The Jar

Darkness.

Consume the lifeless moments of shadows,

the flickering seconds of memories.

I stand on the edge of darkness.

I am the night, black, dark, cold, silent.

I see that what I see is me.

Me, me, me, me...

What is it? Does it hurt to move?

It's okay, I'm just trying to get you to my car.

- M-Muh... bottle. - What?

In the car.

Must have it.

You mean this?

You want me to take this?

Come on, let's get you to my car.

I think I'd better take you to the nearest hospital.

No.

You might be more seriously hurt than you think.

- I can't... - You need to be examined.

I can't go, please.

Why, are you in some kind of trouble?

Don't take me to a hospital. I...

All right.

All right.

Well, what about a doctor?

Do you have a doctor?

No doctors!

Well, now look, I can't just drop you off

in the middle of the road somewhere.

What's the problem?

What are you afraid of?

No person.

If you're wanted by the police or something,

I can't help you.

I am not wanted.

Well, I'll take you home then.

Where do you live?

No, I can't go home.

What if I take you to my apartment?

Get you cleaned up,

and then you are going to see a doctor.

Yes, that's good, to your apartment.

But just to clean you up.

I'll get something to clean you up.

I don't know your story, my friend,

but you sure got yourself in a mess.

It's lucky it's me you hit,

I could have been another angry driver looking for blood.

You know you'd be a lot better off

with a doctor than with me.

What the hell?

God damn it, where did you go?

Oh my God.

I must be losing my mind.

My imagination's getting carried away.

I'm panicking for no reason.

And looking at your repulsive face is no help.

I don't know what the hell you are

or what you're doing to me.

I'm not going to let it go on.

Do you know where you're going?

Hi.

Hello.

I couldn't resist.

I've always wanted one and there it was

just waiting for me, on sale no less.

I guess me and this rocker were just meant to be together.

It's very nice.

Thank you.

Are you just coming home from work?

No, no...!

I had some errands to run.

I'm off work this week.

Oh really? So am I.

Sort of a mini vacation.

The paper usually doesn't give me

too much time for myself.

Well...

Oh, here let me get that for you.

This is where I get off too.

Okay, thank you.

I don't think I've seen you around here before.

Oh, I live just down the hall there.

I guess I'm not around here very much.

Just set it over there, please.

You sure have good timing.

Can I make you some coffee?

Or would you like a beer or...?

Coffee would be nice.

Great.

I'd just like to do something to return a favor.

Oh, by the way, I'm Crystal.

Paul.

Please, make yourself at home.

You know, I haven't met too many people in the building.

I'm fairly new here.

Besides, I'm almost always at work.

The people I have met seem...

Reclusive, hard to talk to.

It's a beautiful place though, don't you think?

Oh yes, I've lived here quite a while.

Um, how do you like it?

I like it just fine.

No, I mean your coffee.

Oh, black.

Okay.

You don't have much to say, do you?

I was... thinking.

Oh. Well, that's all right.

Don't let me interrupt.

If you don't mind me saying,

you don't look very happy either.

Is something bothering you or...

Are you always this perceptive?

No, you're just very obvious.

Things haven't been going real well for me lately.

Too much work.

Besides, I was in a car accident.

Oh.

Recently.

Well, I'm sorry to hear it. Were you hurt?

No, no, I think it messed up my head more than anything else.

- Well, what about the other car? - Hm?

Was there another car involved?

Oh, oh yeah, he was injured some,

but not too seriously.

Oh, well, that's good to hear.

Was there a lot of damage?

I don't know.

I've got to be going.

Thanks for the coffee.

Well, thanks for the company and the help.

Hey, would you like to have a drink together one of these nights?

Yeah, sure.

Good.

We'll get together.

Um... Thanks again.

Just to take back to their nests.

With their scissor-like jaws,

they easily cut the leaves to manageable size.

But some skill is needed for the next stage,

and the leaf is hoisted in position for the journey ahead.

For some, the problem may be too much help.

For others, just a sudden puff of wind.

But they're the exceptions.

For most ants, it's only the first step

to the long trek back to the nest,

which may be 100 yards or more away.

They follow a chemical trail laid down by the workers

that first scouted this tree, so they seldom go astray.

God damn it!

It's got to stop.

It's got to stop doing this!

Sorry?

Um... It was open.

I thought I'd see how you're feeling today.

Well, why don't you try knocking next time?

Wait a minute.

I'm sorry, I'm really sorry.

Please, come in.

What's wrong, Paul?

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to yell at you.

You were yelling before you even saw me.

Who were you yelling at?

You probably think I'm nuts.

I don't think anything.

Except I'd like to help you if I can.

Why?

Does it matter?

Well, there's nothing to help.

It's just dreams.

Bad dreams.

You were having a dream a few minutes ago?

Yeah, I fell asleep.

It's terrible.

I have terrible dreams.

I guess it takes a while for me to get over them

when I wake up.

Do you always have bad dreams?

Do you always ask so many questions?

Only when I'm concerned about someone.

I'm sorry.

I'm real touchy right now.

Oh.

I'd better go.

Thank you for dropping by.

It does mean something.

Please, don't be angry with me.

I'm not angry with you.

If you need anything, don't hesitate.

Noooooo!

Damn you!

Damn you!

I'm not gonna let you keep haunting me.

I'm not gonna let you tear me apart!

Get out!

Paul, are you okay?

You look like you've been worked over by Hell's Angels.

I've been...