by Vaughn Ashby
Ada was happy to be greeted by the silence of the store. Once they were inside, the two of them parted company, though she could see the number above his head bobbing towards the back of the store above the shelves.
From there, Ada did what she did every day. She took palates of food from the deliveries from the back and placed them on the shelves. As she did, she thought about Neil, The Virus, the people in the lineup, all of it. The thought of the spider she’d stepped on faded into the back of her mind. Her normal world was being turned upside-down, and while the spider would normally continue to dominate her thoughts today, it didn’t. Today everything was changing.
As she placed the last box of cereal on the shelf, Neil stopped by on his way to the front to open the doors. He said nothing and tossed her a face mask. The fabric felt coarse between Ada’s fingers. She looked up at Neil in confusion. He simply told her to put it on, it was store policy, not to take it off until she was done with work, and to not let anyone in the store without one. It was a strange idea, but she did also wear pants every day, so what was one more piece of clothing? Before she could ask Neil any questions he was gone. She could still see his number as it moved towards the front door, though it looked faded, and not as vibrant as before. Ada reached for the last box of cereal and noticed a number, 89, where the box used to be. She knelt down and noticed a large spider hanging from the bottom of the palate. It looked remarkably like the other. She smiled at it, and wondered if it was the same spider, knowing full well it couldn’t be. The spider dropped from the palate and scurried away. Ada watched in awe, until she heard the click of the store doors and the madness of people washing in. She heard Neil yelling, but his voice quickly became lost in the flood, the noise, of the oncoming wave of people.
A strange sense of hopelessness washed over her. She didn’t know why, but it did. She hadn’t felt that way in years, not since she’d decided to live her life the way she wanted to. Again, she heard Neil’s voice, and she remembered the last time she and Neil had been together. He’d told her that he wished their parents had never found out about them when they were younger. That they’d tainted it all and changed what the relationship between them could have blossomed into. They’d sent him away to camp for the rest of that summer. His parents had walked in on them one night during a sleepover, their last sleepover. Neil had been different when he came back, and it had felt like Ada was left alone holding the feelings they’d once shared. She was the same and he wasn’t, life moved on from there.
As Ada watched the shoppers rush around the store, she noticed numbers above their heads too. Most people had a 55 above them, others had an 89, just like the spider.
Whatever was happening with her and those numbers were spreading. She pulled a pencil and paper from her pocket. She wrote down 55 and 89, then she thought about the first spider she saw, it had a 233 above its head. Neil had a 34 above his head in the car. She stared at the numbers, what did they mean?
A large woman pushed past Ada with her shopping cart loaded to the top with toilet paper. How much pooping was that woman planning for? It all seemed surreal. Ada left her empty plate and drifted around the store. She watched people empty out the nonperishables, beans seemed to be high on everyone's list. Then there was the man and wife who cleaned out the meat section. They each pushed a cart overflowing with meat, and after they were done, there was almost no meat left. Other shoppers took notice and started hurling insults at them. The mood in the store shifted. Everything felt more tense, and the number of people who had 55s above their heads decreased while the number of 89s increased. What did that mean?
As Ada reached the front of the store, near the checkout counters, which were backed up by at least ten shoppers deep and growing, she saw Neil bagging groceries. She smiled at him through her mask. He smiled back, it was strange to only see his eyes, but she knew he was smiling. The number above his head changed from a 34 to a 13. That was new, what was a 13? Come to think about it, what were any of the numbers?
A yell near the front of the store pulled Ada’s attention from Neil and her thoughts on the new number. A man who had just entered was yelling at one of her coworkers. Her coworker had a 55 above his head, the man had an 89. Ada slowly approached both of them, as the man threw his hands in the air and animatedly talked with them. As Ada approached, she could overhear their conversation. The co-worker was asking the man to put a face mask on, he was repeating over and over that it was store policy, not his, and that this was private property, so all rules had to be followed. The man, who Ada could see was substantially larger than the co-worker, was going on and on about how he had rights, how he thought putting a mask on had something to do with socialism. Ada didn’t understand how the two were related.
As she reached the two men in the encounter, Ada noticed how scared the man looked. She could see it in his eyes. She quickly glanced around the store, everyone with an 89 above their heads looked scared. Is that what the numbers meant? Did they represent emotions? What did the other numbers stand for?
The encounter escalated to a fight, where the coworker was blocking the man, and the man was trying to shove his way past. Eventually, the man used his size to shove the co-worker out of the way, and directly into Ada, who stumbled backward and fell down onto the floor. Her head bounced off the dirty, cheap store floor. She laid there for a second, then rolled to her side as she tried to adjust to the impact. There was noise all around her, her head ached, her eyes blurred. But as they started to focus, she saw a spider directly in front of her. Similar to the others she’d seen. This time a number 21 was floating above it. The spider started towards her, then as people rushed to help her, the spider’s number changed to 89, and it frantically ran away.
As Neil and others helped her up and checked her over, she thought about the numbers. 89 was scared. The people around her now had 55s above their heads, and they had concerned looks on their faces, were they worried. Was 55 worried?
Once she and everyone were reassured that she was ok, Ada spent the rest of her workday going around and helping people. She focused on the people with 89s above their heads. She watched them change to 55s, occasionally they dropped to 34s. Though she didn’t know what that meant. And once there was a 21, like the spider she’d seen when she fell, she knew even less about what that number was.
On the way home after work, Neil couldn’t stop talking about the day. He went over and over everything. Ada only half listened. She thought about the numbers, and more so, she didn’t want to become too connected to Neil, who still had his 13 above his head. Every time she fell for him, he broke her heart. Had she ever told him that? So, interrupting him mid sentence she did. She told him how this was all hard for her. That she loved Neil, and that she always would. But she couldn’t have her heart broken anymore. She couldn’t go about the day to day life as just friends, it was all too hard. She brought up that she was certain Neil liked her before, back when she was a he. Back when his parents just caught the two boys loving each other. But now, when Ada decided to be who she felt like she should always be, Neil had drifted apart from her again and again. Neil liked her better as a guy, but that wasn’t her anymore.
Halfway across a snow covered bridge, and a long way up from the river below, Neil pulled the car over. He told her that he’d been stupid. That he’d always loved her, and he always will no matter what. He was confused and pressured by his parents. But like her, he wasn’t who he used to be. And he loved her more than anything in the world. The number above Neil’s head changed to an 8. That was new, she’d never seen that number before. But it didn’t matter. She leaned over, grabbed Neil, and kissed him on the deserted bridge that normally, at this time of day, was packed with bumper to bumper traffic. His lips felt exactly as she remembered them. Her memories took her back to that first kiss they shared as boys learning who they were, and what they wanted to be.
After what felt like hours wrapped in each other, Ada asked Neil if he wanted to have a sleepover at
her place. He accepted, and promptly put the car in gear. The night that followed was one that lived on forever for both of them. They made up for things they weren’t ready for or forbidden from doing. As Neil fell asleep cuddled next to her, Ada, formally Alan, knew that when she woke up in the morning Neil would still be there. That he wouldn’t sneak out. That they were building something, something they both desired for so long. With thoughts of the two of them building a life together in her mind, Ada fell asleep no longer lonely. She wasn’t alone in her world anymore, she had Neil with her.
As the sun rose the next morning, Ada was filled with hope. She reached across the bed and pulled herself tight to Neil, only he wasn’t there. She squinted through the early morning sun, he was gone. She’d been wrong, he’d been just like all the other men who came through her door, they weren’t able to handle her. She sighed and noticed hundreds of tiny 21s and 34s around the room, each was attached to a spider and moved with it. They lined the walls and the ceiling. Ada grabbed the bedsheets as protection and noticed there were numbers there as well. She screamed and jumped from her bed, only to stumble and slip as she touched the floor. As she gathered herself, she glanced back beside the bed to see what she’d slipped on. It was Neil, or what remained of him. His body was covered with spiders with those numbers above their heads. The longer she stared, the more tears filled her eyes. It looked like his entire abdomen had been torn outwards, likely from the spiders that now crawled over his body.
Through heavy sobs, Ada noticed a number above his head that she hadn’t seen since she’d first started seeing them, 233. Just like the spider she’d stepped on the day before.
Newspaper Headlines
“Explosion of spider population has experts concerned” - Edmonton Epoch
“New type of spider grosser and more prevalent than ever” - Brightness Falls Gateway
“New discovery links Fibonacci sequence to emotional empathy” - Calgary Science Digest
“The Virus forces quarantines and lockdowns as insect population spikes” - Barrhead Bug Guy Newsletter
“Transgender Woman ruled out as murder suspect, though death caused by spider still in question.” - Lethbridge Dark Times
Conclusion from the Narrator
That’s it, everyone is human, who knew? Even those of us masking our humanity with fear. Whether we mean to or not, using fear as a shield can hurt others. Like Ada, we need to accept who we are, and at the same time accept others for who they are.
If you love someone be with them, life is too short and full of uncertainty to wait. You never know when they are going to be eaten by spiders from the inside out and then burst like a spider volcano all over their bedroom.
EDGE OF COHERENCE DAY
INTRO FROM THE NARRATOR
So, The Virus hit, and well, the world didn’t end immediately, so much so that people started to question if we’d done too much. There were only ever going to be two views for people when it was all over, we did too much or we did too little, there is no middle ground. Back in the beginning, people kept using mental health as an excuse as to why we shouldn’t be in lockdowns, quarantines, and following the rules. And while the mental health of everyone around the world is vastly underappreciated and undervalued, the people who were using it as an excuse were the same people who’d been against spending money on it before The Virus hit, and they will be against spending money on it when this is all over.
What this virus did was amplify what we already knew, we are a lonely bunch of mother fuckers. Being alone for a lot of us is unbearable. The world had conditioned us to believe we should constantly be doing something, anything. When The Virus disturbed our social lives and we were left with nothing to do but hang out with the one person we never spent time with, ourselves, and well on occasion, things got... weird.
But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s stay at the beginning. We were all lonely. Sure, it was to varying degrees. But we all had our stupid monkey spheres sliced into almost nothing. If you were lucky you had someone to cohort with, family, a loved one, the delivery man. I didn’t. I was alone.
Those days alone are something I'll never forget. We all have our own little stories about it. We all remember the first time we didn’t wear anything below the waist for a meeting. There was a lot of loneliness in those days. Which is what this story is about.
Welcome to the Aurora Wasteland Quarantine.
Police report
Strange weeds reported growing indoors
Alberta, Property Damage, RCMP
Edmonton, Alberta – Edmonton RCMP are seeking anyone who may have had an unwanted plant or weed grow inside their residence. Police received complaints of weeds growing in unwanted locations yesterday in the AM. Upon investigation, they discovered all plants entered the houses through the plumbing. Police are concerned that the weeds could lead to property damage, and potentially weaken the strange hold dandelions have on the mayor’s front yard.
Ok, I may have added that last part. But weeds are a pain in the ass, am I right? I mean you could spend a full day on your hands and knees pulling them from your garden and they’d be back the next day and in greater numbers. I can think of many other things I’d rather spend my time on my hands and knees doing… my wife wouldn’t protest… if I had one.
The Story
I took the police report, connected it to other sources, cross referenced it with the Aurora Wasteland website, and well…ran with it. Below is the story I was able to piece together…
As Matt dropped his laptop bag next to the door, he wondered the next time he’d use it. They’d told him in the office today that, starting Monday, they’d all be working from home. Something about a virus, he’d only been paying half attention. Like most staff meetings, he was distracted by the receptionist, Jess. He’d been infatuated with her since the first time he’d laid eyes on her, and in love the first time they’d spoken. He’d hoped to have his own Jim & Pam romance with her, but that had never happened. Unlike Jim, the funny and aloof character from the TV show The Office, Matt lacked the confidence to talk to her. He’d relegated himself to stealing glances of her whenever he could. His plan for winning her over was weak, and he knew it. Like somehow, she was going to notice him noticing her, not take it as creepy, and confess her love for him. But Matt couldn’t bring himself to do much about it other than that.
He was actually looking forward to the whole ‘working from home’ thing, minus the not seeing Jess, the receptionist, who he loved. But hey, maybe he’d get over her, as unlikely as it seemed.
Monday morning was like every other day. Matt got up, checked his phone, tugged one out before leaving the bed, showered, got dressed, then had a cup of coffee while checking his phone again. At the point when he’d get in his car and commute to work while listening to a podcast about strange and weird events, he sat down at his computer and remoted into the office.
He checked his email, saw who was online, the same things he’d do when he was actually sitting in the company's physical office building. Then his phone quacked, his ring tone for everything, prompted him about a meeting, and the rest of his day continued on like normal.
It was all oddly familiar. The same but different. And what would soon become every day. Monday rolled into Tuesday and the rest of the week. Days started to blur together, without defining evening activities, all of which had been canceled or prohibited because of The Virus, Matt had nothing to do. So, like everyone else, he stayed home. He woke up, tried to figure out if it was a week or weekend day, then he’d go about doing the same thing no matter what day it was. He worked weekends for something to do. Time was beginning to pass at a snail's pace while also blinding everyone to what day it actually was.
Every night after work, Matt, with nothing else to do, watched a movie. His film selection so far had matched world events, he’d watched Contagion, 28 Days Later, and Outbreak. Then he’d watched The Stand miniseries. There were a few other virus movies thrown in there, but they
started to lose his interest fast. Now as time started to blur, he changed his selection. Yesterday had been Groundhog's day, today would be Coherence, and tomorrow would be Edge of Tomorrow. All time loop movies, because the more Matt thought about it the more every day felt like a time loop. They all felt the same, nothing changed, his work only slightly altered. If he didn’t have the calendar to remind him of the actual date change, he’d be certain he was stuck.
As the credits rolled on Coherence, Matt thought about Jess, the receptionist. It had been two weeks since the staff meeting, and he hadn’t heard anything from her. He thought about that for a second, it had only been two weeks. It had felt like months. He checked the calendar on his phone, yep 13 days. Guess his plan of never talking to her, and only randomly staring at her hadn’t worked. Good to know, he’d have to change his approach if he ever got back to normal.
Normal, what a funny concept.
It didn’t take long for Matt’s normal to drift. By the middle of the next week, Matt was doing most of his meetings without pants on. He rightly assumed everyone else was doing the same thing. One day he thought about going commando for a meeting, just free-balling below the screen cut off. But that seemed like it had infinite possibilities of leading to HR meetings, so he put the idea on pause for now.
As Matt reached the end of the third week, time started to feel strange. Not only was he feeling its looping effects, but also its elongation. Days felt like eternities. There was more than one occasion he could get mad at someone for taking too long on a task, only to find out he’d assigned it to them earlier that day. It felt like the sun had slowed its pace across the sky and brought time with it.
After 21 days, as the sun finally started to set, Matt wondered what movie he should watch. He scrolled through his options the same way he used to walk up and down the video store aisles. He’d told himself so many times that he’d watch certain movies if he only had time. Now here he was with all the time in the world, and he didn’t want to watch anything. He’d already run through it all.