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among the faces to find anything familiar, someone...human...like myself. That's when I noticed every one of them had dark eyes. In fact, they lacked any color that I could see, they were just black on white. Were they like that before?

I was terrified. No one moved, not one. I forced myself to look away and stare forward toward the railway. There was that small consolation at least. I was at the front of the platform closest to the tracks. What do I do? I was surrounded, penned in by strangers only strange to me. I felt all those dark eyes digging into the back of my head, perhaps they were waiting on me to make the next move, trying to decide if the ruse was up or to just let me go.

All it once, the answer came. I heard the train coming down the track. I managed to break from my self-imposed paralysis long enough to lift my shaking wrist to stare at my watch. It's amazing what creatures of habit we are, even under the worst circumstances.

9:15.

What the- How could that be?

From all around me I heard the sounds of relieved humanity:

...It's about damn time...

...Finally! Just isn't worth taking the subway. Janet's always telling me...

...Yes, dear, I'll be home by six o'clock...

I looked all around me and was relieved by a wave of bitter, disgruntled humanity! Not a single one of them was aware of my existence...I was home!

As the train came to a screeching halt at the platform, doors opened and I stepped inside as the passenger exchange commenced. I grabbed the nearest seat and collapsed into it, my legs giving way as I began to breath a sigh of relief.

I don't know what happened, or where the missing minutes went. To be honest...I didn't care. Just going to write this one off as fatigue or bad take-out from last night...didn't matter. I've never had a waking nightmare before and hopefully I never will again.

As the last of the passengers took their seats, I was blessed by a wonderful distraction: That sexy brunette with the rims and the sweet double features sat right next to me! What a wonderful way to get my morning back on track.

When she sat down, the brunette removed her rims and began rubbing sleep from her eyes.

I introduced myself with some lame line about the weather as my voice carried much louder than expected in the silence of the subway car.

I didn't notice the passengers starting to leave there seats and approach me as the brunette turned to look at me with those black on white eyes.

"Now...where were we human?" Was all she said.

The train departed the platform at 9:15 and never made another stop.

Learn more about this author, Scott Scherr.
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