Going From Bad To Worse

Charlie gave himself a solid slap on his unbruised cheek. It hurt and the man started laughing even harder at Charlie's expense.

'If I'm not dreaming then I hit my head a lot harder than I thought last night.'

Charlie blinked rapidly. The man was still there. Charlie rubbed his eyes vigorously. The man was still there. He turned away and turned back. The man was still there and still laughing...

"Stop laughing!! What are you?! Am I imagining strange farmers!?" Charlie finally couldn't take it anymore and interrupted the cacophonous laughter.

"Wheeze, Huff... Phew I really needed a good chuckle. Let me tell you!" The man then peered down his noise at Charlie with a disdainful expression. He took a step forward and before Charlie could react, thrust a finger out to poke his forehead. Charlie flinched but instead of a poke felt only a mildy cold tingling sensation where the finger connected.

"What gall!" The man exclaimed. "As if you could possibly imagine the GREAT ME! Remember this, I may be YOU! But you are most certainly not ME!"

"Huh...?" Charlie did not know what to make of any of this insanity and he kept getting a cold poke in the forehead as the man finished each sentence.

Charlie tried to swat the finger away but his arm passed right through the hand like it wasn't a there at all. He only felt an icy numbness like sticking a hand in a frozen pond.

"Ahhhhh!" Charlie recoiled in shock and fell on his butt into the dirt. He quickly scrambled back even further and began crawling away as fast as he could. "A ghost! No, no, this is a dream, or a head injury, or I've finally been driven mad. Right, I'm crazy! That must be it!"

"I admit I have also been rude and neglected to introduced myself." Charlie looked up from the ground and saw that the spectre man had appeared in front of him.

The man began to to bow in an extremely exaggerated manner. He kept bending at the waist until his head touched the toes of his eerily pristine working boots. In the same back breaking position he lifted his head at an impossible angle to look over at Charlie. His face was now streaked with tears and he was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Forgive me, Charlie!" The man could barely speak through his tears.

"I forgive you..." Charlie replied in a voice that was barely a whisper, terrified.

"Oh, good!" The strange being's face immediately lit up and the tears stopped flowing. He stood back up and then took a seat next to Charlie who wasn't moving a muscle.

The man towered over Charlie even while seated. He got comfortable with his legs crossed and began speaking. "Let's start over. I'm sure this will come as quite a shock but the reason I know your name is because I have the same name! That's right! Your name is Charlie and my name is Charlie! What are the odds? I think I look a bit more like a Charlie though, no offense. Stronger jawline and all that but don't you be discouraged! You're still a growing lad. You just need to drink more milk! Any cows on this farm? I remember.."

Charlie was only half listening to the man ramble on. 'I need to get of here now, or wake up, or get Doc Maarten to look at my head, something! But what if they think I'm a lost cause? What if they think I've lost my mind and decide to banish me from the village for good. I want to leave but not like this!'

Charlie was now sweating bullets and it had nothing to do with the midday heat. 'Wait!' Charlie thought as his eyes lit up. 'Rebecca! Has she seen anything? I can at least find out if I'm imagining things and I'm sure she'd keep me loosing it to herself.'

"REBECCA!" Charlie shouted and looked toward the forest.

"She was convinced that different colored cows could produce different tasting milk. It became her obsession... Hey! Are you even listening?" The man looked peeved as Charlie stood up and began shouting for Rebecca.

Charlie hadn't gotten a response and as he looked around Rebecca was nowhere in sight. He could see some other silhouettes out in the fields but she couldn't have gotten that far in such a short time.

"Rebecca!?" Charlie cupped his hands to make a tunnel and shouted once again. Waited a moment. No response.

"Is this actually a dream? She couldn't have just vanished." Charlie muttered.

The much bigger man also named Charlie bent down to speak into Charlie's ear. "I couldn't help but overhear you asking for a Rebecca. If you mean the young lady who was working there a moment ago she walked into the forest."

"Oh. How would you know?" Charlie asked feeling feeling skeptical.

"I have a habit of appreciating other's hard work and she was laboring in the fields quite diligently. Also, I pay attention to my surroundings. You should try it some time." The big Charlie answered with a condescending smirk that Charlie wanted to smack right off his stupid handsome face.

Big C raised his hand to interrupt Charlie's next question, "I know what you want to ask. Did she go into the woods to take a leak? I'm confident that's not the case."

Charlie flushed bright red in anger and embarrassment. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS GOING TO ASK!" Charlie had never been more exasperated in his life. He took a few deep breaths and felt slightly calmer.

Charlie looked towards the woods. The forest near the village outskirts was young and fairly safe due to the villagers efforts, knowledge passed down from generation to generation, and regular patrols. As long as you weren't an idiot no villager of a certain age would be in any danger and Rebecca was no idiot.

Charlie reluctantly turned back towards his companion and let out a sigh, "I don't think I'll like the answer but why isn't Rebecca going to the bathroom?"

Big C noded sagely and stroked a nonexistent beard, "You asked the right person dear Charlie. By the way, I'll allow you to call me big bro since we share the same name, less confusing that way, but I digress. Rebecca followed another person into the woods. An adult person with a masculine voice. Unless she had some kind of pooping buddy waiting Rebecca could not be going to relieve herself. I rest my case!"

Big C pointed his finger into the air with a flourish as he finished speaking.

Charlie had his head in his hands. "You're disgusting and I will not call you bro," he said while his mind was racing. 'If Rebecca went with someone it must be a person she knew and that's none of my business. My priority right now is to go back the village center, see Doc Maarten, and put a stop to this crazy vision. I'm about done with the morning's work anyway even if that's the least of my concerns.'

Without another word Charlie turned and began walk to town at a brisk pace.

Big C had much longer legs and matched Charlie's pace with little effort. "Not even a thank you for the information, huh?" He asked.

"I'm ignoring you." Charlie replied without turning his head and continued walking.

Big C stopped walking and put his hand over his heart. "Ignoring? I'm crushed, how could you?"

Charlie didn't stop walking.

"Well fine, but will you also ignore Rebecca? She's in some real danger."

Hearing this Charlie did pause and looked back at Big C. "Danger? The woods are safe as can be and she must know the person she left with. How could she be in any danger?"

Just then a chilly breeze swept over the empty field like winter's last gasp. It swept past Charlie and and then Big C. His hair stayed completely still and his clothes did not move in the breeze. Charlie's words still hung in the air.

Big C didn't reply, didn't smile, didn't laugh. His face was deadpan and emotionless, he only stared into Charlie's eyes. The man still looked like a ridiculous enigma but Charlie started to feel... fear.

"Well? Say something," Charlie demanded. "You wouldn't shut up before."

Big C still did not respond but he looked into Charlie's eyes and Charlie looked back. He found he couldn't look away. Blue eyes like ice. Charlie was trapped under the ice. He couldn't breathe, he needed to breathe, but there was only ice above and cold dark water below. He took an involuntary breath and freezing seawater filled his mouth and then his lungs. He hit the ice above in desperation but it would not budge. No way out. HE NEEDED TO BREATH NOW.

Snap! Big C blinked. Charlie took a deep gasping breath. He coughed but there was only spit, no saltwater. A familiar field was there before him. He looked up and Big C was still standing in the same place. The man smiled but to Charlie it felt malevolent, like the calm before the storm.

Big C opened his mouth and said, "The world is a dangerous place."

Charlie felt cold all over. He somehow knew, in his heart of hearts, that what the man said was true. Truer words had never been spoken.