Survival of the Mind

Jorge routinely gets lost in his own head. Usually it's induced by a fly.

He watched intently as the fly bounded from candy bar to candy bar. Nothing seemed to unnerve the fly as it continued on its fearless path across the field of candy. Each bar representing an obstacle the fly had to overcome, and up to this point, nothing deterred it. Sitting at his post near the front of the gas station, Jorge vehemently kept his eyes on the fly, hoping for it to come his way so he could swat away its existence. 
Jorge was easily distracted by miniscule things that went on during his job, and surprisingly these things were able to keep his attention for hours on end. Being a gas station manager doesn’t require that much effort; this was something he came to appreciate when he first started working, but as days turned in to weeks and weeks into years, Jorge grew to despise his occupation. His name tag said Jorge, but he felt as if his identity was stripped of him the day he decided to work at a gas station. He was no longer the once happy go lucky person that lit up every room he walked into. Optimism turned in to pessimism, smiles were now rare, and his ambition to find better, ceased to exist. 

He continued to watch the fly with disdain. An outsider peering at Jorge wouldn’t suspect any feelings of anger or rage, they would just notice the impression of near death caused by incessant boredom. Little battles like these were all too common for him, but deep down he appreciated them because they acted as welcome distractions. Jorge’s days would usually drag on without the end in sight, but ever so often his gaze would catch sight of a fly and take his mind into a tailspin of nothingness. This fly that now possessed his attention was a pesky little opponent for the seasoned gazer. He wanted it dead, like all the pests in his life, but he did nothing to accomplish this feat. All Jorge’s eyes did was stare without a purpose or reason. This would continue until of course a customer would walk in and Jorge would actually remember he had a job. This customer though seemed as if he had popped right in front of him, as if he had been summoned out of thin air.

“Hello there,” Jorge said, “you find everything to your liking?”.

“Uh huh, sure did, I couldn’t help but notice you were locked in on something. You looked as if you saw a ghost. What were you staring at for so long?”

“Oh there’s an annoying little fly over there that just won’t stop buzzing around this place.” The right hand of Jorge pointed in the general direction of the fly. “I swear to you I’m about to go crazy in the head.” 

“I don’t mean to be rude sir, but I don’t see nothing over there.” 

“What do you mean? It might be small, but its definitely noticeable.” His hand then pointed again with emphasis towards the line of candy bars.

“I mean it sir, there’s not a single thing I can see or hear over there.” His face looked at Jorge with complete confusion and wonderment at his claim of a fly. Jorge noticed the customer became uncomfortable by what he was telling him. 

“Well I guess I’m actually going crazy then”. Jorge laughed nervously and handed the man his soda, then sent him on his way. 

This really troubled Jorge. Had the long hours actually gotten to him and induced a made up image of a fly? He suddenly remembered a TV program he had seen where they were explaining the curious human brain and its survival techniques. He remembered that the mind had the ability to concoct hallucinations when it goes through periods of stagnation. This spooked Jorge because of the accuracy and relevance to his situation now. Bewildered by this realization, he sprung from his all to familiar seat and dashed to the restroom. 

He immediately turned on the sink and splashed cold water onto his restless face. This was a desperate attempt to try and wake up his mind and destroy any made up images. His face felt cool and relaxed once he was finished. He noticed a calmness settle over him that he hadn’t felt since before that strange customer. Remembering the customer sent chills through Jorge’s body. It wasn’t necessarily the customer that irked him, it was the sudden realization that he had because of the customer. 

A sound suddenly came from outside the restroom. At first it sounded distant and comparable to that of a car, so Jorge brushed it off as being unimportant, but it then turned into something far too real. It felt as if it was approaching the restroom door; getting louder by the second. Jorge felt his hands tug at his hair and ears to try and make it go away, but it only seemed to get more prevalent. He made sure the bathroom door was locked, then huddled into a corner of the restroom. The door didn’t move, but under the door was a mysterious shadow that grew darker. It wasn’t a shadow of a human, interestingly it looked as if the shadow was moving and forming all sorts of shapes. Jorge’s arms were folded over his body and legs. He felt as if he was protecting himself, but knew if what he suspected were to come true, nothing would protect him. 

His mind had taken a dark turn down a path he didn’t know how to veer from. The shadow grew darker and more menacing. Creepily, as if he had known what was coming, a mob of flies suddenly rushed through the opening at the bottom of the door. They came together like a school of fish and raced towards the huddled body of Jorge. Attacking him and incessantly buzzing around the bathroom. He felt as if he was being bombarded by torpedoes, but surprisingly they didn’t hurt. His body wasn’t feeling any sensations, which was relieving, but definitely solidified the fact that this was all in Jorge’s mind. The customer had been right, there was no fly leaping from candy bar to candy bar. Jorge was trapped. Not physically, but mentally

Author's Note

Nothing specific, just overall thoughts and impressions