Finding Waldo
A nightmare
Warning: This story may disturb.
“I’m telling you, there’s something wrong with this book. I’ve looked at every copy and this page is always the same. I’ve stared at it for literally all day — all day — and I can’t find him. I’ve sent pictures of it to everyone I know and asked them to look. They can’t find him for me either!”
The rail-thin Barns & Noble cashier leans back from my intensity and nervously messes with the tangle of bracelets on her wrist. “Uh, sir, uh… So, do you want to check if there’s more online or…?”
I clench my jaw and inhale harshly through my nose. After a few beats, I turn to her pale face. “I don’t know…how to say this exactly… You’re going to think this is insane. And it really is. But the other —”
I check behind me to see if I’m keeping a line, but it looks so dead here that I may very well be the only customer. No excuse to leave.
Facing her again, “Last night I had the most vivid dream I’ve ever had. I basically never dream. I’ve had like three dreams my whole life. This…it seriously didn’t even feel like a dream. I know this is so weird, but I have to tell you about it so you get why I care so much about this.” I rub the sweat off my cheek with my shoulder.
She raises an eyebrow at my desperation. Apparently relieved I’m more crazy than angry, she pulls up the tall stool behind her and leans back, shoving her hands into the pockets of her dark gray skinny jeans. “Okay,” she prods.
“I dreamed I was in here. But, like I said, it really didn’t feel like a dream. Like I kind of think maybe I really was here? Um… I was just walking around kind of aimlessly and all the sudden I’m frozen. I can only move my head to look around, but everything and everyone else is stuck. The other people don’t even seem able to move their heads like me. I’m like freaking out. Like in the dream I think maybe I’m having a panic attack or something. But then I suddenly notice how quiet it is. Even the music is off.”
I pause for a second as she steps up on the stool to take a full seat, then quickly return.
“I’m only like that for a few moments before I see Waldo. He’s the size he would be if he really existed, but he’s still like a 3D drawing person. He moves like a character in an old-school cartoon where all the slides are drawn by hand. He comes straight up to me and points at this book.” I smack my index finger down on the copy laying on the counter.
“I was standing next to the rack over there where this is displayed. I’ve never even noticed it before, in real life or the dream. He picks one up and holds it in front of me. He says — he talks kind of like how exactly you’d expect him to if he was in a cartoon, like he sounds just like the yellow guy from Curious George. He’s like, ‘Hey there! I’m Waldo. It’s hard to find me, but, if you look hard enough, you’ll spot me eventually!’ But then…” I start crying and my heart races.
“But then…he randomly starts becoming a real person. Now he’s like live-action Waldo. But something is seriously wrong. As he becomes a real person, he looks like he’s being tortured by something. He starts screaming and bleeding, like blood is literally streaming down from the top of his eyes even though they’re wide open. I can’t even see the white parts anymore. I’m still totally frozen and I’m trying to scream but no sound is coming out of me. He’s like writhing on the ground and screaming and trying to get the blood out of his eyes but they just keep bleeding.”
The girl stares at me.
“And all the sudden out of nowhere he stops screaming and gets up like it was all an act. He hasn’t even blinked since he became human. Like I don’t even know if he has eyelids. Now he seems fine but strange. He’s totally covered in blood and the blood is still coming out of his eyes. He slowly picks up the book and turns to this exact page. He grabs me by the throat and whispers to me in a totally different voice, ‘Find me here or I’ll be back for you.’ And then he smiles and sticks his bloody fingers in my mouth. He…shoves one hand down my throat and cups the other beneath one of his eyes so that it gathers the blood and then he pours it into my mouth while his other hand is in my throat. He then starts frantically pouring the blood into my eyes while pushing deeper down me with his other hand. I feel like gagging so much but I’m still frozen and I can’t do anything. I can’t even close my eyes. I really feel like I’m going to suffocate and die. And that was when I finally woke up. I literally came here right away and waited for hours until you opened. But I’ve stared at this page all day and I can’t find him anywhere.”
I wipe the tears and sweat from my face with my sleeve and sigh heavily. Her eyes are wide with worry. She grabs the book without saying anything, flipping to the page I showed her. After only a few seconds, she gasps.
“What?!” I yell.
“Is this…a joke?”
“What?! What is it?! What do you see?!” I’m screaming at her.
She lays the book on the counter and points.
I lean over and look at the spot and see what is unmistakably, what is beyond any shadow of a doubt, me.