His eyes slowly open, as the rustlings from somewhere within his room drag him from his slumber. As his eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, he notices the thick curtains that adorn his bedroom window move ever so slightly. His heart jumps, as does he, and he rushes to the window, screaming wildly. He grabs the curtains and pulls them open wide in one fluid movement, as his heart beats powerfully in his throat, then stops as does time itself. He stares at the emptiness beyond the window, across the empty fields that run far beyond his backyard, and into the woodlands past that. He takes a stuttered breath and laughs to himself softly.

“Get your shit together Dean, it’s all in yo….” he stops in his tracks, slowly his eyes widen, and his mouth drops open in terror as he notices the window slightly ajar. He spins around desperately searching the room for any signs of movement. Finally, after what seems like countless minutes and not the few seconds it really is, he sees him.

“W-W-What the f-f-fuck?” Dean mutters as his heart picks up it’s pace once more, almost overriding all his other senses.

“Just calm down, okay.” a voice says. “I can explain everything, if you give me a chance.”

“T-Toby? Is that you?”

Slowly Toby walks into the moonlight that shines into the room from the window, and smiles nervously, holding his arms up in defence. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but you need to hear me out.”

“HEAR YOU OUT! YOU’RE IN MY BEDROOM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN! YOU’VE GOT FIVE SECONDS BEFORE I START THROWING PUNCHES!” Dean bellows at the top of his lungs, as he tightens his hands into fists.

“Okay, okay, I completely understand how you’re feeling right now, and believe me when I say this, if I had a choice I wouldn’t be here. But this isn’t my idea.” Toby says with a nervous laugh. “Honestly when I tell you the whole story, you’re going to find it just as funny as I did when I heard it.”

They stand there in silence for a few moments as Toby smiles awkwardly, staring at each other. Finally Dean snorts like a bull, grits his teeth together and thrusts forward, grabbing Toby as he does, and slams him against the wall.

“WHAT THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU D-D-DOO…” Dean stumbles backwards, clutching at his chest as he collapses to the ground, almost frozen in his own skin. “W-W-What’s h-h-happe-e-nnning t-to m-m-meeeee?” Dean stutters through frozen lips.

Toby stands above him with a broad smile upon his face. “You’re never going to believe the awkwardness of what’s going to happen next. But trust me when I say this, in a couple of days, when all this is over, you won’t remember any of it.” Toby says as he reaches down and pulls Dean’s mouth open wider than it has ever been opened before, then ever so slowly begins to force one of his feet in. “It might hurt a hell of a lot as well, but like I said, you won’t remember any of it. I know it doesn’t help now, but it’s something, right?”

***

Follow the below link to purchase 2020 Book One to read all 20 five minute short stories.

Before you lies a piece of a puzzle far grander than you could ever know or imagine. For scrawled in blood upon the pages hidden within the above tome is stories twisted twenty in all, soaked in the embers of my insanity. Five minutes to glimpse inside the eyes of someone new, five minutes to answer, five minutes to sin, five minutes to do almost anything. A god, a demon, a harlot, a whore. A fascist, a killer, a sinner, a door. Death and division, humanity askew. A belfry of bats, a sea of black cats, so many moments out there to see, so many things you could see with me. So take a seat beside me and call it voodoo, because now you ride with me too…

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