“Do you ever feel as if nothing is real?” Walter awkwardly avoided the psychiatrist’s gaze by pretending to be interested in the wall of reference books and official documents behind him. Everything looked very complicated and very ancient.
     Mr. Sly, the psychiatrist, nodded. “Everyone gets that feeling sometimes, Walter.”
     “But I…” Walter trailed off as he noticed for the first time how much higher Mr. Sly’s chair was than his own. His eyes were momentarily drawn to a book in the bottom right corner, simply titled Psychiatry. He wondered how many different books had that same title.
     Mr. Sly followed Walter’s gaze to the book that he was looking at. He smiled and removed it from the wall. “Yes, it’s a pretty straightforward title, isn’t it?” He placed the book on his desk for Walter to see and flipped through the first few pages. “It was given to me by a friend a few years ago.”
     Walter stood from his chair to get a closer look. “What was that on the first page?”
     “On the first page?” Mr. Sly flipped back to the beginning.
     Walter read out two words written in handwriting on the page in front of him. “Happy Retirement.” He couldn’t make out the signature.
     Mr. Sly sat back in his chair contemplatively. “Walter, there’s nothing there.”
     Walter’s eyes widened. He glanced up at the psychiatrist, and then returned his gaze to the words that he could still see on the paper. “Are you sure? I mean…” He sat back down in his chair and slowly leaned back in it. “There really isn’t anything written there?”
Mr. Sly returned Psychiatry to its place on the wall. “Have you ever experienced a hallucination like this before?”
     “Is there something wrong with me?”
     “Don’t worry. There’s medication that can take care of this sort of thing. I just need to get an idea of the extent to which these illusions go. Have you ever experienced this sort of thing before?”
     Walter sighed and nodded. “Yes.”
     “Can you tell me about when you think this may have started?”
     “It started when I was forced to retire… Or maybe that was why I was forced to retire… I can’t remember exactly, but I do know that both things happened at roughly the same time, and that one most likely caused the other.” Walter paused and cleared his throat uneasily.
     Mr. Sly filled the short silence by asking a question. “What was it that you did before you retired?”
     “I was a doctor.” Walter cleared his throat again.
     “Would you like something to drink?”
     Walter let out a nervous chuckle. “You offer your patients alcohol?”
     “Actually, I meant something more like water or pop.”
     “Oh…” Walter tried to hide his embarrassment with a louder chuckle. “Some water would be nice.”
     Mr. Sly leaned over to a small fridge hidden behind his desk and removed a pitcher of water. He then retrieved two glasses and filled them both. After returning the pitcher to the fridge, he slid one glass to the other side of the table and kept the other for himself. “If you finish that and you’d like any more, tell me.”
     “Thank you.” Walter stared at the water for a moment before continuing his story. “Anyway, like I said, I’m not certain if it began happening before I retired or after, but I started to see and hear things that weren’t really there.”
     “Do you remember the first time you realized this?”
     Walter shrugged. “There were a lot of little things that, looking back, I wonder about. I’d spot something out of the corner of my eye, but when I’d turn to see it, there’d be nothing there, or I’d hear someone call my name, but no one would be around…”
     “Have there been any more extreme incidences?”
     Walter stared intently at nothing in particular. “I have a son... Do you have any children?”
     Mr. Sly nodded. “What’s your son’s name?”
     “Jeffrey… Anyway, one night when my wife was out of town, Jeffery came home an hour after he was supposed to. We got into a huge argument, and eventually he stormed out of the house…” Walter wiped sweat from his forehead. “I don’t suppose I could open a window?”
     “Of course.” Mr. Sly indicated to the only window that could be opened. “Go right ahead.”
     Walter stood and walked over to where Mr. Sly had indicated. “Thank you… Well, as I was saying, I had a very bad argument with my son. When he left, I was furious.” Walter’s voice was beginning to sound unsteady.
     “It’s perfectly normal to feel angry after a fight with someone,” Mr. Sly stated calmly. “Now, I’m very sorry, Walter, but I don’t quite understand what this has to do with hallucinations.”
     Walter returned to his chair, but didn’t say anything for some time. After a few minutes he finally spoke. “Jeffery came home about half an hour later, apologizing for being so late. I asked him what he had to say for himself about storming out of the house. He didn’t know what I was talking about. He hadn’t come home half an hour earlier, and I hadn’t been arguing with him.”
     Mr. Sly took a sip of his water. “You imagined the whole thing, then?”
     “Not exactly.” Walter sighed. “It’s true, I imagined Jeffery, but everything that I said and did actually happened… I’d broken a plate…”
     “And what happened when your wife came home?”
     “My son told her what had happened. He said he was worried about me.” Walter noticed a picture of a young man sitting on Mr. Sly’s desk. “Is that your son?”
     “Yes.” Mr. Sly picked up the picture and looked it at. “It’s from his graduation, a few years ago.”
     “Has he moved out then?” Walter didn’t wait for an answer. “Jeffery moved out pretty soon after he graduated. I think he was afraid of me. He phones almost every week… to talk to his mother…”
     “I see…” Mr. Sly’s look of contemplation returned. “Have you had any other incidences that were as bad as the one with your son? Have you seen any other people who weren’t really there?”
     “I don’t know. It’s possible. Like I said, sometimes it feels like nothing is real. I haven’t had too many problems, but my wife’s been worried about me lately. She thinks I might be getting worse.”
     “Is that why you came to see me?”
     Walter nodded, but before he could say anything the door opened and a woman walked in.
     “Oh, hello Wendy.” Mr. Sly stood to introduce the woman. “Walter, this is my wife, Wendy.”
     Mrs. Sly frowned at her husband. “Christopher, who are you talking to?”
     “Oh, I’m sorry!” Mr. Sly indicated toward Walter, who was now standing as well. “Wendy, this is Walter. He’s a patient of mine.”
     Mrs. Sly’s frown grew. “Christopher, there’s no one there… Are you having another hallucination?”
     Mr. Sly looked from his wife to Walter, confused. “Wendy, what are you talking about?”
     “Stay here, Christopher. I’ll get your medication.” Wendy hurried out of the room.
     Mr. Sly fell back into his chair and stared at Walter. “You… You’re not real?”
     Walter shrugged and sat down on the corner of Mr. Sly’s desk. “Well, I suppose that depends on what you mean by ‘real’… So, what do we do now?”
     Mr. Sly looked up at Walter. “I want you to leave.”
     Walter mimicked an offended expression. “Me? Leave? But, don’t you think that our session has helped you?”
     “Helped me?” Mr. Sly shook his head. “How could it have helped me? We were talking about your problems.”
     “I’m just a figment of your imagination, Christopher. I don’t have a life story. My problems are your problems. Didn’t you recognize them?”
     Mr. Sly stood and walked away from his desk, toward the window. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
     “Of course you do. You just don’t want to admit it. I’m talking about the hallucinations that started around the same time that you were forced to retire as a doctor of psychiatry.” Walter pointed to the picture sitting beside him. “And your son, Jeffrey, who moved out because he was afraid of you, but phones regularly to make sure that your wife is alright.”
     Mr. Sly turned away from the window. “Leave me alone!”
     Walter threw up his hands defensively. “Alright, fine.” He walked toward the closed door and paused. “I don’t suppose you could open the door for me?”
     “You don’t need to use the door.”
     “That’s true, but I thought it might be more realistic if… Okay, never mind then. I’ll just go.” With that, Walter was gone.
     Mr. Sly rubbed his eyes and turned back to the window. It was then that he realized it wasn’t open. He returned to his desk and looked at Walter’s glass, which was still full. Overcome with the full realization that Walter had been nothing more than an illusion, he sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. Mrs. Sly soon returned with her husband’s medication, and he used the untouched glass of water to help him swallow it. For a moment no one said anything, until finally Mrs. Sly spoke.
     “Maybe you should get some rest.”
     Mr. Sly nodded and stood. He took a few steps toward the door, and then paused. He quickly stepped toward the wall of books and pulled out the book in the bottom right corner. He opened it and stared at first page, where the words Happy Retirement were written.
     Mrs. Sly spoke with a concerned voice. “What is it?”
     Christopher Sly shook his head. “It’s nothing.”