Free Glimpse by Steve Whibley

bag.” She reached in and pulled out a handful of stopwatches. “There’s got to be a dozen of them here. She flipped one over in her hand and examined the back. Then she grabbed another and examined the back of it. “They all have initials on the back. R.T., G.H., D.C., S.W.—”
    â€œDean Curse,” Colin interrupted.
    I looked at him, confused.
    â€œD.C.” He pointed over the bed to Lisa. “She said one of the initials was D.C., like Dean Curse. Maybe he was going to give it to you for your birthday.”
    â€œDon’t be an idiot, Colin,” Lisa said as she stuffed the watches back into the bag. “They could mean anything.”
    Colin shrugged. “I wasn’t being serious.”
    â€œHe’s asleep,” I said. “We should go. Maybe come back tomorrow.”
    Lisa plucked up a newspaper from a table beside the bed. “Looks like he was reading your article.” She turned to put the paper back on the table and inadvertently knocked a cup of orange juice over Colin’s shoes. “Oops.” She tossed the newspaper to the foot of Mr. Vidmar’s bed and reached for the stack of paper towels on a nearby shelf.
    â€œThat better be orange juice and not a urine sample,” Colin said, grimacing at his feet.
    The copy of the Gazette had landed partially open, and as I turned to pick it up, I froze. There was an article on page two that caught my attention. I could only see half of it, but what I saw was enough. With shaking hands, I reached out and opened the paper completely.
    â€œWhat is it, Dean?” Colin was by my side in a flash.
    I pointed to the article.
    Colin read the title aloud. “Pile-Up on Highway 1 Claims Three Lives.”
    â€œThat’s awful,” Lisa said.
    â€œIt’s n… not the article,” I choked. Beneath the headline were the pictures of the three victims. The woman I’d seen screaming in the foyer and the overweight man who had freaked me out in the kitchen were among them. Seeing the photos made my stomach drop—the man and woman looked so happy and normal—not at all the way I had seen them in my hallucinations.
    My mind struggled to make sense of it all. I didn’t recognize the faces from anywhere other than my crazy visions. “Those are the two people I saw first.”
    â€œWhat? Who?” Colin asked.
    I tapped the two pictures.
    â€œAre you sure?”
    â€œYes. Completely. I’d never forget those faces.”
    â€œThey’re dead,” Lisa stated the obvious. “You’re seeing hallucinations of people who are… dead. Or going to die.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Is that even possible?”
    Collin grabbed the paper and flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for. He slapped it down. “Did you see any of these people?”
    He had opened the page to the Obituaries section. A dozen or so people who had died over the last few days stared back at me from their photographs.
    â€œNo. None of them.”
    â€œWhat about the first people you saw?” Collin added. “Do you recognize them? Know them from anywhere?”
    â€œNo.”
    Colin turned back to the article about the accident and gave it a quick read. “You’re definitely sure you’ve never met these people?”
    â€œYeah, I’m sure, Colin. I’ve never met them.”
    â€œMaybe just in passing, Dean,” Lisa urged. “Think about it.”
    â€œI’m telling you. I’ve never seen them before. Not recently, that’s for sure. After the mugging, I went straight home… no, wait! Gadget Emporium!”
    â€œWhat?” Colin asked.
    â€œI stopped at Gadget Emporium. Remember? I told you, that’s where all my bruises came from. It was the grand opening. There were hundreds of people there. I was trampled by at least half of them. They could’ve been there.”
    Lisa chewed her lip