A Mike Life – The Life of Mike!

Running: Chapter 1

// August 13th, 2007 // fun

Thus begins the great writing experiment. This is Chapter 1 of “Running”…a simple short story. I’m not sure how many chapters there will be right now, but I’m thinking around four total. Of course, the writing experience is a strange thing and who knows what will flow from my mind to the keyboard…

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Chapter 1

He was out of breath and none of the buildings looked familiar.

Stopping to rest for a moment, John leaned against an old, rusty dumpster and the waft of rotted garbage flowed into his heaving lungs. He spun away and nearly vomited, but somehow controlled his lurching stomach. John lifted his head and tried to squint through the dark to see anything. He had no idea where he was or how he got here.

The alleyway was faintly lit from the moonlight above, but it felt damp and muggy from humid air. Steam, or maybe something worse, floated by him in clouds of pale gray. The moon itself looked sickly and was shielded by a thin layer of haze. The air had a metallic smell to it and burned his eyes. A crash came from somewhere down the alley and his head spun around, searching for the origin, but he heard nothing except for the pattering of tiny feet. A mouse maybe, or rat judging by the loudness of the noise created. Turning back to the dumpster he spotted a cave between it and some old, stacked crates and boxes. The cave was nothing more than a cavity snuggled up to a brick building, but it was like a hidden shelter to John.

He crawled into the cave and huddled against the wall.

The moon disappeared completely and it started to rain. Dying of thirst, he looked up and opened his dry mouth to allow the water to fall inside. It has a bitter taste, but seemed to quench his desire for the time being.

Looking around, John knew he was lost. This alley was just another place he didn’t recognize. Nothing he had come across in the last few hours was the slightest bit familiar. Ever since he crashed into an abandoned building off the highway, reality seemed to have flown out the door.

Cold rain bouncing off his cheeks, John thought to himself, “Lost…I don’t even know if I am lost…I’m just….nowhere…”

The voice in his head trailed off as his mind wandered. He started shivering. Constantly tilting his ears listening for sounds, and looking up and down the alley with wild eyes, John was starting to feel like he was going mad. The rain was running down his face now in a constant stream. He searched around his surroundings and found a few empty boxes lying around. He pulled a couple of them on top of his head and upper body. Some pieces of dry newspaper that he discovered under the dumpster became a blanket for his legs. He tried to slide his body as much as he could under the dumpster but it wasn’t high enough to allow for his large frame. Grabbing more of the boxes and yanking them down from the stacks, he buried himself away.

He grew quiet and in a few minutes, a stranger walking by would never have known John was lying there. Who knows, he thought, perhaps strangers were indeed walking by. He didn’t care, and in fact, would have welcomed them. Something was wrong with this place. It looked like a real town. It smelled like one as well. The trash and garbage seemed to be signs that people had been here once.

But it was empty. Deserted. Dead. He could feel it in his bones. And it was dark.

Darkness had been with him ever since he plowed through the wall of that building. It was dark before, because he’d been driving at night…but this was different. It was the absence of true light…the absence of life.

In fact, the last time he had seen light had been right before the crash when he—

Terror leaped into his veins and interrupted his thoughts. It is amazing how quickly adrenaline and fear can take over a person. John had this revelation a nanosecond before his entire body froze in a state of utter panic.

It was coming. He felt it.

The darkness around him was suddenly ripping apart like torn paper. Despite being buried completely under a mountain of cardboard, he could still feel the thing coming. From beneath the dumpster and into his cave, a ray of light started sliding in across the asphalt floor. Then another. He looked up as a box fell off his head and saw light crawling along the walls of the building across from him.

Suddenly in control of his body again, he burst out of the cave, sending boxes flying, and stood in the alley facing the source of his terror. The rain had stopped, but the haze was lingering above the pavement. The thing coming for him wasn’t even fully visible yet. The alley in that direction split off into two directions and the right branch was lit up like nuclear blast. As if the very essence of the Sun was coming his way. He could see it growing brighter, the walls and street around him slowly illuminating. The misty haze from the rain seemed to vanish completely as the light hit more and more particles of moisture. Where the ground had been soaked from the downpour, the creeping light had dried it completely.

Stuck in place by the awe of what he was seeing, but horrified by the growing terror inside him, his fear won over his mind and John turned and ran the opposite direction.

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Stay tuned for Chapter 2….

Feedback is welcome