The Illustrated Encyclopedia of an Imaginary Universe

The first thing I noticed when I arrived for work is that a strip of yellow tape was stretched across my monitor which read ‘Police Line Do Not Cross’. At the cube adjacent to mine, where my supervisor sits, was more of the same. On the carpet was a duct tape outline of a body.

This is the sort of thing that makes my day. There’s rivalry around the office this was an original demonstration of that rivalry. We stood around and laughed about it for awhile, making jokes. Someone had been taking pictures and I suggested that my supervisor lie down in the outline and have his picture taken.

‘Dude, you can’t do that,’ I was told. ‘It’s bad luck.’

I was a little surprised and intrigued. For the remainder of the day, I was fascinated by the outline on the floor. I was tempted to lay down on it, adjusting my body to fit the arms and legs of it. In a way, I wanted to spit in the face of so-called ‘bad luck’. I wanted to tempt fate. But I knew there are better ways to tempt fate rather than to lie down in a mock-up of a chalk outline.

I’m not superstitious by nature and I don’t get freaked out by black cats, ladders, spilled salt, or horoscopes. However, the temptation was that same kind of childish bravado that fuels tempting things evil and beyond our ken. The old ‘Bloody Mary’ trick has always been something I wanted to try but was never brave enough to face that mirror and chant the name thricely.

I broke a mirror once and my sister warned me that I was going to experience seven years of bad luck.

Everyone always figures that it’ll be seven years directly following the incident, but I’m quite sure that those seven years are spread out over the rest of your life.

Later on that night, someone laid down in the faux outline. I don’t think he knew the superstitious ramifications of his action. He did so as a joke and after the same doomsayer from earlier gave him the same spiel, he got up but appeared to become nervous and somewhat shaken. I plan to keep a close eye on him.