I remembered that morning so clearly; it had only been that long after all. It had started just like any other arriving at the office and making the coffee. Handing him a cup of Joe as usual. I sat down to get to work. The phone rang around 4 in the afternoon.
There was nothing unusual about that. The phone rang at all different times, but this was different. As I answered, I found myself in some kind of long black tunnel. That was the first time I saw the redhead. Yeah, the redhead that was standing a few feet to my right.
I saw the redhead going the other way down this tunnel, whatever it was. The redhead had reached out a hand and touched me. Yeah, that was what had happened. Suddenly, I found myself falling back down the tunnel just behind the redhead.
I arrived back in the office with the redhead standing holding the phone just as I had been before the tunnel. I tried to ask the redhead what had happened, but she didn’t seem to hear me. Not then, but the redhead heard me now anyway.
That’s when I noticed the redhead and him leave without me. What was goin’ on, I thought to myself.
I tried to open the door of the office, but my hand went right through the handle as if I were some kind of spook. No, I were a real person, I knew I were. It must have been something that the redhead had done. Then, suddenly, I found myself in my apartment with the redhead who was looking out of my window.
I moved to the window to see what the redhead was looking at, and that was when I saw him walking down the sidewalk with the cop. I tried again to ask the redhead what was going on. Ok, I shouted at the redhead a lot, but the redhead acted like I wasn’t even there.
It was then that I saw the shadow for the first time. It was standing in the doorway to my apartment.
“She can’t hear you. None of them can.” The Shadow told them.
"What gives?" I asked
“You are an Echo. Nothing more.” The Shadow started to explain.
“What's the score on that 'echo'?" I asked.
“The rest of you left, and you are all that is left.” The Shadow told them.
“What?” I asked.
“It has been such a long time since I have had to act, so I will explain as best I can. Somehow, you were left behind when the incident happened.” The shadow said.
“It’s Red’s fault it has to be,” I said
“No, but she is the solution.” The Shadow went on.
“She can fix me?” I asked
“In a way, she can. She seems to be as confused about this as you are. I probed her mind just now.” The Shadow tried to explain.
“In English, mac,” I said, not quite following what the Shadow had said.
“They are as much in the dark about this as you are.” The Shadow said, finally tuning in to the required frequency.
“Ah. If that’s true, how can she help?” I asked.
“By taking the place of what you have lost.” The Shadow started.
“How does that help me?” I asked.
“With help from me, the two of you can become one, and you will be whole again.” The Shadow told them.
“What happens to me?” I asked.
“She needs to fit a hole in the plot. That hole is what you lost.” The Shadow tried to explain.
“Yeah, so ya said,” I said, still not understanding.
“So when you join together, you will be exactly what you were before.” The Shadow said, sounding exasperated.
“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” I said.
“I did.” The Shadow said in reply.
“So do it already,” I said.
“It will take time, and I need to find out how this happened.” The Shadow said.
“What if I help?” I asked.
“It would allow me time to do my other work.” The Shadow said.
“Only one problem, she can’t hear me, can she?” I said
“Oh, I can fix that, but you will need to take it gently. A small push here and there to make her behave the way she must.” The Shadow told me.
“Gently, I can do Gently,” I said.
“You must take it slowly, work up to speaking to her. You don’t her to be fighting you. It is so much harder if they fight you.” The Shadow explained.
“I get it softly, softly. How do I get her to hear me?” I asked.
“Oh, that I have already made it so that she can hear you now.” The shadow said.
“How?” I asked
“I have given you a portion of my abilities as the balancer to allow you to do so. Now that you are dealing with this for me, I must go and find the breach before I have more issues to deal with.” The Shadow said before vanishing.
I wanted to fix the Redhead then and there, but something the Shadow had said about her fighting had worried me.
So I took it easy. The first thing I did was to make Red put on the burgundy dress and fix her makeup, just so. That and pour the drink and light the smoke. How I wished it were me doing this, but if the Shadow was right, it would be me soon.
When Red woke up the following morning, I “Helped” the redhead choose and get ready in the sophisticated grey skirt suit and white gloves. Then there was the lipstick that shade of red always looked good with that outfit.
I watched her that morning until he needed a hand getting out of the office without being seen. This was a bigger push to have Red distract Detective Riley so that he could get away. I wasn’t sure this was going to work or not, but I was surprised when it did.
I could tell that red was happy as much as I was with what she had done, so I chose that moment to strike.
"This can be yours if you want,” I said.
The Redhead turned around to see who had spoken, but found that she was still on her own in the office.
“Who said that?” She asked, not sure how she would get an answer from the empty room. Only to be greeted by a deafening silence.
The Shadow had told them that she would hear me, but when she did, it was still a surprise.
Well, Becky looks like you might just be able to pull this off after all. I thought. Up until that moment, the Echo of Rebecca Ford wasn’t sure that she could do what she had told the Shadow she could, but now she knew that she knew that she could.
Soon, this Jannie Gibson would be gone, and she would be back where she belonged in the office helping Mr. S.
