SUBURBAN LEGENDZ: Summer Snoozin’

 

 

Emil woke up on the tire swing after the strangest dream. Honestly, nothing beat nodding off in the suburbs on a nice summer’s day, though the true afternoon was setting in now. His pants were unfastened. Were his shorts always…so short? Did he unconsciously unbutton while he slept, because they did feel strangely tight on his waist. Also, his skin had a thin layer of sheen over it. Had he been sweating, while he slept? It’s not like it was that hot of a day.
 
People out here loved to talk about the power of a good nap in the outdoors. Not the fanciest suburb, but they’d sit on their porches, or in their back yards lounging around and soak up the sun. Emil never put much stock into it, but he couldn’t deny how great his body was feeling in the moment. Strangely as good as the temperature was, he didn't see anyone else outside. Maybe the overcast sky had driven them inside. 
 
Thinking back on it, he’d never seen people sleeping or napping outside when it looked like a rainstorm might burst through the clouds. Smart for the most part, but some people had awnings, they could afford to just sit under. They just didn’t. How odd. There was a twinge in the air and Emil snapped his head to the left. Was the yard smaller? The scaling of even the house seemed different. 
 
The man tried to recall exactly why he felt so off. The house looked the same, the yard’s layout was the same. But the perception was all wrong. Didn’t he wake up a few minutes ago? No, maybe it was an hour ago. He was so tired at the time, but what had he been thinking? The first time he woke up, what happened. Wasn’t it the same as now?

 

The last time Emil had woken up he had been dressed in his son’s clothes. The raincoat, the shorts, the hat, even the rain boots. The clothing sizes were bigger to fit his frame, but he recognized them. It was confusing as to how he got them on, but he could hardly think. The aura of the space, how cozy he was, it all invited him to go back to sleep. There was a quiet young voice in his head urging him not to, but it couldn't compete with perfect summer vibes.
 
There were questions he had as he was lulled back to sleep. Where had his son gone off to? Why was Emil in a similar outfit? Then he was out. The anxiety in his body didn’t fade, however. He slumbered on, but there was a subdued panic. There was a presence over him peeling back layers and taking from him. He sensed it even if he couldn't move, his hat and coat dissipated away through the hour.
 
That was why Emil found himself waking up a second time. His dream had been too intense. There was no way he had a coat and hat. He looked out at his neighbors’ houses, curtains were drawn, doors were locked. So why did it feel like he was still being watched.

He stood up off the swing, still tired, body pleading for another nap. But he wanted to settle the uneasiness in his chest. The moment he was moving something in the air dispersed. A real time recoil as whatever loomed over him, lost interest or fled once he began to move. Once he was up, taking a few steps, the compulsion to sleep dropped from his body. No eyes were watching him anymore…if there ever was. He had no proof; it was just the way he felt.
 
Walking over to the clothesline, he took off his son’s shorts to hang them up. Truly unexplainable why he had them on or how they fit. They had to be an identical pair, then, right? Maybe his husband could explain it, because his head was drawing blanks. Because now he was standing in tight boxer briefs. 

A more important question: Did his husband and he even have a son?  Emil couldn’t recall a face or an age. If he tried only his strong visage popped into place. But that presented questions then too, who was the tire swing for? Why was Emil outside at all?
 
“Fuckin weird day.” He muttered to himself.
 
Regardless he could still fix the clothes his husband had placed outside. There was a shirt that was specifically bothering him. He fixed it with ease, wondering why a child sized top was among his other things. And yet as his fingers grazed, Emil couldn’t feel it was his. Despite how great his body felt, Emil was sure his neighbors were wrong about sleeping outside. 

The weird heat exhaustion, on a tepid day must have been getting to him.