Tom's Reality

Tom woke with a shock the next day. He took in a deep breath and looked around his living room. He then stood and meaninglessly went into his bathroom. His entire face was a mess. His black shaggy hair, was matted with grease, and his chin was covered in stubble. He stripped down, and stepped into a cool current of water in the shower. He washed out his hair, then stepped out. He shaved off his stubble, and put on a fresh suit for work. He went into his kitchen, yawning, and started up the coffee maker. He noticed a dent in the toaster, and thought it was odd. What was even odder to Tom, was that there was a toy phone inside of a slot.

Tom examined the yellow, foam phone slowly, rolling it about his fingers. However curious he thought it was to find this phone in this spot, he dismissed it and set it on the counter. He slid some bread into the toaster, and loafed about for a bit. Soon after, however, Tom was walking through the wonderful city of Chicago, to the bus stop, finishing off his toast, and cheerfully sipping from his thermos of coffee. He rode the bus to the front of a large office building.

As Tom entered, he heard a familiar and chirpy voice, "Good morning Tom! Here a little late today?" It was Betty, the secretary.

"Morning Betty, only late by a few minutes!" Replied Tom, while pushing open the large glass double doors. As he went through the doorway, he entered a maze of cubicles. He warily peered around corners, and slowly made his way to his cubicle. He sat down, turned on his computer, and began to work.

Tom sat for a good, long time, hardly finishing any work. Instead of working harder, he decided to go to lunch. He stood, and walked with his bag to the cafe next door. He ordered his typical food, cold pressed coffee with grilled cheese, and ate in the same typical manner, alone, in the same typical time. He went back to work and did the ordinary thing, hardly working at all. In fact, everything about Tom's day was completely ordinary, until his phone rang. Tom thought about how odd it is that on this, one of the most ordinary days of his life, which was his day, something non-ordinary happened. Nobody ever called at unexpected times, it is, in fact, an extraordinary event. He cocked his head to the left, and hesitantly reached for the phone.

"Hello?" Tom, after saying it, thought that such a momentous occasion called for a better greeting then that.

"Hello Tommy!" Said a cheery man, "This is your doctor, Philips! We got in some new drugs here and well, stop by my office A-S-A-P!" Doctor Philips then hung up.

Tom set down his phone and looked at it cautiously, as though it might explode. "New drugs?" thought Tom to himself, "For my illness, no drugs have been made yet." Tom left his office building, and walked a few blocks to his doctor's private office.

Tom entered the building to see Doctor Philips bent over, rummaging through a cardboard box. The room itself was small, with brown shag carpets, and orange wallpaper. It looked like the 70's ate a rainbow, then threw up on the room. "Umm... Doctor?"

Doctor Philips jumped up and span around, he was a rather plump fellow, with a bushy beard, that matched his light brown hair, "Goodness sakes Tommy! You spooked me half to death! Ironic eh? In a hospital, spooked to death! ha!"

"This isn't a hospital," Tom muttered, all the while thinking "Does this many never stop being cheerful?"

"Well! Either way, I've got drugs, you've got illness!" Doctor Philips held up a bottle of pills. "They aren't exactly approved yet, but hey Tommy! We're friends right? ha! Test away Tommy!"

"Stop calling me Tommy." Tom demanded, snatching the pills. He read the label, and swallowed two pills. "Thanks Doc, I'll call you."

"Farewell Tommy my boy!" Bellowed out Doctor Philips as Tom left his office.

Tom got on the bus and went home. He sat down on his couch and eyed the bottle of pills. "Something doesn't feel quite... right" He started sounding drowsy saying this. Suddenly, he fell over, and passed out.