ANDREW OLDER - SHORT-STORY

Andrew Older is a legal assistant and aspiring law student residing in Washington, DC. He has been published in Flash Fiction Magazine and holds a BA in English from Cornell University.

SHORT-STORY

Johnson dreamt of nothing. 
He woke up, brushed his teeth, ate his breakfast, and went to work. On the train he listened to music so he didn’t have to think. He got to work, worked, ate lunch, worked some more, and went home. He ate dinner, watched some tv, and went to bed. 
Johnson dreamt of shapes. 
He woke up, brushed his teeth, ate his breakfast, and went to work. He forgot his headphones and so thought about shapes on the train to work. He got to work, ate lunch, worked some more, and went home. He ate dinner, watched some tv, and went to bed. 
Johnson dreamt of shapes and colors. 
He woke up a bit late and had to skip breakfast. He left his headphones at home so he could think on the train to work. He got to work, daydreamt, ate lunch, worked, and went home. He ate dinner, went for a walk and thought about shapes and colors, and then came back home and went to bed. 
Johnson dreamt of shapes and colors that slowly started to become something he couldn’t quite discern. 
He took the day off from work. He walked around the city and tried to pick out different shapes and colors and combine them into something meaningful. He ate lunch at a diner and drew shapes in his ketchup with his fork. Eventually it grew dark, and he looked up at the night sky and tried to find the outlines of clouds in the grey and dusky sky. Soon he went home. He ate dinner, lay in his bed awake for a few hours, and went to bed 
Johnson dreamt of an open field. In the middle of the field was a woman in a silken robe - her face was featureless, a slab of smooth skin. Johnson tried to walk over toward her but found he could not move. He woke up screaming. 
He woke up, brushed his teeth, ate his breakfast, and went to work. On the train he listened to music so he didn’t have to think. He got to work, worked, ate lunch, worked some more, and went home. He ate dinner, watched some tv, and went to bed. 
Johnson dreamt of nothing. 

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