Vinny laid sprawled out on his back on top of a long dark brown leather lounge chair clicking his black brogans together wondering if it would take him back to Kansas. He didn't really want to go to Kansas because he was quite happy where he was currently at smelling Bridget's sweet perfume. Love Spell. She had finally got it right and wore Vinny's favorite perfume at his request.
The clinic which Bridget rented was kind of small but very cozy. The Picasso paintings hanging from the freshly painted wall looked like they might be worth a small fortune. There was a small window on the other side of the room which usually did a good job of illuminating the cubbyhole but Bridget had the blinds closed plus Vinny's jacket hoisted over top of it to block out as much sunlight as possible.
Vinny hated sunlight and claimed it made him sneeze. "Come on, let me kick off my boots." Declared Vinny.
"No. Your feet stink and I don't want the room stinking for my next patient." Said Bridget sitting in a chair adjacent to him holding a blotter and her favorite glitter pen. Bridget looked absolutely stunning. Her lavender slip-on shoes seemed to match her silk button-down blouse and her white pallid Mudd jeans seemed to hug her lush thighs just right. The spectacles that made her look 10 times smarter pinched her cute little cherry nose and fulfilled a strange fetish of Vinny's. It was like they were playing doctor minus the stethoscope. Bridget had no idea but the fetish had derived from interviews with Miss Peabody from Vinny's time in prison. Miss Peabody often wore the same exact spectacles.
Bridget played with Vinny's long hair for a few seconds before starting her usual query. "So umm...are you having any hallucinations or hearing any voices?" She asked trying to be serious.
"Uh...yes as a matter of fact I hear a voice right now." Bridget looked a little surprised. "Really? What is it saying?"
There was a pause and then Vinny grinned at her. "Really? What is it saying?" He replied then snickered.
When Bridget got the joke she gave him a playful pat in the abdomen and regained her composure. She tried to get serious. "Do you really wanna do this or do you want to uh...you know." Bridget winked at him and almost made it appear that she was undressing him with her eyes.
"No, no. I'm serious. I really want some therapy." Pleaded Vinny turning down a good time.
Bridget glanced at her girly watch the Gadget Man had gotten her for Christmas.
"Okay, we still have 35 minutes. I have a few more things to cover." She leaned over and pushed aside a few strands of hair tickling Vinny's face.
"What about suicidal thoughts. You never talk about suicidal thoughts."
Vinny mulled the question over in his mind wondering if this might turn into an inadvertent hypnotism and he might accidentally tell her everything.
"Well, I guess I get them sometimes but usually in a dream format."
Bridget pushed up on her glasses and showed a sudden interest. "Huh?" She said blatantly.
The Gadget Man continued on as Bridget became enthralled.
"Oh yeah, since I was a kid I've had this repetitive nightmare that used to scare me half to death and have me wake up screaming." Said Vinny being serious this time.
Bridget was gradually becoming elated at this newfound information. She clicked her glitter pen and made an imprint in her notebook. "Go on." She pressed, "Please tell me about the nightmare. I've studied a lot of Franz Kafka and learned a lot about kafkaesque."
Vinny closed his eye and tried to think back. "Well, all I remember is I'm sitting in the back seat of my parents car and my father is driving." He said trying to remember every detail.
Bridget scrawled in the notebook. "Go on." She said softly.
"So anyway, it's really late at night closer to the wee hours and all of us are very tired. Maybe we're coming back from a vacation I dunno. But anywho, we're driving through some woods and the trees look very scary and lifelike. Maybe monsters disguised as trees, I dunno. There's just three of us, my dad, my mom, and me. My mother is in the passenger's seat while my father is driving. Nobody is talking and we're all very tired."
Vinny paused for a moment debating whether or not to continue.
"Um-hm, go on babe." Urged Bridget.
"So like I was saying, I'm sitting in the back seat and about to fall asleep when I suddenly notice we're drifting off the road towards the trees. I shake my father vigorously trying to wake him up but neither of my folks wake up. It's like they're already dead." He said placing his hand over his heart checking for a beat.
Bridget jiggled in her chair causing a surge of Love Spell to waft in his direction.
"This is interesting, please go on." She persisted, "What happens then?"
The Gadget Man let out a funky grunt. "Well...just as we're about to have a head on collision with a tree I wake up screaming."
"Jeez, that sounds like a dire nightmare. And you get this all the time?"
Vinny nodded his monster head. "Yes, I get that same nightmare to this very day but it's no longer a nightmare. It's a dream that I long for."
Bridget accidentally dropped her pen and then picked it up with a perplexed look on her face. "Um... I'm afraid I don't get it. You mean this scary nightmare you have you now look forward to and now your nightmares have become your dreams?"
The Gadget Man snapped his fingers. "Exactly. Every time I wake up from that dream I encounter a 6 man pup tent if you know what I mean."
A smile jumped on her face like Mario jumping around in a video game. She poked him in the tummy playfully then fixed his hair once more. "Stop it silly, we're running out of time for that." She said rolling her eyes, "I don't know why you would look forward to a dream where you and your folks smash into a tree. That is kind of strange." Vinny quickly sat up in the lounge chair and pushed his hair back. "Does that mean I'm suicidal?" He asked with sincerity.
"I don't know what it means but you definitely exhibit symptoms similar of a catatonic."
"What on earth is that?" Asked Vinny.
Bridget chuckled and pushed on his shoulder. "It's you Hun! All those laughing spells you get and it might even explain the palsy."
The Gadget Man felt like he had scored some points. Bridget was assuming the nervous shake he always got from his criminal ways was a part of his mental condition. This was good, good, good! He stood up completely ending the therapy and moseyed around the room aimlessly. He spotted a collection of books on her desk and flipped through some of them. When he picked up a book on the very bottom of the pile he felt wrath plunging into his heart from every direction. When he read the name of the author it felt like his eyes would pop out of his head and explode like fireworks.
The author was Bridget Macavar.