Dan woke up suddenly and checked his alarm clock. He never liked that little thing, because he never quite figured out how to make it work.
Jus1t as he suspected, the little display was showing 8:06 which meant that he had 24 minutes to get to work and eventually present the program to his irritating boss and the critics. He had been working for weeks on this presentation, sacrificing a lot of time and nerves, and now there he was in this helpless situation!He got up at light speed and bolted through the door, however he returned after a couple of seconds, grabbed the evil clock and smashed it in the corner of his bedroom. Now a bit more relaxed he started running around his apartment getting dressed and at the same time fixing his documents in the briefcase. He knew that he shouldnt have been staying late yesterday night, watching that late-night movie on cable, but now thinking about it was useless and time consuming.
In five minutes he was ready and after drinking orange juice like a thirsty camel from the refrigerator, he throw a tic-tac in his mouth, grabbed the briefcase, closed the door and started jogging toward his car. At that moment he heard a voice behind him “that’s cool man” but he didn’t turn around. He knew that his hippie neighbor would make him loose precious time by telling him stupid Star Treck episodes or showing him some of his new so called revolutionary inventions. After getting inside the car and turning the keys, three or four times the semi-old Dodge came to life and started opening its way through the dense morning traffic. He was driving relatively fast and in twenty minutes he was in front of the eight store high building where he would be tested and if they liked his ideas, promoted.
After parking in his reserved place, he got out and started replaying the program in his mind, desperately hoping that the critics would understand and laugh with a joke about money that he had incorporated in his presentation. “Is original what you are doing man. I hope that they evaluate your efforts positively” – said the receptionist in the lobby who knew Dan very well. Thanks said Dan and after showing his pass, he walked toward the elevators.
There were a lot of people looking strangely at him but he didn’t care, not today, especially because he was already ten minutes late and just wanted to focus on what he had to say, and the voice tone that he had to use. After a few moments the e elevator doors opened and there he was. In the far end of the hall there was a big mirror and on its left was the big mahogany door that right now looked like a portal to another dimension. Another parallel universe where he had to fight his way through monsters and evil wizards, and maybe save the damn princess from the black dragon that shoots fire. He tried to relax and started walking towards the door.
At that same time he looked at his watch which said, that he was fifteen minutes late, instead of ten and that it was definitely going to play a negative role in his evaluation. He pushed the negative thoughts away from his mind and after giving to himself a fast look in the big mirror, he open the door. In that exact moment his mind and body froze like it never did before, in a pitiful position of fear, astonishment, and surrender. He felt like a train at full speed had smashed his body, but what is most important to understand is that it wasnt because of the people in that room. Oh no, no, no.
It was something totally different and unexpected. Only now he really understood all those people looking strangely at him, his neighbors silly words, and his friend in the lobby that called him original. And he understood all that in a brief half a second when he looked in that mirror. Right before opening the door and in the most unexpected way, he realized that his reflection in the big mirror was wearing the same pijamas that he was sleeping last night.
