[ WP ] Find yourself , in a world full of clones

The blaring went off a few feet from my ear, and I was yanked from the dream world back to reality as my arm flailed to deactivate my alarm. Eternity shrank to seconds as I slowly opened my eyes and saw the rapidly blinking 6:00 turn to 6:01. My waking brain would take minutes to begin functioning; in my unconscious I saw them by the hundreds, all unfamiliar to me. Had there been ten, I couldn ’ t pick myself out of a lineup. 
 
 I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. My arms felt heavy, and then in the dim light my gaze found the tumbler upon my nightstand. The escape from sobriety with the subtle help of alcohol eased my mind seven days a week. I knew the risks I took by imbibing so much, but in my situation where could the blame be placed? 
 
 After shaving, pissing, and donning my running garb, I set out from my overpriced, undersized studio apartment to log a few miles. That upcoming marathon wouldn ’ t run itself, ya know. The clock had yet to strike seven a.m. but the streets were already crowded. More than normal for a run-of-the-mill Tuesday. 
 
 I passed them buying newspapers, sipping their lattes with friends, and going to the confines of their cubicle cities to earn a day ’ s pay. Every step I took, every corner I turned, every block that my footfalls allowed me to pass I felt them stop. All of them. The patrons, the employees, the passersby….they all ceased their activities and upon me let their sheer hatred bear into me with nothing less than pure fury. Music not greeted my ears during my runs and I would hear them resume their goings-on as soon as I passed, but as I ran their deafening silence filled my heart with unrelenting anxiety. 
 
 Finally my building was back in sight, and the slamming of the gate to my staircase flooded me with relief. An hour later I was showered, changed and on my way to work. Again, I couldn ’ t avoid the stares. My eyes found relief on the sidewalk as I walked the few blocks to my office building. 
 
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 It was my first day of work for my new company. I was so excited, and couldn ’ t stop shaking. “ The best Tuesday of my life ”, I thought. The Xanax I had taken an half-hour earlier hadn ’ t kicked in yet. 
 
 My boss greeted me warmly with a smile and handshake as I walked in for the first time as an employee. Although I didn ’ t know him from anywhere other than interviews, I couldn ’ t shake the odd sense of familiarity I had with him in the back of my mind. After exchanging greetings, he said “ Great to have you aboard. Like we told you before, your first week you ’ ll just shadow another employee, get used to things, and learn our policies. Follow me and I ’ ll introduce you to him. ” 
 
 A short elevator ride later and we were heading into the heart of a well-lit cubicle farm on the fourth floor of a downtown office building. The man I followed greeted everyone with “ Hello ” and “ Hey! How ya doin ’! ” before we ended up at a non-descript cubby. 
 
 “ This is Dick, you ’ ll follow him for a week or so and then get your own “ office ”, ” and before I knew it he was gone, presumably back to sit in his own damned corner office just to add another layer of cigar smoke to the paint. His inflection of “ office ” set me on edge just a bit. Was this a test? 
 
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 “ This is Dick, you ’ ll follow him for a week or so and then get your own “ office. ’ ” 
 It was something I had heard a dozen times: his same fucking gimmick line to another new hire. I have no idea but I was always his go-to guy for showing the ropes to the kids that were fresh out of college. Honestly, it pissed me off to no end. 
 
 I had already reached a stopping point in my work, but when I heard his footsteps plodding away I finally turned around to meet the new kid. 
 
 On a run-of-the-mill Tuesday, I did not expect what my eyes fell upon. 
 
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 When his eyes met mine, I knew it was different. This was the one. The original. Our progenitor. His..my double helix pattern had led to the creation of all of us. How? That history to me was lost. I just knew I had to find him. My quest had led me across cities, states, and nations spread far apart. And until know, my trek had been unsuccessful. 
 
 Time slowed as our eyes took every detail of the other into an holistic perspective. His hands gripped his arm rests before he rose from his chair. Simultaneously our right hands found the other ’ s in a solid handshake. 
 
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 When our hands met, I knew he was different. His eyes were warm and inviting; no hatred or animosity could be found in the depths of his steely blue orbs, as were in all the others'. His face appeared a little more weathered, as if his journey, the one which I promised to undertake but had long since forgotten, had taken him to parts of the globe I would not hope to ever travel. 
 
 He did not greet me by name. Although my, and his, supervisor had both mentioned my name and failed to introduce us, I knew his. It was mine. It was his. My name belonged to the dozens of people who surrounded us, the hundreds in the building, and the thousands in the hive that was this city. So did the forty-six chromosomes that comprised my genetic code. 
 
 My grip on his hand weakened, and so did my knees. As I collapsed to the ground, my arms wrapped around his waist and tears flooding from my eyes, I wept. 
 The sibling I thought I had lost at birth, my twin, had finally found me. 
 
 

