. No, he isn't smiling. He's sneering.

“Run,” she says. I turn to her and our eyes lock. Her eyes are blue. My chest is blooming, my feet ready, but before I can even flinch, a hand grabs my shoulder.

Everything goes black.