Flight of Fancy
Chapter 17

There was something strange happening to David. The change wasn’t physical in any sense, it was within him. There was a sort of restlessness that was relentlessly hounding him and not allowing him to enjoy anything. He knew he was in the clear from the American agents, but the infernal machine was playing tricks with his mind. He kept going over and over what had happened to him in the forest and couldn’t replace any rational explanation. In recent years, he’d begun to believe in things that science couldn’t necessarily prove. After all, humanity was only in its infancy and modern science was only a couple of hundred years old at its best. Yet, some people believed they could explain everything through the limited scope of science that humanity had.

What a fucking arrogant species!

Some believed they knew all the secrets of the universe and think everything could be explained with the limited amount of science at our disposal, even though there are new discoveries being made every day, sometimes disproving the old theories.

If humanity would only get over itself and keep an open mind, there’s no telling what it could achieve.

As it was, most humans who were actually doing science couldn’t get over their ego and couldn’t get over the preconceived notions they were taught in school. There were really only a few scientists capable of thinking outside the box and they were mostly on the cusp of being philosophers as well. It was difficult to perceive completely new and alien prospects if your mind was closed to change and set in routine.

There was also the corporate agenda, of course. Scientists weren’t really creating things that people necessarily needed, but things that would bring money. There was very little money in replaceing cures when you could keep people on tablets for the rest of their life and make a fortune.

Oh well, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m just an old pessimist and stupid idiot who can’t really grasp the world.

It was too late to go back to believing the world was black and white, like in the media, where they showed you the good guys and the bad guys, good science and bad science. He would never believe in that any more. The media, whether TV, radio, newspaper or Internet had created this whole web of reality that most people believed and took for granted; and considered anyone going against the grain to be crazy.

Maybe I’m crazy.

What he’d experienced couldn’t be explained with any modern scientific methods he was aware of. If he hadn’t experienced it, perhaps he wouldn’t even believe it. But here it was. Either he was losing his mind, or he’s created something that he’d never dared think of.

Why can’t I go back?

If only he could return to the days before he started assembling that silly thing. He would appreciate the little things more – meals, clean air, water; and of course the big things – his wife, family and friends. But now, this thing in his brain wouldn’t let him go and do anything. Was he coming or going? It was as if he was stuck between two worlds, this reality and the other one he’d experienced in the forest.

No turning back.

********************

There was definitely something wrong with David.

Ana watched as David struggled through breakfast, hardly saying a word. She tried getting some sort of coherent conversation out of him, but the answers were mostly monosyllabic. When she tried pressing and asking what’s wrong, he said he was merely tired.

She was at her wit’s end about the situation and felt like she was losing him. The worst thing was she didn’t know what she was losing him to. It was like tearing a part of her heart out. She was losing a part of herself.

After breakfast, David spent some time in his room on the computer, probably becoming even more alienated from her. She missed him dearly, but in a way also hated him. She hated the way he had become then last few day, perhaps weeks. She hated his lethargic face and replies.

She missed their closeness, the embraces, the hand holding, the massages, the little gestures and their mental connection. All of that just vanished, for no apparent reason.

I don’t know if I can go through this.

David got up from his chair at the computer desk after about half an hour and said he was going to prepare some more wood. She could do nothing more than say okay. She was becoming lethargic herself.

Stop that!

As David walked out of their apartment, she made a promise to herself to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with David.

*****************

Dawson wasn’t one for sitting still. Anything was better than this. They really couldn’t do anything, just keep up the surveillance. Even the Facebook surveillance seemed appealing now, even though that had become tedious a long time ago. He needed to do something.

Everyone knew that young man David was hiding something. It was just a matter of time before they got something on him, but the waiting was excruciating.

I wish there was a way…

Perhaps there was some way to put David behind bars without replaceing any real proof. He hated the idea of falsifying evidence, but if someone was as guilty as David… They would be doing humanity a service to put him away as soon as possible. David could be a danger both to himself and more importantly to society.

I shouldn’t think like that.

Even though a person was as guilty as fuck, breaking basic human rights went against what he stood for. But he was liking the idea of disposing with human right for certain people. Some people were just guilty and you could tell who they were. And they needed to be dealt with.

Yes, why can’t we just deal with them?

It would be much easier to take precautionary measures and take dangerous individuals out of the picture. They had the technology and the means to do it. It was so easy to fake either a video or make up a story, plant evidence, or do any number of things to make a person appear guilty.

He felt a shudder. He was scaring himself. There had never been a moment when his thoughts had led him in this direction. He’d always been a law abiding citizen, following orders, obeying the law and only reporting what he saw. There was never a moment he thought about doing something to incriminate somebody else.

I guess this is what it feels like to be in charge!

This was probably what managers, presidents and heads of agencies had to deal with on a daily basis. Sometimes you just had to follow your gut and do whatever you can to get the results. It was as much about instincts and justice as it was a power trip. Most people wrongly believed that big shot leaders were merely power hungry and ego driven, when in fact they were relying on their basic intuitions, which told them what they had to do in order to improve a way a company or society works. Yes, he could see that now, he could see the big picture.

Still, the interior monologue was pointless. Nothing could be done without the boss’s go-ahead. So he thought that he might as well give the time a bit of time off and watch the video feed himself for a little while, just to feel like he was doing something.

Hopefully, the boss would get fed up with this slow cat and mouse game and would replace a way to speed things up, or at least let him do it. Dawson already had some good ideas about what to do to get rid of David. He didn’t even know he was so inventive.

******************

David had to get to the forest.

There was something close to panic in his chest and in his stomach. He had problems breathing and he thought there was a fever boiling inside him. It was like an addiction, he guessed. He’d never been addicted, but he guessed that’s what it must feel like.

After spending a bit of restless time on the computer, he told Ana that he was going to get some more wood ready. He didn’t even look at her, that’s how distracted he was. The only thought on his mind was to get there, to get that fix.

The journey there was a blur. He hardly had any recollection of driving or walking down the stairs for that matter. It seemed as if his brain was on autopilot, at least until arrival at the “scene of the crime”. Well, there really wasn’t any crime to speak of, only the construction of a strange device that appeared to have made people upset. It wasn’t just about any people, it was the wrong people, the kind you didn’t want to mess with.

Even though David now knew they didn’t have the device, he still didn’t believe he was out of the woods. There was a sneaking suspicious in the back of his mind that the agents wouldn’t let this one go. It seemed to important to them.

Never mind!

This wasn’t the time for such thoughts. He came here with one thing in mind, for one purpose alone – to go back to that place, to that dimension in between. There was something drawing him there, like a drug. Although his mind was aware that perhaps this addiction was wrong, it seemed almost impossible to fight. He could forget all about his life and family, merely to get that sensation back. It was probably what junkies felt.

God, what a mess!

He walked slowly to that ”sacred” place and expected to see something or at least feel something. Nothing happened.

Of course not!

Usually when you’re expecting something to happen, nothing does!

He tried to compose himself, only to be met with more anxiety in his chest and stomach. It was as if he was experiencing a light case of withdrawal syndrome.

He remembered that the last time he came here, nothing happened for a long time.

Should I just wait?

He decided to stay there for a few moments longer. When nothing happened after a few minutes, he went to the truck and got his tools and brought them close to the place of the invisible device.

Might as well make myself useful.

He started getting more wood ready for the Winter. His heart wasn’t really in it, but he needed to be close to that place, close to the device which brought so much promise of a better life.

Did it really? It didn’t really bring any promises, he thought, only a sensation that made him feel good. In a world where society was designed to bring good people down, replaceing something like that seemed paramount. At least that’s how he justified his desire for a “fix” to himself.

******************

Ana was not a happy person.

After David left, she put her coat and shoes on. She had enough of the uncertainty and David’s silence. She would take matters into her own hands and replace out for herself if anything was happening or if David was merely struggling with mental issues, as she had been a few years earlier.

She remembered how David was there for here, even if he did sometimes get impatient at her lack of energy and desire. He remained there, at her side and helped her get over it. It was only fair she did the same for him, the only way she knew how – to be a woman and replace out the root of the problem any way she could.

She went down the stairs and was stopped by David’s father.

“Hey,” he said. “Where are you off to?”

“Oh, I’m just going out for a walk,” was the reply. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

David’s father then retreated back to his apartment on the middle floor. His father was a nice man, she thought, but a bit of a busybody. He always poked his nose everywhere. She loved his parents, they were really warm and friendly people, but sometimes too much familiarity breeds contempt and she was already feeling that they were in each other’s lives a bit too much.

I’m sure David’s parents feel the same.

That was just the way it was, when you lived together. The older generation wanted to do things a certain way, while the younger had its own ideas. Then, there was inevitably a clash of opinions, which could lead to rows. She didn’t want that, as she really did love them.

Oh, to have a place of my own.

That would make things so much easier. Even if it was only a few minutes away from their current house, it would be their own, to do with as they pleased, without any interference even from people with the best of intentions.

How did older generations cope? A while ago, people used to live together in the same house, from great grandparents to little toddlers, and they somehow made it work.

So why can’t I accept this?

She didn’t really know the answer, but she knew David felt the same. That’s one of the reasons she loved him – they usually seemed to be on the same frequency.

Not lately though!

Lately, David had been absent-minded and even less chatty than usually. She hoped with all her might that he wasn’t suffering from any mental issues because she knew how hard that was to overcome.

She followed the trail that David drove down. It only took about 10 to 15 minutes to walk. She enjoyed going out for walks and the fresh breath did her a world of good this time as well.

As she came round the last corner, she quickly dashed for the cover of the spruces offering shelter. She didn’t want David to see her. There was just enough cover to hide her.

David was still nowhere in sight, but the forest was only small and she knew she would eventually replace him.

I don’t know if I can sneak up on him.

That would be the tricky part. She hoped David would have his back turned towards her direction and she could come up quietly enough not to be noticed.

There appeared to be a sound coming from just up ahead. She pressed her slight figure against a large spruce to conceal her arrival. When the sound subsided, she turned around. She could see David from the side. If he’d been paying attention, he might have seen her, but he seemed to be focused on something straight ahead of him. In any case, Ana his behind the spruce again.

There appeared to be nothing happening for a long time. When she plucked up the courage to turn around again, David was still standing there, motionless, looking ahead of him, seemingly dead to the world and most certainly oblivious of here presence.

She looked at him like that, almost pitying him and feeling love for this broken man. She felt the desire to run to him and almost dashed to his side, but all of a sudden he turned around. She quickly hid behind the spruce again and David didn’t appear to notice her.

She could hear him tinkling around the car and then he brought his tool to the same place she saw him standing and started working.

Strange!

She wasn’t quite sure what to make of his blank staring into space, but she supposed that’s how men dealt with stress or mental anguish – with daydreaming. Perhaps not all men, only the introverted ones like David, who loved escaping to a fantasy world.

There was no need for her to stay any longer. She’d seen all she needed to, so she slowly and quietly sneaked back onto the trail and made her way back home, making sure to take a slight detour and get some more fresh air.

Still, she was none the wiser about David and what to do with him.

I think I’ll just leave it for now and see how it goes.

Perhaps her love would be enough to see him through this rough patch.

************************

Dawson was actually enjoying being “back in the saddle”. There wasn’t really anything going on, just a few squirrels and deer making an appearance on the feed. Still, it was fun in some way, trying to replace something incriminating about a person he knew was guilty.

There was a big cup of black coffee next to the laptop, which he sipped from time to time, making slurping noises and making sure to savour each sip. There was no doubt in his mind that he would eventually get this David guy. He would now enjoy the lead up to it and not be impatient.

The rest of the team had gone out, doing God knew what. He didn’t care. He wanted them fresh and sharp for whatever future actions needed to be taken.

The forest was as still and quiet as a few minutes ago and he thought about going for a toilet break. As soon as he was getting ready to get up, there was a slight sound, as if a vehicle was approaching. He waited and the sound was definitely getting louder, until the first camera picked up David’s car.

David parked the car on the side of the narrow road, got out and walked to the same spot they saw him in previously.

I think it’s the same spot.

For a while, the camera appeared to freeze because David was standing completely still. Dawson was checking the connection on his computer until he saw movement from the side of his left eye. A bird had just landed on a branch not too far away from David, while David was still completely motionless.

Strange man.

Dawson observed this “phenomenon” for a few minutes and because something just didn’t feel right, he was about to call his team and they would drive there. But then, all of a sudden David moved and went to his car to get his gear, then started chopping wood.

As Dawson was switching cameras to focus on David, he didn’t even notice the sight of Ana, seen arriving and leaving on another camera.