Jim slept fitfully that night. He awoke several times from unsettling dreams, but could not recall exactly what had been happening in them. The alarm went off before he was ready to get up. That’s what I get for staying up too late.

As he went through his morning routine, he became certain that the green dot had grown. The steady green light that had started out as a single pixel was now the size and shape of an underscore.

Sarah got up with him, and together they made breakfast. Today, it was a simple batch of oatmeal to which he added chopped apples and chunky peanut butter. Sarah took hers with milk and sugar. Joseph spooned a mountain of brown sugar into his bowl before stirring it together.

They watched Joseph board the school bus, then did some chores around the house. After that, he changed into some sweats. He passed through the living room as she was warming up on her yoga mat. “Breakfast and a show, eh?”

She chuckled. “No show. Just a lot of breathing hard and sweating.”

He stopped walking and stared at her. “I suppose I could cancel with Kevin, if that’s really what you want.”

“Hah. Go work out. Maybe later.”

Jim checked the time on his scuffed digital watch. “Agreed.” He pressed a few buttons, making it beep. “Let’s just go ahead and synchronize watches on that.”

Not waiting for her response, he headed out. Jim had met Kevin at a block party almost five years back. Kevin was older, retired from the military. But, they had hit it off through their shared interest in not looking like a hundred and fifty pounds of chewed bubble gum.

They started working out together. Kevin lived alone and had a garage full of gym equipment. Jim used the jog from his house to warm up. Today, they were supposed to do legs. The garage door was open, and Kevin stood waiting inside as Jim came up the drive. In one hand, he held a white coffee mug emblazoned with the peeling insignia of his old Army unit.

He wore nothing but a faded pair of cut-off camo shorts that he’d made out of an old pair of battle dress uniform pants. The weathered skin of his chest, arms, and legs was covered by the thick bristle of gray hair.

“You’re late.” He raised a finger accusingly at Jim.

“You’re old.”

“Well, this old man is going to outclass you today in every possible way.” Kevin grinned wickedly.

They bantered back and forth as they worked out, transitioning seamlessly between friendly insults and encouragement. In between sets, Jim found himself blinking through the sweat and trying to look at the green light.

They finished the final round of exercises. And, as usual, Kevin’s numbers were better than Jim’s. “Told ya,” he said, as sweat dripped from his forehead beneath the widow’s peak of his crew cut hair.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jim said, breathing hard.

“Coffee?” Kevin asked.

Jim agreed, and Kevin tossed him a towel. They dried off and went inside. Kevin’s home was small, but well cared for. Pretty much everything inside of it was worn with age. It reminded Jim a lot of the home he grew up in.

They sat down at the small kitchen table. Kevin drank his coffee black. Jim took his with milk. As Kevin handed him the mug, he asked, “What’s on your mind, today? You’ve been distracted.”

Jim took a slow sip of coffee, thinking. They’d been through a lot in their friendship. Kevin knew him better than almost anyone, except Sarah. Jim could trust him, but he didn’t want to talk about his eye. Not again, and not without any sort of proof, evidence, or explanation.

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“Ah, I’ll tell you next time,” Jim said. “Still figuring it out.”

“Might help to talk about it,” Kevin offered.

“I know. It probably would–it’s a health thing, just on my mind. But, I need to sit on it for today.”

“I get it.” Kevin looked at him. “But, I’m going to twist your arm if you don’t tell me next time.”

Jim chuckled. “Deal.”

They chatted about kids and family, the goings on within their neighborhood, news headlines, and a handful of other subjects as they drank their coffee. Ten minutes later, Jim was headed back home.

Sarah and him showered together. On that, I will simply say that you will have to look elsewhere for the salacious details of their relationship.

They often showered together. The hot water was liable to run out if they showered one after another, unless they rushed. And, Jim enjoyed holding Sarah while standing together beneath the hot water.

He got dressed and went through another uneventful day at the restaurant. Everything was routine, right down to the customer who felt that the purchase of a three dollar sandwich granted her the privilege to be rude and obnoxious to his staff.

All the while, the green light in his right eye continued to grow. It had started to climb vertically, now. It looked for all the world like a radioactive super mario pipe. He ignored it as best he could.

Sarah asked him about it, first thing upon his return. "It's bigger today. A lot bigger." He shrugged. "But it doesn't hurt or anything."

"I'm calling the doctor's office in the morning,” she said.

"Babe, don't. It doesn’t hurt, and it’s not bothering me that much.” Jim reached out and took hold of her hand. “Look, if it's still there at the end of tomorrow, I'll let you make the call. Deal?"

She looked wary, but finally agreed. That night, they ate leftover lasagna as a family. Afterward, Joseph worked on a Lego castle with Jim, while Sarah read her book. Bedtime went smoothly, as usual. Jim closed the door to his son’s room, struck by how lucky he was to be the father of such a good kid.

He unloaded the dishwasher and did the dishes. As he was finishing, Sarah came into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his chest from behind. “Come to bed with me. I’m tired.” Jim nodded. He was tired, too.

That night, he found himself lying on his back with his sleeping wife cuddled against him, her head on his shoulder. He couldn’t sleep. He didn’t want to worry Sarah, but he was starting to worry. If this thing didn’t stop growing, what would happen? Was he going to go blind? He shook his head to clear his intrusive thoughts.

"Mmmrmph," Sarah mumbled. She moved, stretching a hand out and resting it on his chest. Then she relaxed into deeper sleep again.

"I love you," he whispered. He fell asleep to the gentle sound of her steady breathing.

The room was still dark, when he woke. His alarm hadn’t gone off. Everything was silent. He blinked a few times, peering around the room, trying to wake up enough to figure out why he wasn’t still sleeping.

But there was nothing. No sound. No movement. Maybe it was just a dream or something. He shrugged and closed his eyes to try to get back to sleep. But, as his eyelids closed, the vertical rectangle of light in his eye had disappeared.

A moment later, it returned, shining brightly as before. Then it disappeared again. He watched it slowly blink on and off a handful of times. Well, this is new.

He watched the blinking light, as the capital letter D appeared in vivid green to the left of it. For the next few seconds, he was dumbstruck as letters continued to slide out of it, forming a brief sentence.

DON’T BE AFRAID, JIM

Jim felt goosebumps form on his arms and legs. The green text was undeniably there, glowing at the bottom right edge of his field of view. He wasn’t imagining it. The cursor continued to blink. This cannot be happening. It’s not possible.

The text slowly faded into darkness. Another line of text appeared the same way.

BEGIN JOURNEY? Y/N

Jim lay there in the dark with his eyes closed, reading the message over and over again. Journey? I can't just go on some journey! What about my family? He wrestled within himself. This was real life. Not some video game.

Still, he could not bring himself to simply say no. If it weren’t for his responsibilities at home, a journey would be quite nice. He wanted to make a difference with his life, not work the same frustrating job with irritable, entitled customers.

He fell asleep while considering the question. It never dawned on him that he didn’t actually know how to answer it.