the street names in the nearby neighborhood that jim went to on his walks were all strange. for whatever reason, they were themed around emptiness. blank lane, dull drive, empty drive, void avenue, hollow street. when he'd first walked over to see it, it felt like some kind of joke. of all of the places he could have moved, he just happened to live next to somewhere with street names that had the kind of words that he would hear in a hypnotic induction.

it was just a normal neighborhood, of course. it had steep hills, which meant walking there was kind of a workout. that was part of why he always went, to get some more exercise, but he would be lying if the street names weren't also a factor.

today he had gone on his walk a bit later than usual, so it was getting dark, which gave the familiar neighborhood a different kind of appearance. it was also finally cooling off outside for the fall. there was a kind of novelty in being there on an october evening. when he approached his favorite street sign, one that, for some reason, just said "empty," instead of the full street name, it looked nice enough at that time of day, with that lighting, with that sky, that he knew he needed to take a picture of it, fumbling with his phone as he caught his breath after walking uphill.

it took him a moment to find the exact angle he wanted. he moved closer to it, tilting his phone, changing position, until he got a few pictures that looked nice enough.

"it's a very interesting street name, isn't it?" a stranger said from behind him.

he jumped, regretting that someone had seen him doing that, and completely unprepared to talk to anyone at that moment.

"it-it is," he said, turning around to face them.

"does that word have any kind of special meaning to you?" they asked.

he really didn't know how to answer that sort of question, especially not when it came from a random person who he didn't know. "you mean, the word, empty?"

"yes."

"i guess," he just said.

the stranger just looked at him for a moment, and he had to admit, the atmosphere was sort of perfect. in the darkness, they were almost just a shadow. they were tall, with shoulder length hair and a long coat that was blowing in the wind, with a turtleneck underneath it. if it had been appropriate, he would have wanted to take a picture of them, too.

they stepped a little closer to him.

"can i ask you something?"

he really wondered what it was going to be about. "what is it?"

they paused again. the silence only increased his anticipation and made him feel more tense, although they really might have just been figuring out what to say.

"i live nearby," they finally said. "i happened to be near the window a couple of times, while you were walking by. and then i realized that you always passed by at around the same time, every day. i wondered if you might notice me looking out the window at you, but... you were always looking at that sign."

that wasn't a question. it was also... maybe a little creepy. he really hadn't noticed them.

"most people don't have such a regular schedule, when it comes to these sorts of things," they continued. "but you go on the same walk, at the same time, each day. and you're particularly interested in that sign. i just had to wonder."

his heart pounded. they weren't actually talking about hypnosis, were they? he didn't really just get approached by a stranger, in this neighborhood with these hypnotic sounding street names, on this dark, chilly october evening, telling him that they knew he liked to be hypnotized, because they'd been watching him, observing him, without his knowledge.

"what do you... mean?" he asked quietly.

another long pause, that made him think of the sorts of pauses hypnotists made. as if there was any connection.

"what do you think i mean?" they finally asked.

he couldn't just tell them. if he was right, it would be embarrassing, and if he was wrong, it would be even worse.

"you said you were going to ask me a question," he said. "i still don't know what that question is, and i can't answer it if i don't know. do you have something to ask, or not?"

"well, alright then," they replied. "do you like to feel empty, by any chance?"

it was an unbelievably direct question, and it made it even more difficult to imagine that they were talking about anything but hypnosis. he felt caught. by this complete stranger.

"i guess i do," he said.

"can i ask you something else?" they took one step closer.

"go ahead," he said quietly.

"have you ever hoped that something like this would happen, while you were walking through here?"

"i guess i have."

"you know, i've hoped for something like this, too."

it was surreal. it felt like it must have been some sort of dream.

"can you look at something for a moment?" they asked.

he half expected them to pull out a pocket watch, or something. "what is it?"

they pointed up toward a house behind them. "do you see that window, up there? on the second floor?"

"i do."

"that's my bedroom window," they said. "now, of course, it has a direct view of that sign over there. that's how i saw you."

he almost felt a chill, imagining them watching him from over there.

"do you think that would be a good angle for a picture?" they asked. "looking down from that window."

he looked from the window to the sign, trying to imagine it.

it took him a second to realize that that wasn't really what they were asking.

he blinked, looking back at them. "i mean... i think it would be, but..."

"would you like to try it? if you don't have anything you need to do tonight."

jim stared for a moment, at this stranger, who, in this indirect way, was casually inviting him into their bedroom, after learning that he enjoys being hypnotized.

"if... if i wouldn't be... intruding," he said quietly, as if that was even a response that made sense in this context.

"oh, not at all," they responded. "and i have some other questions, if you're willing to answer them."

"questions like...?"

"questions that you might prefer to answer inside."

he had some questions of his own, although he felt like he would rather see the answers for himself, rather than just ask.

"i don't have anything i need to do tonight," he said.