A couple or so weeks ago, I went thrifting. I work a stable jobs, but I love looking through thrift stores. Alot of time you find some unique gems buried under all the strange grandma vases and flannel shirts.
Somewhere along in one of the aisles, I found a misplaced item, between two cookie jars. It was a perpetual calendar keychain. If you don’t know what that is, you can look it up but in short, its a 50 year calendar pocket calendar.
It looked like it was in perfect condition. No rust, no serious scratches. It honestly fasinated me.
I grabbed it without a second thought and payed for it. I bargained a little and got it for half the price they were selling on Amazon. I felt like I had hit some sort of small, insignificant lottery.
The calendar was from 2010 to 2060. My dumb OCD brain couldn’t get enough of rotation it’s upper panel continuously with my thumb.
I got home, and instantly felt overwhelmed for some reason. You know the feeling when your standing in a crowd on a hot summers day? That’s exactly how I felt when I walked in. Packed and claustrophobic. It was strange.
But I simply turned the air conditioning up and went to the kitchen to make my self a snack. I made my self a chicken sandwich and started to eat. Still I continued to fidget with the calendar.
Even though I carried the thing with me like a child carrying his favorite hot wheel car, I swear the thing even went warm. Even though it was metal, it remained cool to touch.
Before going to bed, I fidget with it still. I had fun matching dates and confirming its accuracy through my phone. Before going to bed, I placed it on my bedside table.
That night I had a strange dream. It was a lucid dream, but I was used to them, so I didn’t really care. I was on a road. There was a sign that said “Mulholland Drive”
I felt around in my pockets. I had my phone. I turned it on to see the time. Whoever said that you can’t read in dreams is a fricking liar. The time just read 00:00. It was the date that caught my eye. “6 June, 2023” The date was actually 23 May. Still, it was a dream, so I brushed it off.
The next moment I saw a black 2001 Chevrolet Corvette race down the street, from right in front of me. I knew that car way to well. It was my aunt’s. The car suddenly swerved, for no apparent reason, and flipped. Knowing the possibility that my aunt could be in there, I rushed there screaming “AUNTY OPHELIA!”
I reached the car and saw the most gruesome thing I had ever seen. Aunt Ophelia neck had brocken and now head was lolled onto one side. A large glass shard was in her right eye. Her lip was twiching horribly. On the ground were divorce papers.
I woke up with a start. My sheets and pillow were drenched in sweat. To calm my self I immediately grabbed the perpetual calendar keychain from my bed side.
The date set on it was 6 June 2023. My heart dropped. I checked my phone. It was still 23 of may. I don’t know what I was expecting. I was paranoid.
Day after day. Each night I slept. I had a vivid nightmare about some one from my family dying. Horrific details I’d remember till the day I die.
On 1 of June, I saw my mom dying due to cancer on 8 April, 2025. I saw her on the hospital bed, struggling for her final breaths. She was completely bald. Her eyes darted around the room, finally landing on me. I cried uncontrollabley. Both in the dream and after I woke up. Again, that stupid keychain calendar was dialled up on 8 April, 2025.
The next day I took my mother to the doctors to check if she really had cancer. A couple day later we got the results. She had a kind of skin cancer caused due to outdoor tanning.
Although I have started to pay for the treatment, I am afraid it might not work.
But that keychain. That God forbid keychain. The dreams started when I bought that keychain. Every time a wake, I see the date of the tragedy I witnessed during the night.
I hate it now. I hate it so much. I can’t get rid of it. Everytime I’d give it back to the thrift store, it’s back on my bed side table. Everytime I list it on any website, the listing disappears over night.
On 3rd of June, my uncle Phil and aunty Ophelia got a divorce. On 6th of June aunty Ophelia died due to a car crash. Her neck snapped. She had a glass shard in her eye.
The day aunt Ophelia died, I didn’t understand what to do. I am going crazy. That night I slept, I was on the roof of my work place. I pulled out my phone. The date was 15 January, 2029.
I looked up and saw a man, slightly older then me. He was sitting on the fence looking down. I racked my brain on who it could be.
Until he looked back.
It was me.
I smiled at myself. “I know you’re there. She’s gone. You can’t stop it. It’s better of like this.”
And just like that. I jumped. Down the 25 story building. I rushed to the fence and looked down to see my mangled body on the ground. Distinctly I saw I was still smiling.
I am scared. I don’t know what to do. I am scared to sleep. I don’t want to. I can’t. The only thing I could think of was what I had said.
“She’s gone. You can’t stop it.”
I really got more then I bargained for.