didn’t recognize
anything.
“ Look,” I pointed my
finger towards the entrance. At that moment, I think my jaw
dropped. I was about to say that the entrance was there, but my
hand froze in mid-air, my body remained fixed like a statue. There,
in the far distance, the horizon was lost in a yellow
phenomenon.
Elizabeth stepped forward and took a
better look. “What the hell is that?” she asked.
“ Storm,” came out of my
mouth. A big cloud had risen and was approaching the town like an
enormous tsunami–its intention, to come and wipe us
away.
“ Jonathan,” she said my
name in an undertone. “Do you see the same as what I
do?”
“ I guess so,” I attested.
I lowered my outstretched hand and walked slowly to the town’s
entrance.
“ Where are you going?”
Elizabeth asked worriedly.
“ Can you see that?” I said
without looking at her, my eyes stared ahead. “Over there, on the
road.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Oh my God! Who
is that?”
There was someone running towards us,
a chunky-looking man, hauling his legs heavily. I hadn’t seen him
when I had mentioned the storm. He had emerged suddenly as though
he had come out of nowhere and materialized from thin
air.
“ We can’t leave the town,
Jonathan. We’ll die out there,” Elizabeth hissed. I glanced at her,
spotting the hopelessness in her eyes.
“ Yeah,” I had to admit
that she was right. “It seems like some sort of supernatural power
wants to keep us in this hellish town.”
“ Like the old woman said,”
Elizabeth reminded me.
I smirked and shook my head in
puzzlement. “This is a nightmare, an awful nightmare.”
She eyed me; her expression read ‘I’m
real, not an imagination of yours, and not a part of your unreal
nightmare.' She quickly averted her eyes from me and looked back at
the houses.
“ We still have some time
until the storm reaches us,” I supposed, but Elizabeth didn’t
listen to me.
“ I still doubt,” she
muttered. “Maybe I came through another entrance. Do you think
that’s possible?”
I glanced back. The newly
emerged house was comparatively smaller than the one where I had
seen the woman and the girl. Judging from its exterior the new one
appeared abandoned just like all the other houses we had seen in
this town . Its
windows were dirty, and the ground was cracked like the arid desert
that had never seen a drop of water.
As I was examining it, a girl’s
snicker made me jerk my eyes back to the familiar house. I was
looking for Melissa. She was nowhere to be seen, but I could hear
her voice, her laugh.
“ Can you hear her?” I
asked Elizabeth, though I didn’t wait for her answer and ran to the
house.
“ What should I be
hearing?” she called after me.
I didn’t pay attention to her, and on
reaching the house, I stood still on its path. The door and the
windows were closed, but the girl’s voice continued to echo in my
ears as though she were standing right beside me.
“ Jonathan, what can you
hear?”
“ A young girl. I saw her
playing in this yard. Now I can hear her voice.”
“ I hear nothing,”
Elizabeth looked around in astonishment.
“ Wait here,” I ordered and
started towards the door.
With every step the girl’s voice
became louder and sounded happier. It wasn’t just an ordinary
voice, it carried an odd power which possessed my mind and pulled
me closer. Imagine you’ve been starving all day long and abruptly a
scent of a grill fills your nose, and you carry your heavy legs to
ask, no, to beg for a piece of steak or sausage. Or you’re a
smoker, and you haven’t smoked in two to three days, then a big
puff of cigarette smoke seizes your senses–that’s what it felt
like.
“ Jonathan,” Elizabeth
called me with quivery voice, but I didn’t stop, and with a great
sense of purpose I approached the house.
I arrived at the door and put my hand
on its handle cautiously. I could still hear the girl’s laugh as if
it was seducing me to step inside, but I
anything.
“ Look,” I pointed my
finger towards the entrance. At that moment, I think my jaw
dropped. I was about to say that the entrance was there, but my
hand froze in mid-air, my body remained fixed like a statue. There,
in the far distance, the horizon was lost in a yellow
phenomenon.
Elizabeth stepped forward and took a
better look. “What the hell is that?” she asked.
“ Storm,” came out of my
mouth. A big cloud had risen and was approaching the town like an
enormous tsunami–its intention, to come and wipe us
away.
“ Jonathan,” she said my
name in an undertone. “Do you see the same as what I
do?”
“ I guess so,” I attested.
I lowered my outstretched hand and walked slowly to the town’s
entrance.
“ Where are you going?”
Elizabeth asked worriedly.
“ Can you see that?” I said
without looking at her, my eyes stared ahead. “Over there, on the
road.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Oh my God! Who
is that?”
There was someone running towards us,
a chunky-looking man, hauling his legs heavily. I hadn’t seen him
when I had mentioned the storm. He had emerged suddenly as though
he had come out of nowhere and materialized from thin
air.
“ We can’t leave the town,
Jonathan. We’ll die out there,” Elizabeth hissed. I glanced at her,
spotting the hopelessness in her eyes.
“ Yeah,” I had to admit
that she was right. “It seems like some sort of supernatural power
wants to keep us in this hellish town.”
“ Like the old woman said,”
Elizabeth reminded me.
I smirked and shook my head in
puzzlement. “This is a nightmare, an awful nightmare.”
She eyed me; her expression read ‘I’m
real, not an imagination of yours, and not a part of your unreal
nightmare.' She quickly averted her eyes from me and looked back at
the houses.
“ We still have some time
until the storm reaches us,” I supposed, but Elizabeth didn’t
listen to me.
“ I still doubt,” she
muttered. “Maybe I came through another entrance. Do you think
that’s possible?”
I glanced back. The newly
emerged house was comparatively smaller than the one where I had
seen the woman and the girl. Judging from its exterior the new one
appeared abandoned just like all the other houses we had seen in
this town . Its
windows were dirty, and the ground was cracked like the arid desert
that had never seen a drop of water.
As I was examining it, a girl’s
snicker made me jerk my eyes back to the familiar house. I was
looking for Melissa. She was nowhere to be seen, but I could hear
her voice, her laugh.
“ Can you hear her?” I
asked Elizabeth, though I didn’t wait for her answer and ran to the
house.
“ What should I be
hearing?” she called after me.
I didn’t pay attention to her, and on
reaching the house, I stood still on its path. The door and the
windows were closed, but the girl’s voice continued to echo in my
ears as though she were standing right beside me.
“ Jonathan, what can you
hear?”
“ A young girl. I saw her
playing in this yard. Now I can hear her voice.”
“ I hear nothing,”
Elizabeth looked around in astonishment.
“ Wait here,” I ordered and
started towards the door.
With every step the girl’s voice
became louder and sounded happier. It wasn’t just an ordinary
voice, it carried an odd power which possessed my mind and pulled
me closer. Imagine you’ve been starving all day long and abruptly a
scent of a grill fills your nose, and you carry your heavy legs to
ask, no, to beg for a piece of steak or sausage. Or you’re a
smoker, and you haven’t smoked in two to three days, then a big
puff of cigarette smoke seizes your senses–that’s what it felt
like.
“ Jonathan,” Elizabeth
called me with quivery voice, but I didn’t stop, and with a great
sense of purpose I approached the house.
I arrived at the door and put my hand
on its handle cautiously. I could still hear the girl’s laugh as if
it was seducing me to step inside, but I
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