El Dorado

I didn't sleep well last night. I have so much on my mind that turning off my thoughts was impossible, so another sleepless night. I can't believe how bad my insomnia has gotten over the past few weeks and there is not a medication that my doctor has given me that works, it seems to sleep for me is a distant memory. I turn and look at my clock that is sitting on my bedside table, I have to squint to see the time, just like I feared it was time to get up.

Every day is the same thing I get up, get dressed for work, and leave the house forgetting my breakfast. As I drove down the street something inside me told me that today was not going to be a typical day.

I got to the office with two minutes to spare, I sat at my desk in my small cubicle, and as my computer powered on the word El Dorado appeared on the screen. I stood up and quickly looked around at my coworkers as they did their morning routine nothing seemed out of place so I sat back in my seat. The word El Dorado glared back at me, so I started pressing keys to try to remove it from the screen but nothing worked. It just stayed there. After unsuccessfully trying to remove the word with my keyboard skills, I ducked down under my desk and unplugged my computer. The computer turned off and after I counted 20 I plugged in the computer backup and turned it back on. Unplugging it did the trick and I got to work on my everyday task list.

My day was dull, I thought as I sat at the traffic light heading home. My whole life is dull I thought as the light turned green and I continued on my way. As I pulled into my yard I noticed a package at my front door, it was strange because I was not expecting anything. So before pulling completely into my yard I put my car in park, got out, and went to retrieve the package. As I bent down to pick the package up I noticed in red bold letters someone wrote across the top of the package the word El Dorado.

Once in my house, I dropped everything except the package at the back door. I went into the dining room and set the package on the table before going back into the kitchen to get a knife so that I could open it. At first, I had a strong urge not to open the package, to just throw it away but curiosity got the best of me. I took the knife and opened the package. The only thing I found was a folded piece of paper. I took the paper and opened it. What was written on it gave me chills, it read;

Once you start this journey you can never turn back. There's much more to life then the things you can see, and to have a glorious life all you have to do is find El Dorado

There's that word against El Dorado. I dropped the paper and before it hit the floor it was consumed with fire. I stood there in awe for a second or two but then shook it off and remembered I haven't slept and I could be in the middle of a dream. So I pulled myself together and continued with my evening.

As I turned my bed down and prepared myself for another sleepless night my cell phone which I left downstairs began to ring. I hesitated about going downstairs to get it but everytime it stopped ringing, it would start again so I went to get it. When I reached my phone, I saw that the caller id didn't show a valid number but a weird number of all 6s. I pushed the talk button, holding the phone to my ear and before I said hello I heard a voice in a low whisper say, "you can't turn back, you have to find El Dorado." I dropped the phone and as the phone hit the floor it was ringing again. I cautiously picked the phone back up and held it so gently I took the phone into the kitchen, putting the phone in the sink as I ran water on it, the ringing faded until it completely stopped.

I started back to my room and as I went up the stairs I had a sense that I was no longer alone. As I reached my room what I saw I didn't expect. There I was laying in the bed, and my wrist had been cut. I couldn't believe what I was looking at and as I stood there trying to figure out what was going on, a hand touched my shoulder and a voice said in a whisper, "it's time. I will take you to El Dorado."