Are you struggling to attract and retain visitors to your website? In today’s digital age, having a website optimized for mobile devices is essential. With more and more people using their smartphones and tablets to browse the internet, a mobile-friendly website can make all the difference in attracting and retaining visitors. In this article, we will explore why mobile optimization is critical for your website’s success and provide some tips on optimizing your website for mobile users.

Mobile Users Are Everywhere

The rise of smartphones and tablets means that people are accessing the internet from anywhere and at any time. In fact, according to a study by Statista, mobile devices accounted for over 50% of all internet traffic worldwide in 2021. You could miss significant traffic if your website is not optimized for mobile users.

Improved User Experience

One of the main benefits of mobile optimization is that it provides an improved user experience. When a website is not optimized for mobile, it can be difficult to navigate, with text too small to read and buttons too small to click. This can result in a frustrating user experience, leading to high bounce rates and low engagement.

You should know that your child is a gift and a blessing, so you should do what god told you to do with this blessing, so you should know :
1) islam forbids you from hitting or treating your servants badly: عن أنس ابن مالك : خَدَمْتُ النبيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ، عشرَ سنين بالمدينةِ ، وأنا غلامٌ ، ليس كلُّ أمري كما يشتهي صاحبي أن أكونَ عليه ، ما قال لي فيها : أفٍّ قطُّ . وما قال لي : لِمَ فعلتَ هذا ؟ أو أَلَا فعلتَ هذا. Anas ibn Malek said : I served the prophet PBUH for ten years, not everything about me (Everything I do) is like what my friend wants, he has never said to me in those ten years "Offf" ("Offf" is a noise used to describe annoyance), and he never said "Why did you do this, or why didn't you do this".
2) You can hit a kid, but it has rules :
1- They have to be sane.
2- they have to be ten years or older, the prophet PBUH said : مُروا أولادَكم بالصلاةِ لسبعٍ، واضربوهم عليها لعشرٍ، وفرِّقوا بينهم في المضاجعِ Command (softly and nicely) your kids to pray after they're seven, and hit them for it (if they don't pray) after they're ten, and space between them (after they hit ten) in beds (meaning you don't let them sleep on the same bed, or you at least put something in between them).
And that's for praying, and many muslim scholars consider the person who doesn't pray as not even a muslim, so making trivial mistakes or even some big ones wouldn't allow you to hit them untill they're ten.
3- You can't take it as the first option, it has to be the last option, and only do it if you think it would be beneficial (making the kid not do the mistake again).
4- You can't insult and humiliate them while you hit them, and you can't hit them infront of others (Even their family, relatives and siblings).
5- The hitting has to be light, so it wouldn't : cause a wound, cause swelling, cause the skin to turn red or any other color, leave a mark or cut their skin.
6- You can't hit them in the face, the prophet PBUH said : إذا قاتَلَ أحَدُكُمْ أخاهُ فَلْيَجْتَنِبِ الوَجْهَ. If one of you fights his brother, then he should stay away from his face (not hit him in the face).
7- And if you can't hit their face, then sensetive body-parts are already out of the question.
8- The hitting has to be equal to the mistake, Imam Ahmad (one of the four imams) said: Equal (The hitting) to their mistake if they reached ten years.
9- You have to let them rest between hits.
10- You can't hit them when you're angry.
11- You have to stop hitting them if they cry, show remorse, run away or ask you by god to stop hitting them.
12- You can't hit them more than ten times, the prophet PBUH said : لَا يُجْلَدُ فَوْقَ عَشْرِ جَلَدَاتٍ إِلَّا في حَدٍّ مِن حُدُودِ اللَّهِ. Let there be no whipping more than ten times, except when a limit set by allah is violated/trespassed. (Limits such as : adultrey or drinking alcohol. and they are one of the biggest crimes and sins a human can commit in islam, so obviously when a kid makes a trivial mistake that wouldn't allow for even 1/10th of that).
3) Sick people are sick, they won't care about what is allowed and what is forbidden, that's why there are people in jails. You can't take a mistake someone made as what islam says.
Islam is the true religion and is the religion of peace.

Hello, I’m 14F. This will probably be a long post, so I apologize. When I was 10 my family were going through a lot of issues. My parents were threatening divorce with each other like always.
We went camping 2019 summer like usual and my mom was a SAHM at the time so my dad was still working while we stayed camping. Now my brother has ADHD, severe ODD, and anger management problems. Some doctors have also suspected he might be on the autism spectrum. He was being very disrespectful to my mother which I struggled with handling because my father was abusive and did not take kindly to my brother acting that way.
I felt a lot of rage and I actually thought about hurting him which scared me because I was 10. So I left our trailer for a bike ride. All I could think about was killing myself so I couldn’t hurt my brother. I called one of my friends at the lodge and she ended up telling her mom who told mine.
My mom kind of glossed over it and we never spoke about it again. Then my parents divorce, a pandemic hits, schools shut down, can’t see my friends, my parents start dating, I start at a new school, get roped in with bad people and become majorly depressed.
I tried to kill myself 4 times in the span of about 8 months. Obviously I never succeeded but I tried. All attempts were me trying to overdose on acetaminophen. I also self harmed a lot. Like my arm was covered in scars and cuts. Nobody noticed or cared enough to ask if I was okay. I missed a total of 121 classes in my Grade 7 year and even though I passed with honours they wanted to hold me back for missing so much school.
My mom would threaten to drive us into a brick wall on the way to school which led to me being pretty upset when I would get there. I struggled with sleep and would fall asleep in class. None of my friends cared because, 1 they weren’t great people and 2 they were all depressed too. It was like an epidemic. I finally told my mom what was going on after I had a mental break down right before exam week at school.
This resulted in her finding a therapist. But before I got to see a therapist she took me out into a park with my father on 2021 father’s day and they tried to force me to talk about what was wrong when I explicitly told them I didn’t want to tell them.
It’s been almost 2 years since than and I’m still depressed. I’ve tried therapy and it never helped. I felt like I couldn’t trust my therapist because she was technically a counsellor and through legal loopholes she doesn’t legally have to keep what I tell her a secret. I’ve been struggling lately and I’m just so exhausted. I can never tell my mom what’s wrong because then she freaks out and assumes I’m gonna kill myself.
Since my breakdown I switched to online school, 2 of my grandparents have died, I gained 3 step siblings, 2 sibling in laws, a nephew and my dad moved across the country. I’m so sick and tired of the world. I have had to be the perfect daughter who does well in school and is always okay and I’m just so done with pretending to be fine. I’m sobbing in my room at night and struggling to make myself lunch without crying during the day. My family jokes about mental illness and I’m barely hanging on.
Vent over for now

I’ve recently reviewed my state’s landlord tenant laws and found that my landlord is in violation of them. Here are some examples:
1) Last year, our electric stove was smoking to the point of it being unusable, despite all my attempts to remedy this. The plates were due for replacement after normal wear and tear. We asked that the landlord replace them as they are required to make sure we have a way to cook food. They refused so we replaced them ourselves and sent them a bill (~$250). They wouldn’t cover the full amount of the bill, which I understand to be in violation of our tenant rights to full reimbursement.
2) Our dishwasher broke over a year ago. We asked for a repair man and never received a response. We asked for a replacement and were denied. The dishwasher now has standing water in it that is causing mold and mildew. I believe this violates our right to have appliances repaired within 10 days and our right to live in a mold-free environment.
3) I honestly don’t know who’s responsible for this, but they’ve never hired a professional or had our maintenance man come and clean our our dryer vents. My husband has lived in the unit since 2018, which means about 5 years. I know you’re supposed to have those cleaned once a year since it’s a fire hazard. I do know any fire hazard maintenance is the landlords responsibility, but I’m not sure about this specific detail.
4) Our toilet handle broke. Our request for repair were ignored several times over the course of several months. I would have gotten to it sooner myself but I was 8 months pregnant when it broke and was then dealing with birth and a newborn, so it fell to the wayside. I repaired it myself when they continued to ignore our requests. I know maintaining plumbing is a landlords responsibility.
5) We have concerns about foundation and/or floor rot on our whole first floor (it’s not a big apartment so it’s not a lot of space). We’ve texted and verbally told our maintenance guy and landlord about this multiple times. It’s getting to the point where the floors are bowing under our weight. It’s dangerous for my baby since it causes all of the furniture to sway (we will be anchoring the large furniture before he learns to crawl). We’ve requested that either and inspector or our maintenance man come and look at it and we have been ignored. I don’t know where this falls under landlord liability and/or unlivable conditions.
The main issue is that this is employee housing from my husband’s job. He’s a good worker and has been employed there for over 10 years. We also live in a small town and he has a good relationship with our landlord and his boss.
Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this situation without souring my husband’s relationship with his boss? I plan to write up and sign a document with our requests and submit it to them by the end of the week. Is there anything else to do? I’m not the most confrontational person so this is a bit new to me. Any advice is welcome.
Edit: I should note that we live on an island, so not only is housing very physically limited, but we are financially limited. Any available housing outside of our current living situation is unaffordable to my husband and I. Our only option if we leave this unit is to move in with my parents, who have limited space with my younger sister still living at home.
Also, we are on a month to month lease.

I returned to work today after a 12 week unpaid maternity leave (didn't qualify for FMLA, negotiated 12 weeks). I absolutely hate being away from my baby and not giving him the care and attention I feel he deserves. He's with his grandparents, who are great to him, but I know he needs me. I need him.
My job has been so accommodating and is even letting me work from home the rest of the week because the baby sitter I booked called and said her mom has covid an hour before she was supposed to show up on her first day. They're fine with me pumping as much as I need to and are understanding if things pop up with childcare. I'm working for a dream company and so lucky to be paid at a higher wage for this position given my experience, yet I can't stop thinking about quitting.
I posted before about quitting or staying, and I begrudgingly decided to stay even though I just want to be home. I need the job and the money, but I feel so guilty and selfish for keeping it when being with my baby fulfills me. Now I'm just working and taking long pumping breaks and watching the cameras to see my little man. Idk if I can do this for a long time but am lucky to have a job like this.
I hate this feeling.

So recently (February) I got a new 2TB drive, and copied all the data from my old 1TB drive onto it. I come to find out a few minutes ago that some of the files are randomly getting their size set to 0, i'm not sure when this happened but I know it was relatively recently since the latest wiped file is from the start of the month
This is obviously some form of corruption, but I'm interested in if I can take any steps to prevent it
To add to this, a few weeks ago I also noticed some files disappeared when I removed the drive from one computer and plugged it into another (this only happened once, but still very concerning)
chkdsk has been run on it (part of my worrying little mind thinks this might be the cause), it's not damaged as far as I know, it's moved between computers regularly (often weekly)
If anyone could help it would be massively appreciated, if you have any questions that could help feel free to ask :)

I’m doing my final giveaway before resetting my switch tonight. I’ve got clothing, furniture items, gyroids/gyroid fragments, a few tools, music, crafting materials, tons of fossils and other various items. I will also be giving each person two presents when they leave, so come see me before you go! Looking for 3 more newbies to come fill their pockets! The first 3 to comment accordingly will be chosen. They will be allowed multiple trips until everything is gone! 💕Comment how long you’ve been playing, and your favorite villager if you’re interested. Hope to see you soon!💕

I wanted to share about my SP. I manifested going on a date with him once and got that. Two weeks ago I manifested us meeting up a second time that day and it happened also we were wearing similar outfits and we both had on black north face jackets (I only own one north face jacket) which was a funny coincidence. he wanted to discuss what we were he said he wasn’t sure if he wanted a relationship or not and that this is the most he’s communicated with someone. Anyways we decided to just keep seeing each other and hanging out because we both like each other and communicating if there’s a change at all as well as being honest if we see other people. I want him as my boyfriend this is very new to me this relationship for once a man I’m seeing is kind to me, attentive to my needs, and a good listener. They say be careful what you manifest and sadly I now understand. For a long time I would tell people I wanted a fwb that was attentive to my needs (tmi but most guys would just finish and leave not caring about what I wanted sexually). I finally met what I wanted in a fwb but I also seemed to have manifested the features I always wanted physically in a partner. Like I wanted a darker complexion partner, tall, someone who put effort into their look, responsible, educated and had a stable career. I’m not sure what to do going forward. The thing stopping him is that he works long hours and is looking at his career and financial goals so he won’t have time to commit to a relationship. It just sucks that I manifested the fwbs but also someone with all the features I’ve always said aloud that I wanted in a partner. This is kind of a rant/some success story/ seeking advice post. So I’ve decided I want him as my boyfriend I feel I have a good start but not sure what to do next I manifest best when I forget my manifestations and don’t care about it but I can’t stop thinking about him (anxious attachment style) any input highly appreciated

My radio goes static when I play music. it will work for a while then it will randomly go static. Sometimes I have to shut off the car and run it again for the problem to resolve for a little bit. Now when ever I try to play anything, there is no volume. Can someone please help.

My girlfriend always cancels plans we make with other people that I don’t want to cancel. Part of why I don’t want to cancel is following through on plans with others and the other part is that I actually want to do these things. She has already flaked so much that she always needs me to do it for her and she knows i hate it. Typical sequence is she makes plans, then prior to the event tells me she doesn’t want to go and why, then the expectation is for me to agree with her with a good attitude and cancel them for her immediately. However, lately it’s gotten to the point where I don’t say anything and clearly show a little attitude or even say if you don’t want to go then you cancel which turns it into a fight from which turns into me not supporting her essentially. Perhaps at this point it’s best she doesn’t go anyways but she doesn’t really give me the option of going without her without making it toxic.
Most recently it’s been centered around one of her friends whom we’ve canceled on multiple times for the same reason as below. We planned after EDC last year to go together again but with her boyfriend this time. We got a hotel room together under my girlfriends name. My girlfriend is saying she doesn’t want to go because we planned two trips around it, and because she doesn’t want to rave and do drugs with her friend anymore because she can’t do it all night like her. That’s fair, but I can and truthfully I miss when we did together. Those days may be over for my girlfriend at this point but I’m not really ready for it to end for me. I’ve been wanting to do these things with them but I always have to flake because my girlfriend doesnt want to go. Like I said above, she makes it toxic to go without her I feel. The whole thing is toxic because she literally requested me to cancel on her friend while I’m eating dinner. Then I said ok let me finish dinner at least and she immediately starts to threaten to cancel her birthday trip 2 weeks later if I won’t at that moment which is just another toxic weapon to use against me (making her cancel her birthday trip). It’s weird to go without her also because we’re 27 and have been together for 10 years and just sort of established a close knit relationship where only twice has she gone somewhere without me and I don’t know how to almost, almost like I’m scared to try.

Noise stops when the door is opened. Should we have someone look at it? Less than 1 month old.

Possibly a strange question here - I'm a decade into my career, recently switched from Records Retention GRC (haha) to Information Security GRC (I write well and can speak to execs with some fluency). I love it, and have been totally invigorated by the switch. I recently got my Sec+ (yay), and am working on ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and CRISC for things directly related to my role.
However, I've never worked beyond help-desk in an IT Ops role. I have a bit of imposter syndrome, and occasionally have oversight of more technical folks who are in ops roles (i.e.: I need to tell when someone is bullshitting me about a control). I've been thinking of adding Net+ just to solidify my knowledge of the lower tier Networking stuff / reduce some imposter syndrome / have as a backup plan on my resume. I also feel like I would need some of this knowledge if I ever wanted to move onto more advanced cybersecurity concepts. (I found studying Sec+ to be a bit like coming in halfway through a movie)
Work pays for any certs I pass.
My direct question: Can I use a Net+ course to support the renewal of my Sec+? I know passing the exam doesn't automatically renew it since it's a lower-level cert, but can I count the training hours towards it?
My less direct question: As an employer, is the Net+ a value-add to someone who has ISO 27001/CRISC, or is this just superfluous? I have heard that it can be valuable for someone in my position.

I made a YouTube account for my Apple TV years ago, and when I opened YouTube on my TV tonight, the account is gone. why would it have gotten rid of the account as a whole? no videos were ever posted to it, it was purely for watching YouTube on the TV

I (f44) and my friend (F42) have been friends for almost 10 years. We were super close and our kids grew up together. Now that the kids are older, turns out they no longer get along. There was a falling out between the kids, and now it has resulted in us no longer speaking or acknowledging each other.
Yet, we still share lots of mutual friends and kids still go to the same school together. Live on the same street. etc. Literally, just about every circle of friends I have, she is in it because that's how emashed we were.
How do I navigate this new relationship status? I feel so much sadness and anxiety when attending social events with her being there. But I refuse to cut myself out because they are all my friends too.
Is this just my new reality that I have to accept?

Hi all,
I had a new a/o smith gas water heater installed around June of last year to replace an old heater.
The last few days, I've noticed it sounds louder when it's heating the water ( more bass). When I went to look at it, I noticed it now makes a crackling noise I hadn't noticed before.
I live in the Midwest and it's starting to warm up again, but we've had lots of fluctuations in temperature and I don't remember hearing this.
Without seeing it, does anyone have an idea of is this normal?
Edit: I don't have hard water, if that helps. And about 3 weeks ago, we lost power for 48 hours and some water leaked out, it went back to business as usual though after.

Are we existing in 3 dimensions simultaneously?
Consciousness is the 1st dimension. A singularity omnipresent point of pure intelligence acting upon itself.
2nd dimension is unpolarized dielectric radiation (chaotic energy)
3rd dimension is matter. Unformed and dead(without energy: aka life)
The 3rd dimension was transformed when Consciousness bled through the second and into the third.
All dimensions exist simultaneously but they need something to allow them to co-mingle and exist as one.
Consciousness allowed for the 2nd and 3rd dimension to co-exist which formed the universe as we know it.
If Consciousness is the intermediary between dimensions then how do we access the 4th, 5th, 6th, dimensions and so on.....?
The father(God) is omnipresent consciousness existing within its own dimension. The 1st dimension. The dimension which is omnipresent in all dimensions.
The Holy spirit(energy) is the unpolarized dielectric radiation of the 2nd dimension. When a point of existence expands itself to create a separation of itself from itself. (A point becomes a circle)
The Son is the 3rd dimension (Matter) without which there is no creation. All creation that we know of as our universe is possible only THROUGH this 3rd dimension. Hence Jesus saying all creation is through him. 3rd dimension matter is dead(without energy) and formless. Just a "watery" void. Once the 1st dimension consciousness expanded itself it broke through the 2nd dimension. With consciousness being intelligence itself which is a form of controlled frequency interested with the 2nd dimensions unpolarized dielectric radiation field it gave energy a flow and purpose. This in turn caused the 2nd dimension to interact with the 3rd. Energy with a purpose, aka "electromagnetic radiation ", seeks its equilibrium and finds matter and thus filling the matter and giving it "life". These "living waters" then interact with consciousness, frequency, and gain shape truth cymatics. This then set off a chain reaction and the universe itself was born.

A little about me as a gamer and in general. I hate change. ESPECIALLY when it comes to weapons and such. When I get used to something and someone changes it, it doesn’t sit well at all. I’ve always been this way. Now the first 2 playthrough’s I did I used the same 3 guns, the ACR, the HTI & the Desert Eagle. I’ve been seeing some people talk about different guns and started looking through them all and man I missed out on a ton of guns. So I started a 3rd playthrough just to experience the different guns. I actually started this awhile back because I’m at gear level 162. I’ve still pretty much stuck with the HTI, but I have used others, Scorpio, the TAC, but the HTI I feel is just the best sniper in the game. Now this is where my change comes in. I seen people talking about the DMR G28. I said what the hell, why not. Bruh, let me tell you something, I have fell in love with that gun. The way it looks is so menacing, but the way it sounds, ohhhhhhhhh the way it sounds. That gun is absolutely amazing, another great reason Reddit is king! The G28 I’m afraid is going to stop me from trying other guns, but I don’t even care. Anyway, just thought I’d share that with you all.

One of my partner's love languages is gift giving and they'll give me very lovely gifts (roughly around every 1-2 months I noticed). Some of the gifts are small, like a homemade sticker, but sometimes, they're really nice, expensive gifts like cosplay props or jewelry. I'm so so grateful for these gifts and I treasure each and every one of them. But sometimes it makes me feel kind of uncomfortable since I really don't think I deserve them all and it's very overwhelming as I'm not used to this kind of treatment. It also makes me feel like I'm somewhat taking advantage of them (I talked to them about that, and they assured me they weren't, but I still feel guilty). I also don't have that much money, and this financial imbalance (??? not sure how to describe it) is making me feel kind of.. bad? I don't really know the right word for this.
I'm getting kind of stressed because of this, and have a nagging feeling that I need to repay them. I know that's not the point of gift giving. But it still feels like I'm taking advantage of them and that I should do something to return the favor.
A couple of times I've told them that they really shouldn't and I feel kind of overwhelmed by all of this, but every time they insist and say that I deserve it, that they want to, that they're not gonna change their mind. They say it in a playful way, clearly light-hearted, but it really doesn't help at all. I don't know how to bring the situation up to them without sounding like I'm rude or ungrateful or denying/rejecting their love an affection (which I'm definitely not and it's the last thing I want to do).
Any ideas on how to bring this up to them? Casually saying "hey, do you reckon you can stop with the gifts? I'm kind of uncomfortable" isn't really working. We've also both been very busy and overloaded with work/school, so I'm kind of worried about adding more things on our plates when our brains have been fried ten times over this past week so I don't know when a good time to bring it up would be. (When we first started dating we decided that our schoolwork and overall health come first before the relationship.)
Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it.

Part 1 https://www.reddit.com/DrCreepensVault/comments/11y06d4/headgames/
Opening his eye’s, it was dark and Michael sensed he was sitting up rather than laying down as one expected to be when sleeping. His neck was sore and when he tried to move his head to relieve the tension, he found it impossible. He wondered if maybe he were still dreaming and tried to will himself to wake up, but nothing changed. He thought maybe if he pinched himself that would work, but he could not feel his hands, or the rest of his body for that matter.
At the back of his neck a dull pain throbbed as if tension had built up and he needed to pop his neck. It wasn’t sharp pain but rather irritating, and he thought he would go mad if he didn’t find a way to relieve it. Finding himself immobile with no way to relieve the tension, Michael changed his thoughts to take his mind off of it.
Remembering the visit from the prison warden, Michael recalled the man saying that certain precautionary medical measures were taken to prevent aggression and wondered just what had been done to him. He thought about what he knew of that could be done to prevent aggression and other than his earlier thoughts of reduced testosterone levels or increased levels of estrogen, he could think of nothing which would require immobilization.
‘Unless they castrated me!’ he thought suddenly and wished he could reach down to feel if his parts were still intact. But he wasn’t a sexual offender, so that didn’t really make sense. This thought calmed him and he continued to search his mind for answers.
Michael’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming closer. He couldn’t see anything, but he felt someone had come into the room with him. The lights came on, hurting his eyes and Michael squinted to shield them. He could hear the other person moving around but had no idea where they were or what they were doing.
Finally he could open his eyes fully and saw immediately that he was in a white room not unlike the one where he had received the shot. The wall in front of him was bare except for the mortar joints of the cinder block it was constructed of and a small stainless steel rolling cart parked directly in front of him.
“So, are we awake yet?” a man’s voice asked.
Michael tried to talk but couldn’t.
A face popped up in front of him, grinning at him in a weird way with eyes bulging. This guy was way too happy.
“How you doing, Michael?” he asked with his rather high, effeminate voice. “Did you sleep okay?”
Michael tried once again to answer but no sound came forth. In fact, he could not even feel his breath moving through his mouth.
“It’s okay, Mikey boy. I know you can’t talk, but what you can do is blink your eyes. So when I ask you a question, just blink once for yes and twice for no. Okay?”
Michael blinked once.
“Very good, Mike!” he said in a patronizing tone. “Now the first thing we need to do is make sure you are okay. So I’m going to pull up a seat and we’ll go over a few things.”
He stepped away from Michael’s view for a moment and returned carrying a clipboard and pushing a stool. He sat on the stool with a flourish, reaching down to adjust himself at the crotch and Michael found himself wishing he could do the same thing.
“Alrighty then, let’s continue shall we?” he said with a broad grin, cocking his head to one side. “Remember, blink once for yes and twice for no.”
Michael blinked once to acknowledge he understood.
“Awesome! Now, let’s see,” he said flipping up a page on the clip board. “Are you in any pain?”
Michael thought for a moment of how to answer. He wasn’t in pain, but he was very uncomfortable with a dull throbbing in the back of his neck. He blinked three times.
“Well, okay Mike. I see we have some work to do.” he sat up straight and laid a finger to the side of his mouth. “You blinked three times which is neither yes nor no, so it means something else, right?”
Michael blinked once.
“Okay, I asked if you were in pain and you didn’t say yes, but you also didn’t say no, so you’re not in pain but you don’t feel good.” He looked to Michael quizzically.
Michael blinked once.
“Oh good, we’re making progress!” He clapped his hands together and smiled broadly. “Is it a headache?”
Michael blinked twice.
“Alright, does your neck hurt?”
Michael blinked once, paused and blinked twice.
“Oh I see, yes and no,” He maintained the silly grin. “Your neck is uncomfortable?”
Michael blinked once.
“Let me see if I can help,” he reached around behind Michael’s head and began to massage the back of his neck.
Michael felt the warmth of the man’s smooth hand as he massaged and soon the knot began to relax. Looking at his new friend, Michael wondered what had brought someone of such a personality to work in a place like this. His blonde hair was shoulder length and stringy but time had not been nice as he was mostly balding on top. He had a very large rather pointed nose that sloped steeply back to his eyes. Up close he could see the eyes were somewhat sunken in and there were large dark circles around them, indicating the man did not sleep well. But what really got him was the smile. A goofy grin with his large but well maintained teeth.
“How’s that?” he asked, removing his hand.
Michael blinked once.
“Good. Now let’s get on with the other questions so we can start to get you settled in.” He looked to the clipboard. “Do you have any other pains?”
Michael blinked twice.
“That’s great. A lot of times, guys come out of surgery like you did and they have headaches or other pains and there’s not much I can do but give them a painkiller.” He noted something on his chart. “Now, your neck doesn’t hurt now but it may start to as the healing progresses so I want you to let me know if it does and we’ll take care of it.”
Michael blinked once.
“Oh by the way,” he looked serious at Michael for a moment. “My name is Peter and I’ll be the one who takes care of you from now on. There is another attendant by the name of Marco who comes in late at night, but he doesn’t do much other than make sure the equipment is running right. Marco is, how should we say, a little strange. And then there‘s Natalie. You already met her. The nurse who got the room ready when you first got here.”
Michael thought about the nurse he had seen. He didn’t really see her well, but figured it didn’t matter as there would be plenty of time for that. What he did remember though was she had a great body and it was something to look forward to seeing again.
“Anyway, Michael, we run in three shifts here. Natalie works seven am to three pm, I work three pm to eleven pm and Marco works eleven pm to seven am. So there is always someone here to see that you boys are taken care of. Okay, do you have any questions?”
Michael blinked twice.
Peter reached around to one side of Michael’s head and pulled a very thin computer monitor around for him to see, angling it off to one side so as to not block Michael’s view forward, but still easily seen. The screen was divided into several parts which looked to be medical monitors and a small box in the lower corner which reminded Michael of a chat box he and his friends used on the internet.
“This is your life support monitor and it also serves as a way for you to communicate with me.” He reached up to adjust a small object at the top of the screen. “I need for you to look directly at this point for a few minutes Mike so I can calibrate it.”
Michael looked at the point indicated where Peter’s hand rested. There was a small beam of light emitting from a very tiny hole and he could also see a picture of his eye coming to focus on one part of the screen. He realized it was a camera of some sort.
“This is an optical mouse,” Peter explained. “It follows the iris of your eye so that once calibrated, wherever you look on the screen, the mouse pointer will follow. And like a mouse, you can click on menu’s but instead of a finger, you simply blink twice rapidly to click the mouse.”
Michael watched as Peter continued to calibrate it and saw a mouse icon appear on the screen.
“There we go.” Peter sat back satisfied. “Now Michael, I need for you to look at the screen and look at what I tell you to so we can make sure the mouse is calibrated.”
Michael blinked once and turned his eyes to the screen. He watched the mouse rove the screen as it followed his eye movements.
“Look at the blue circle,” Peter instructed.
Michael searched the screen and looked directly at the blue circle in the corner as the mouse followed to rest there.
“Good, now find the red box.”
Michael looked across the screen, the mouse icon following his eye until he found the red box.
“Excellent. Now let’s do a little more. Find the word menu and click the mouse.”
Michael looked until he found the word menu above the small box which resembled a chat box. He waited for the icon to settle on the word and blinked twice. A small box slid down with menu choices and he read them, the icon following his eyes across each one.
“Okay Michael, this is your communication interface. From here you can type messages in the box below by opening the keyboard on the menu.” He reached over and pushed a button on the screen to make the keyboard appear on the screen above the chat box. “At first, your eyes are going to get very tired as you type messages, so don’t try to do a whole lot at first. As time passes your eyes will become accustomed and grow stronger.”
Michael looked at the interface and wondered just how long he was going to have to use this. The way Peter was talking this would be his only means of communication for a long time to come. Just what had they done to him to make it so he needed to be immobilized for such an extended period of time?
“Now, if you’ll look up here for a moment,” he pointed to an exploding star symbol at the top of the screen with a small black box under it. “Before you are finished healing, there are probably going to be times when you do have pain and since we won’t always be around you to know, you can simply click this icon and get a small dose of painkiller. After it is administered, the counter will appear in the box below the icon so you will know when the next dose is available.”
Michael blinked once.
“But I gotta warn you, Mike.” Peter got real close to Michael’s face and he could smell his aftershave. “The painkiller is a strong narcotic. The computer will only let you have a dose every two hours, but that is still enough to get you addicted. Once the doctor determines you are healed, the painkiller will be removed, so don’t get yourself hooked on it. I’ve seen a couple guys do this and believe me, the withdrawal is very painful and there’s nothing we can do but watch you suffer through it as you quit cold turkey.”
Michael blinked once.
He wasn’t interested in the painkiller. In fact, other than aspirin, he wouldn’t take any medications when he was free unless a doctor prescribed an antibiotic for infections.
“Okay, Michael, I’m about to get off shift so let me show you one more thing before we stop for today. On the menu, you will find the heading “games”. When you select it, you are given a choice of several different computer games which can be played with the optical mouse.” he looked at Michael and grinned proudly. “These were my idea and I programmed them in so you guys wouldn’t get too bored. I know it must really suck to be immobilized like that.”
Michael blinked once.
“So anyway, I would suggest trying one of the simple games like tic tac toe or hangman at first until your muscles get used to using the optical mouse. Also, the games will turn off for fifteen minutes of every hour in order to prevent eye strain and headaches that can result from these.” He stood up and moved the stool over against the wall. “I gotta go now, but I’ll be back in the morning. Get some sleep and play with the games if you like. Marco will come and check on you before too long.”
Michael watched him walk out of sight, listening to his footsteps fade in the distance. Suddenly he felt very sleepy and questions of his situation no longer seemed important. He looked at the computer screen for a moment and decided he would check it out further later on. Right now, he needed to rest. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.
But sleep did not come as he could not make himself feel comfortable enough to sleep. The familiar pressure against the back or side of his head when he lay down was missing and he had the ever present feeling of sitting at attention. He opened his eyes and looked at the computer screen, considering if he should dose himself with the narcotic to induce sleep. He immediately decided against it as he remembered Peter’s warning about not becoming addicted. He would have to find some other way.
Wondering how he would deal with his inability to make himself sleep, Michael became aware of a squeaking sound. Very faint at first but it was slowly getting closer and louder. He wondered what it was and wished he could turn his head to see, as he could really only hear it out of his right ear. This meant the sound was originating in the hallway as that was the way Peter had gone when he left.
The noise came even closer and now Michael could hear footsteps walking in time to the squeaking as if the irritating noise was a marching cadence. As it shifted around his position, he watched as a gurney came into view being pushed by a very strange looking man. He assumed that this was Marco and knew the gurney was not for him as there was already someone laying on it, covered entirely by a white sheet and Michael found himself wondering why the person under the sheet seemed to have no head.
“Well, well, lookee here,” he said mockingly, as spittle gathered at the ring in the corner of his lower lip. “If it isn’t the big bad bank robber who killed all those people in cold blood. Not feeling so tough now, are you dude?”
Michael tried not to let the man’s words get to him. He had been taunted by guards and even other inmates before who didn’t believe he was innocent. This time, unlike those other times though, he had no choice but to keep silent.
“So you’re Michael Chaste. You don’t look so tough.” He leaned in very close. “In fact, you look like a bitch. That’s right, you heard me bitch!”
The man’s breath was horrible and Michael found himself wondering if this guy chewed on road kill at meal times. He had short greasy black hair, an eyebrow piercing, the lip ring piercing he had noticed at first and a tattoo on his neck of a flying bird which looked to Michael like a swallow. Oh the fun he could have with this guy if he had his voice and was not incapacitated.
“So, I guess Peter got you all hooked up on the monitor since it’s pulled around now. Enjoying them drugs, dude?” He looked at the screen. “Oh, you haven’t taken any yet, huh?”
He walked out of Michael’s site to the left and could be heard moving something around in a drawer. When he returned, he was carrying a small thin strip of something clear like tape.
“Okay Mike, here’s the deal. Since you can’t talk or even really communicate yet, let me give you the rundown.” He pulled the rolling bench over and sat in front of him as Peter had done.
“Open your mouth,” he held the strip close and laid it on Michael’s tongue.
The taste was very sweet and he realized it was also dissolving slowly. Whatever it was, he liked it.
“That my friend is a treat for you,” Marco said calmly. “I know I can come off all bad ass and all but really I feel for you cause it has to be one major bummer to be in your position. I don’t really care if you wasted a bunch of people. Hell, I’d waste people too if I could get away with it. Most of them are worthless as tits on a boar hog anyway.”
He spun around in the chair, as if making a point. “Fact is, I don’t think there’s any crime in the world so bad that you should have to be treated this way, but I don’t make the rules. I just exploit them.”
He got up from the stool and headed off around the room again. Michael could hear him running water in a sink and sloshing something around, but had no idea what was happening. Again he wished he could turn his head. After a few minutes, Marco came back and sat down. There were now dark blotches on his smock.
“So like I was saying, I exploit the rules to get what I want out of this crummy job. But I really can’t complain. I come to work about the time all my friends are passing out and I get off in time to sleep before it’s time to party again, so it’s cool.” Marco lit a cigarette. “Hope you don’t mind if I smoke. I’m not supposed to but there’s nobody here at night but me and you guys.”
He sat back and inhaled deeply from the cigarette and for once Michael could imagine what it was smokers got from smoking as he recalled his last smoke. The smell in the air was actually a pleasant change from the sanitary smell of cleaners, disinfectants and purified air. He watched Marco smoke and play with the cigarette. He was a strange one, but seemed to have a certain quality that Michael found he could like.
“So dude, I guess you met Peter.” Marco looked him straight in the eye. “Is that dude a flake or what? Man, the first time I saw him I was thinking to myself, dude, there’s a weird one if ever I saw one! And what’s with that hair? I mean, come on. If you’re bald on top you don’t let the sides and back grow. He looks like he tried to jump up too fast and his head pushed through the top of his scalp.”
He jumped up abruptly and did a little dance, ending up leaning back against the body on the gurney. He reached back and patted the stomach.
“Wow, that’s pretty muscular.” He pulled up his shirt to reveal a small paunch and rolls. “I wish I was that muscular. The chicks would really dig it.”
He walked to the far side of the gurney and lifted the sheet up between them.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, “Man, you were hung weren’t you buddy. Talk about a trouser snake. It’s like a damned boa constrictor.”
Michael could hear the sound of slapping and wondered just what Marco was doing to the body. He watched as he dropped the sheet and walked over to lean in close.
“Dude, you were really something, weren’t you?” He smiled and reached out to touch Michael’s nose gently. “I bet the ladies loved you.”
Michael was confused. What was he talking about?
Seeing his confusion, Marco walked over to the body and whipped back the sheet. Reaching down, he grabbed hold of the bodies penis and lifted it for Michael to see.
“Man, do you know what I could do if I was hung like that?” He smiled and seemed lost in his own perverse joy. “I could have any woman I wanted.”
Michael felt wrong. He couldn’t say watching Marco man handle the obviously dead body made him sick cause he felt nothing of the sort, but it did feel wrong.
“Oh, I get it now,” Marco said slowly. “You still don’t know what’s really going on yet, do you?”
Michael blinked twice.
“Oh yeah, Peter taught you the blinking thing. Good.” He walked out of sight, returning with something in his hand. “Okay, let me lay it out for you Mike. Part of my job is to take the bodies to the incinerator here and cremate them, which is what I was on my way to do when I stopped in here to see you. Being that you’re new and all, I thought what the hell, let’s take some time to get to know the new guy and maybe have a little fun. So here we are in this damned cold ass prison, just the two of us in a plain white room with a stiff, except the stiff isn’t just any stiff It’s you!”
Michael was completely confused now. What did he mean the stiff was him? He was right here looking at him and being talked to, so how could the dead body be him.
“Still confused, eh, Mike?”
Michael blinked once.
“Okay, maybe I should ease you into this and let you know what my job is really all about.” He sat on the stool and lit another smoke. “I come in here every night and, aside from cremating stiffs, I also maintain all the life support equipment that keeps you guys alive. I mean, there’s the blood oxygenation re-circulator which acts like a heart to keep blood flowing to the brain and the feeding solutions which are added to the blood to make sure you have the nutrients you need. That’s the easy stuff. Then there’s about ten other solutions that have to be added to the blood continuously since you don’t have the organs to make them. And of course, the blood is also then continuously cleaned so you don’t get infections or blood poisoning. I’m telling you, Mike, it’s like maintaining a whole laboratory for each one of you guys and I do it all myself.” He turned and looked at Michael seriously. “If it weren’t for me, I’d be cremating all of you!”
He got up, walked to the end of the gurney and began to push it toward the door opposite where he came in.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, dude,” he called back.
Michael thought about everything Marco had just told him and tried to grasp the point that was alluded to, but never made. It was as if he was supposed to understand something that was beyond his comprehension and he couldn’t put it all together. He had said the body was him, but how could that be when he was still right here and the body was now on it’s way to be cremated?
“Okay dude. I’m back,” Marco said entering the room. He came back and sat on the stool once again. “So, did you figure it out yet?”
Michael blinked twice.
“Man, I don’t know whether you’re just not that smart or just in denial.” Marco sat back and moved something around in front of him. “Okay Mike. This is going to be painful, but you have to know before you can be moved into the ward with the rest of the inmates.”
He held up a small mirror so Michael could see himself.
Disbelief filled his eyes and Michael wondered how what he was seeing could be true. They had shaved all of his hair off, including his eyebrows and there were multiple patches with wires stuck all about his head which ran off to a bundle that wandered away from the base of his neck. Around his neck was what looked to be a black leather collar connected to some sort of rubber sheet which was in turn fastened to the tabletop his head protruded from. There were small silver bolts in the circumference of the leather collar and there was no doubt in his mind that they actually were attached to him in some manner.
He looked from the mirror to Marco and back again. Now Marco moved the mirror back a little to give him a broader view and Michael was horrified. He could see the edge of the tabletop under him now and below it, instead of his body, was a vat of clear liquid only a few inches deep. Now he understood what Marco was trying to tell him and he looked at the man as if he held some answer that would take the horror away.
“I’m sorry, Mike. Like I said, I do not think any crime deserves for this to happen to you.” He put the mirror down. “But that was your body I just took to the furnace.”
Marco got up and rolled the stool over by the wall. “I have to go and check on the others now, but I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
He went out the door he had first entered and Michael listened as the sound of his footsteps faded away. His mind was numb and he couldn’t think. He wanted to scream and yell and rage at the world about how he had endured so much without ever once acting in any way to justify what was happening to him and now they had done this to him.
They had taken his body and mounted his head on a plate like a trophy. A living trophy. Michael looked over at the monitor and looked directly at the painkiller icon. He blinked twice, feeling immediately as the narcotic began to flow freely into his brain, numbing his thoughts and senses.
He looked again and saw the monitor was now counting down from two hours, but still tried to administer another dose. If he could somehow overdose, the nightmare would end. But the machine refused to respond and he was left to stare blankly at the counter as it worked it’s way down to his next dose.
Narrated by me on YouTube https://youtu.be/kPnf7LDXhUM
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Eternal Convictions / HeadGames Steven Knies (c) October 23, 2009