Long Road to Hero

Joe awoke suddenly with a clatter of beeps and buzzers surrounding him. He had absolutely no idea just why he was where he was, let alone exactly where he was. His eyes couldn't focus. His mind couldn't focus. He just lay there thinking “I'm Joe…I'm Joe…I'm Joe…” He heard all kinds of noises and sounds around him, but couldn't put two and two together. Lights were in and out of his eyes. He couldn't move. He just lay there trying to relax as much as he could. “Joe! Joe! Can you hear me?” cried out a voice. He could hear the scream, but it didn't register. He couldn't move his eyes…it was much too much of a strain. Again, the cry came out, though this time it was more sternly. “Joe! Joe! Can you hear me?” A bright white light came across his pupils. Again, he just lay there non-responsive. Time was not a factor. It seemed as though it wasn't moving at the same rate time was accustomed to. Fact is, it seemed as though it wasn't moving at all. The sounds came and went in Joe's mind. He couldn't concentrate on anything, yet he did notice the sounds were coming and going in volume. One nonexistent moment it appeared deafening. The next same moment the volume was turned down close to one. And as with everything else he was feeling at the moment, he had no idea why. He just lay there…thinking…not thinking…who really knew. After all, Joe didn't. The scene played on with a long flatline type of beep. Joe's eyes were closed. What Joe couldn't realize was there was about a half dozen people leaning over him trying to get him to respond to anything. It was in a bright open type of room begging for description. There was no describing the surroundings however. The temperature was nondescript. Other than a certain brightness in light, nothing could be seen, heard or felt. “Cut! Print! Nicely done everyone…” shrieked a breaking female voice. Then just as suddenly as it had all began, it stopped. Everything that had just been experienced was no more. Joe got up from his horizontal position, shrugged his shoulders while rubbing his arms with his opposite hands. He was attempting to circulate some life back into his chilled body. He was partly successful. A beautiful television type doll strolled up to Joe and introduced herself. “Hi Joe, Melissa Rhinehart of the EQ Channel, can we chat a minute?” “The EQ Channel? What's that?” replied Joe. “Entertainment Quotient. Another new channel for entertainment for the intelligent viewer” she laughed. “Isn't that an oxymoron?” Joe quipped. They shared a distinctive laugh together, which included Melissa's cameraman. “In this society” Melissa chimed back, “isn't everything an oxymoron of some type?” “Touché” said Joe. They both looked at each other in an uncomfortable pause. Without trying, Joe seemed to have this instinctive gift of making people very uncomfortable around him. The funny thing about that, though, was that he really had no idea he was doing it. It wasn't a repulsive feeling, and it wasn't an arrogant or obnoxious feeling that seeped into the emotions of anyone he was with. It really wasn't a look that he had, or ever made. It wasn't the sound of his voice, or really anything he ever said. The bottom line was that Joe was an above average handsome guy, with above average intelligence, and spoke…well…above average. He kept himself clean, as in personal hygiene. He wore above average clothes, not very trendy, as his senses leaned toward being a traditional type of guy.