Alpha

    With eyes closed, Frank listened to the whispers of the wind rustling the leaves outside his window. Such a peaceful noise, yet in the stillness he could sense the cold of winter, a lonely chill glaring at him, envious of the warmth of his bed. If only the noise would stop, he thought to himself, maybe I could catch some sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed, trying to shut out, or forget, the noises outside. In doing so, he made an ever so tiny opening in his bedsheets, allowing a draft of cold air to invade his warm space. Frank shivered, but the chill made the rest of him feel warm. Too warm, in fact, and he decided to lose his blankets altogether. Now he felt very much awake, and decided to get a glass of milk from the fridge to help him sleep. The hardwood floor felt cold underneath his feet, even with his socks on, so he cancelled the trip to the fridge, and got back in his nice, yet now colder bed.
    "Oh well," he thought, "I guess i'll just lay and wait." Frank listened to the leaves once more, imagining the cool drops of water trickling down through them, dripping from one leaf to another until finally they reached the ground. His yard was probably just one big lake right now, and the thought of that amused him. Such stillness, beautiful, yet lonely. He could imagine all those houses beyond his, still and lifeless, stretching out until they reached the fields, eventually yielding to the forest. Frank imagined himself walking through the forest, admiring the beauty of the sunlight trickling through the foliage, reflecting off the drops of rain still clinging to the leaves. "This place is so beatiful and peaceful, I never want to leave" Frank said aloud.
    The feeling of lonliness had departed from him, as the sunlight had scared away the cold. Suddenly, the shrill sound of laughter pierced his introversive piercings. He looked around, trying to find the source of the sound which had disturbed his thoughts, but he saw no one. Again, the laughter rang out amidst the trees, this time from a different direction. Frank was starting to be a little disturbed by this laughing, as it now seemed to be laughing at him.
    "Hi there!"
    The voice came from behind him. Frank spun quickly around to see a girl standing behind him.
    "You frightened me. I thought i was all alone out here!" he briskly responded, not amused.
    "I'm sorry! I just spotted you out here all alone and figured you could use some company."
    The girl seemed apologetic, yet somewhat dissapointed at his antisocial implications.
    "So how are you doing?" she said, insistent on continuing the conversation.
    "I'm doing alright, I guess." he said, trying to be polite, "How about yourself?". Secretly, he thought to himself, "I was doing just fine until you got here!"
    "Oh I'm always great!" she bubbled, twisting the tips of her long, earth-brown hair between her fingers. She stood there, looking at him with a puzzled look on her face. He began to grow irritated with her persistent nature.
    "So why are you out here all by yourself?" she asked, after an awkward pause.
    "I was about to ask you the same question! Don't you have people you should be with right now?" he responded, letting his irritation show just a little.
    "I asked you first!" she insisted, undaunted by his increasingly hostile attitude.
    "I was out here enjoying the peace and quiet of nature without anyone else around to disturb me. Now, i would like to know why you insist on intruding into my solitude." He wasnt even masking his contempt anymore, frustrated that she didnt seem to be getting the hint.
    "You realize, you didnt answer my question, you just restated it with more words. But, since you insist on knowing, I came here to see you."
    Frank was speechless. He had no idea how to respond to this sort of information. His rage dissipated, and he began to become curious.
    "I don't know you!" he said, " I dont even know your name! How could you be here to see me?"
    "He's right, you're a mess all over. Anyways, my name is Alpha, and I know you very well." The girl spoke with confidence, and Frank was confounded by her.
    "I'm sorry to be rude, but what the hell kind of name is Alpha? And how do you know me? I dont understand!" Frank exclaimed, more excited and disturbed than angry.
    "It was given to me by my master, Omega. It is he that sent me here, today, to help you. But you will understand all in time. For now, however, i must depart." And with that, the girl turned and walked away.
    "Wait! I still don't get it! Who is this Omega and what does he want with me?" he shouted after her, but his words fell on nothing but empty air. He ran in the direction she had gone, but the forest blurred into black, and he awoke to the sound his cat, Jasmine scratching at his door.

    Frank got up and let the cat in. He was still pondering on what the words of the girl had meant, and who this Omega was. However, he had more pressing things at hand, such as going to work. He glanced at his clock, where much to his alarm he discovered that it was already ten thirty, and closer to lunch time than morning. Scrambling to get his clothes on and his face shaved, Frank called his work to tell them he was late. Why they couldnt realize that he was late on their own, Frank never understood. It was just one of those things you had to do, as a matter of courtesy. When nobody answered the phone, Frank was highly irritated. Seriously, if you have to call in to tell them that you overslept, at least they could have the courtesy to pick up the phone! But no. Frank left a voice message, half apologizing half thinly masked insults. As soon as he hung up the phone, Frank realized that it was indeed, a Saturday. No work today! Frank knocked his head on his kitchen counter. How could he have been so careless? What was his boss going to think when he got a flaming message of apology for being late on a saturday? Frank's kitty meowed angrily at him, as if she understood what was going on in his head and agreed that he was a total moron.
    "What, you think its funny? What makes a little hairball like you think you can judge me like that?" Frank said aloud to Jasmine. The kitty meowed back, unsatisfied. Maybe there is something wrong with me, Frank thought to himself, I'm getting offended by the actions of my cat!
   "I'm sorry kitty," he said in a sweet tone to his cat, "now what is your problem?" He rubbed her little face against his, affectionately.
    The kitty walked into the kitchen and stood by her bowl, meowing again, but quieter because she knew she had his attention.
    "Oh... Your bowl is empty. That explains it!" he said, still out loud, but this time to himself, as if he'd solved some great mystery. He opened the cabinent and fumbled around inside, looking for a can of cat food. But there was none to be found, not a can in the house. It would not do for him to have a hungry cat complaining all weekend, so he got in his car and drove to the Wal-Mart. He grumbled a grudging "hello" back at the old lady greeting people at the door, noticing that she really wasnt that happy to see customer one-million-and-ninth, or whatever. Theres only so many permutations of "hello" and "have a nice day" that you can spew out before you start feeling like a broken record. He headed for the aisle with the cat food, stopping to pick up a loaf of bread on his way, so he wouldnt have to make another trip later that week. Being a saturday, only a few lanes were open. He wanted to get home as soon as possible, so he headed for lane number 1, the ten-items-or-less lane. The clerk began ringing up his groceries, and Frank mindlessly got out his money and handed it to the clerk.
    "Keep the change!", he barked, almost as if it were an order.
    "Sir, are you all right?" the clerk asked.
    "I'm fine," Frank muttered, without looking up.
    "Sir, you just handed me a fifty dollar bill and told me to keep the change!"
    At that, Frank jerked his head up and looked at the clerk.
    "My bad, I should have checked." He exchanged a ten dollar bill for his fifty dollar bill.
    After depositing the fifty dollar bill back in his wallet, Frank headed for the exit. Walking absent-mindedly through the parking lot, Frank ran into a woman, knocking her groceries all over the ground.
    "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" the woman said apologetically.
    "No, I'm sorry, it was my fault." Frank said half-sincerely while picking groceries off the ground. He then stood up to hand them back to her. She seemed sort of familiar, although he couldnt place where.
    "Do i know you?" he asked her, thinking of the dream he had had the night before.
    "I'm quite sure i've never met you before." She said, before adding "My name is Amy!"
    "Frank." He said, not surprised that she had a perfectly normal name. He didnt want to seem too strange, but he still wondered about this "omega".
    "Do you know someone named Omega?" he inquired, still hoping.
    "Hun, Omega is a letter in the Greek alphabet, its not a name! Who would name their kid after a letter?", she responded, quite amused at his inquiry.
    "Never mind", he said, and he walked away.