Chapter one: “ Papa and Mama”
Pitch black was all I could see while I painfully dragged my left leg by every step I made through what I thought to be an endless corridor. I kept on walking while still not being able to denote a thing. My clothes were all torn and ripped at some places and the increasing coldness altogether made it hard to keep up the stride. But somehow I still had that feeling as if the exit was close, so I pursued limping in hope of finding anything, even just a faint source of light.
I didn’t know much of this place, or how I ended up there. But it did not matter, getting out of there was more of a priority. Suddenly I heard a muffled blast from afar and large fluorescent neon lights lit up one after the other, each making a loud sharp bang, just like drums at a concert, to slowing reveal what appeared to be an old abandoned mall, like those from the 90s. It seemed as if the mall had been deserted an eternity ago; the walls were all fissured, the ceiling started to fall off, nature claimed it’s terrain back, with vines and plants growing and spreading wherever you could possibly lay your eyes. The scenery seemed ethereal, an odd spot after a long corridor of darkness.
While turning erratically in all directions, gazing at this heaven, a large door caught my attention, one written “ emergency exit” on top. Without hesitation, I dashed through it and was instantaneously outside. A flaring sun was up and psychologically seeing natural lights felt reinvigorating. I had no notion of time but judging by the sun, I could roughly tell that it was somewhere in the afternoon. And after a quick check on my watch, my guess was right, Seven past five in the afternoon!
The landscape also was quite atypical itself. A small town, entirely encaged between mountains, as if this place was right in the centre of a huge crater. And just like the mall, it appeared completely left out, a real ghost town. From where I was down there, I could vaguely distinguish glaring yellowish lights sitting on top of the apex of the mountains, all around the outline of the slopes, which intrigued me the most. So I headed straight towards them and while looking around for anything or anyone, I heard this sound, a quite unsettling one. It was a mix between a loud shrieking, heavy panting and screeching. It felt as if it was in pain.
“ maybe it’s a wounded deer” I thought to myself. But these noises grew louder and louder and when I turned back, I saw it..........
It looked like a small, dark and gooey cloud hovering in my direction, really close to the ground. Almost like crawling. While dripping some sort of dark slime by each meter made. When taking a better look at the atrocity, I could roughly make out some kind of human figures, like hands and faces, stretching this goo stuff futilely as if they wanted to come out but all it actually did was screaming louder and harder everytime.
So I hurried as fast as I could in the direction of the intensely vivid light and strangely, after a long walk,at least one which felt like so, the sun was still unmoved, shining its same bright rays for all this time. “shouldn’t it already be sundown by now ?” I questioned myself. The watch only added up to the peculiarity with it still showing seven past five.
Just when I reached the foot of the slope, at the town’s border, I bumped into something, something imperceptible. As if there was some sort of invisible barrier on my way. I slowly leaned my hand to feel it and strangely, it rippled. Like droplets hitting water.
Suddenly, the ripples stopped and two human shapes appeared behind it. They were my parent! I went in to grab them but there was still this barrier between us. They were on the opposite side!
Me:” papa can you hear me? PAPA........ Where are we ?”
I begged him to reply, but papa did not, and neither did Mama. They just stood there, contemplating nothingness, with inexpressive faces. Then when I looked up at the mountains surrounding me, I noticed that the bright light I was seeing since the very onset, was only just fire burning down the mountain. It was an impressive sight, seeing all this vegetation being engulfed by the orange wave. When I snapped back to reality, I realised that that massive fire was coming hastily downhill, in our direction.
I pleaded my parent to listen to me,” hey.... HEY, WE GOTTA GO! DAD... MOM PLEASE SAY SOMETHING”
I was desperate, I could see the flames getting closer by the second but there was nothing I could do to get them to react. Until out of nowhere, they gained back life.
Papa:” For god sake Sean, can you go faster , Becca needs you RIGHT NOW Sean.
HERE! Overtake that car, “
Mama:” Yeah well don’t be too careless either, Becca’s gonna have a hard time raising this kid if you’re dead!”
Papa:” And if he doesn’t speed up he’s gonna miss his daughter’s birth”
Mama:” SEAN, SEAN !!!!!! THERE’S A C-“
And then her eyes opened wide as she screamed her guts out. A piercing scream which resonated all across the dead town.
As the fire crept nearer and nearer to them, they stood there soulless again . I collapse on the ground, banging my head against the barrier while they were being taken away by the fire, a single tear running down my left cheek. It was really then that I understood how disturbing this place really was; how torturing it became.
Chapter two: The whispers
I was still pulling through what happened, knees on the ground under that blazing hot sun which should have already been down at this point but apparently it was still seven past five. Then out of the silence, Chao made its way again. I heard a loud shrieking, when I lifted my head, I saw the gooey cloud again. Only this time it had grown bigger, it was almost a car size. I could still distinguish these sorts of human heads and hands stretching the very fabric of the creature from a distance but then suddenly, it made a loud roar and charged straight in my direction, displacing a great deal of wind and dust, all while making this unsettling greasy noise.
I dashed as fast as my leg could support under a car in hope that it would suffice to escape from it. I stayed under the car for a whole moment to make sure it was gone for good, when I. heard this voice being carried away by the wind of someone whispering.
Voice:” Sean...... Sean.... Where are you?”
And I recognised that voice, it was my wife’s one! IT WAS BECCA’S. I almost felt compelled to follow the source of it. I knew I was in the right way as the whispers grew louder and louder.
*Becca in a teary and worried voice *
“ Sean where are you. CMON, Pick up the phone SEAN”
Me: “Becca, Becca I’m hear. Listen to my voice, I cannot see you!”
Becca: “ CMON pick up Sean, PICK UP.
ARRRGGG DAMN VOICEMAIL! SEAN WHENEVER YOU HEAR THIS, YOU NEED GO TO ST HALDRICKS HOSPITAL. ADELYNE’S A LITTLE EARLY!
I was lost, I could hear her voice but she was in no sight. I was persuaded that she was here, so I shouted on and on and on “BECCA...... REBECCA, FOLLOW MY VOICE “ But no more whispers, not even a blow of wind or anything. Just bland silence. Until a strong gust swept by, carrying her whispers again
Becca: “- yeah Sean they found me a room to wait – of course they’re being nice to me- ok honey I have to g- SEAN SEAN WHAT HAPPENED, TALK TO ME”
And these were the final words she uttered. I screamed, begged on god for her to come back again but nothing happened. I was aching, I wailed out of anger and desperation. It was a living nightmare: alone in this beautiful but bleak remote town, getting glimpse of hope now and then just to feed the flame of “maybe “.
To add to the misery, this creature, this otherworldly thing that had been chasing me all this time came back again. At this point, I’d lost all hopes of a normal life again, the flame had died. So I just laid down on the street while this cloud creature slowly took over my body with fumes forcing their way in my nostrils and from that moment, it somehow got worst
I could feel what this creature felt. It was much more intense than anything I’ve felt before. It was scared and angry, in pain and it had that coldness inside, in its core. I shed a tear to these while closing my eyes, shutting off my world for ever...........
..............Pitch black was all I could see while I painfully dragged my left leg by every step I made through what I though to be an endless corridor. I kept on walking while still not being able to denote a thing. My clothes were all torn and ripped at some places and the increasing coldness altogether made it hard to keep up the stride. But somehow I still had that feeling as if the exit was close, so I pursued limping in hope of finding anything, even just a faint source of light. I had a feeling of déjà vue.
Chapter three: “Look Adelyn, here’s Papa!..”
The waiting room was full of chittering and chattering at St Haldricks Hospital despite it being 8pm. But throughout all this agitation, not much of it was really critical or urgent, none of them except that one pregnant woman who was about to deliver her Child, Rebecca Berman.
But then, the receptionist took a brief call and as soon as she hung up, a team of paramedics came busting from the main door, almost shattering the panes pushing a man on a litter in a pretty bad shape. Blood gushing from his right arm, head strapped while a paramedic was on top pushing on his heart trying to get it to restart. A doctor came in to take charge of the guy
Doctor: “ I need a briefing on what happened quick QUICK”
Paramedic: “ the victim is Sean Berman, crashed with another car on the main highway with his parent on-board, they were killed on the spot, he suffers fro-“
Doctor: “ wait wait, did you say Berman?”
Paramedic: “ yeah. According to his phone, he was on a call with a certain... Rebecca”
As they took him away to the operation block, he wore on his wrist an old broken watch , a watch stuck on seven past five.
* months later *
Becca stood at the entrance of the door holding little girl .She knocked as though anyone was expected to say “ come in”. Sean was there, laying on a bed ,eyes shut, but according to those machines, he was still breathing and alive. A nurse came by and briefed Becca about her husband’s conditions; his low brain activity and how it was much more of a bad news that a positive one, before leaving her in intimacy.
As Becca moved towards the bed, she said in a soft voice
Becca: “ hey, hey... Look Adelyn, here’s Papa, do you see him”
Little Adelyn stuttered barely articulated words “ pa..... Pa........papa” while pointing at Sean.
Becca: “ yes, papa. Papa is sleeping, I’m sure he is making a wonderful dream Adelyn, thinking about us”
Wayne Curpen,
1oE1.
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