The Wondrous Unraveling of Doctor Schultz

Wednesday

"Tell me I'll always been you sweet little grilled cheese."

Doug stood on a hill with a single tree surrounded by fog. He too was confused by the voice. Not just because he couldn't identify the female speaker but because the words were weird and familiar.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"You were always so shy." A giggle echoed around him. "I didn't think you would ever ask me out."

He tried to walk around but the fog was so thick he didn't dare try to enter it.

The voice continued. "To think, in two more weeks we'll be married."

More memories of a happy past. One Doug began to recognise.

"Marcy?"

He wanted his voice to be strong but as the name of his dead wife weakly left his lips, the world around him darkened and an evil presence made him shiver.

"Where were you?!" a familiar male voice asked.

***

Doug shot up in bed, tears and sweat dripping his face as his hands wouldn't stop trembling. He quickly left the bed to run into the bathroom to splash water on his face.

When he looked at the mirror, he wasn't greeted by the usual handsome man he saw every morning. Instead, the reflection of himself was warped and rippled, like looking into a river or lake. He reached out and the mirror, expecting his hand to go through it but instead he just smashed his finger into the solid object than looked around the room hoping no one saw the blunder.

Of course, someone was there watching. Whenever something embarrassing happens, you can always expect the world to be right there in the front row with a bucket of popcorn in its hand.

"Not liking who you're seeing the mirror today?" The toaster asked.

Doug looked back at the mirror and the reflection looked normal again.

"I must have gotten some water on it when I splashed my face," he tried to convince himself.

"Are you ok?" the toaster asked. "You were thrashing a lot last night."

He looked over the mirror one last time before turning his full attention to his former kitchen appliance. "Just a weird dream."

"Well take a little time to collect yourself. We still need to check out Vulvia for clues about the shadow men."

"Yup. I'll be ready."

Doug again shook his head at the ridiculous name for the village of cat people but he was better prepared to deal with it today because coffee will be involved.

Though he wasn't typically a coffee drinker. Something told him he needed a little extra pep for the day. He quickly got changed and joined the two ladies in the kitchen.

"Practicing your kung fu so you can kick more shadow ass today?" the ducky umbrella asked.

"What do you mean?" Doug asked.

"The way you were trashing last night! Looked like you were about to murder someone in your sleep." the ducky umbrella tried to explain.

"Oh," Doug replied then forced out a dry laugh. "Yeah, I figured we needed a little extra help so I was working on some old moves I haven't needed to use in awhile."

"I can't wait to see them!" the ducky umbrella said excitedly.

Doug focused on finding the instant coffee container. He knew it had been in the cupboards long but hoped it wasn't expired.